In the excerpt from his autobiography, "Learning to Read," Malcolm X talks about how the books he read opened up new worlds of understanding for him. This led me to think about the books that have shaped my life. Three books that immediately come to mind are Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling, Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther, and The Bible. Each book had a distinct impact at different points in time, growing up. Listing a Harry Potter book is admittedly cliché, but it was the first book I ever read with enthusiasm. When I was in elementary school, like many kids my age, I had an aversion to reading; my grades suffered. The only way to improve your literary skills is through practice, and the best way to practice is by reading a topic of interest. So, during a parent-teacher conference, my fifth-grade teacher suggested I try reading Harry Potter, which was quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon at the time. My parents forced me to pick up the book, and before I knew it, I was fascinated by the story. Having never been a proficient reader, reading the book on my own was difficult, but the need to understand the story made me reread every page. Harry Potter didn't contain a deep, life-changing moral, but it captured the imagination and ignited my passion for reading. What I once associated with boredom and saw as a chore, I now actively sought out more of, to the point where reading replaced watching television as my favorite pastime. After that, the first books I would read about my violation all had compelling stories, like Harry Potter, and the more I read, the less intimidated I became by reading. I no longer stuttered over big words, the need to reread pages diminished, and the......middle of paper......icism of my parents as a child. I was taught that God is benevolent and merciful and that sinners would be punished in hell for eternity. Yet here, the Bible glorified sinners, and most of the time, God is a vengeful and cruel God. By the time I was 16, I had lost faith in the Bible and, in turn, I had lost faith in the Catholic church. . Reading the Bible led me to become an agnostic. And now, although I can understand why so many people turn to religion, I consider religion to be an obstacle to our development as a society. The books we read and the knowledge we learn from them, as well as the knowledge we gain from our surroundings, including our family, help determine the decisions we will make on a daily basis. Malcolm..