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The Lord of The Rings. This book changed reading for me. I always enjoyed fantastical themes, but this one really got me. Then, I found out there was more. More background, more world building, more why.
I've never turned back. I re read it occasionally and I've read much of Tolkien's other works. Next on the list is to begin working through The History of Middle Earth. I will be starting this in the fall. It may take me quite some time to get through.
When I saw that book in the elementary school library it was a revelation: There are books explaining the cool mysterious stuff like that! And written for kids to understand!
I think that one book is a big part of what sent me on the path to geekdom.
It wasn't technically my first nonfiction science book, which would be "Our Friend the Atom" but I wasn't old enough to actually read that when I had it (probably got destroyed before I could). I liked the pictures though.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami
Everybody Poops
Played bloody knuckles with hard copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire once in grade school, and still have a lil mark from it.
Crime and Punishment.
... "does the gentleman want his head smashed?"
The ending of the last night angel books really follows you around.
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm and Sam Hughes.
Neat, looks like the author got a publishing deal and has a new version of it coming out later this year:
Here's the author's blurb about it, if it piques anyone else's interest that hasn't read it yet:
An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.
Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you tried: complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams...
But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war?
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division.
No, this is not your first day.
Thank you for putting the blurb. I was in a waiting room and I got called as I posted. I hope someone enjoys this book as much as I do.
Atomic Habits.
As someone who is likely on the spectrum, it was like someone gifted me a user guide for life where other self-help books have either leaned a lot on the emotions of things or tried to cram all sorts of philosophy down my throat.
Lot's of common sense ideas around how to turn what, where, and who you want to be into actually achievable goals and genuinely helped me figure out who I want to be for myself and not for other people.
I wouldn't say it has any groundbreaking or radical ideas in it, but the structure and presentation of the simple ideas really helped me work out some life things for myself.
The Scar, China Meiville - It's an epic journey and the clear best, in my opinion, of the Bas Lag novels. It has such weight and magic to the journey. Mystery too. It's a book that leaves you feeling like you want to feel more.
The Wild Girls, Ursula K Le Guin - a tale so emotional that I was broken for two days after reading it. Couldn't bring myself to read, or really do much except think about what I'd read.
Its about a slaving raid on a village near a city state, family, love, and gender.
How to solve it by Polya.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Tells you everything you need to know about war. First book which made me cry. Everybody should read it.
His Dark Materials
Singularity Sky (and its sequel, Iron Sunrise)
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (a fanfiction novel that is far better than the original series)
What If (and What If 2, by Randall Munroe)
The Planiverse
The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Society After an Apocalypse
Sophie's World
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy
If you liked Stross's general style, I would also recomend the Merchant Princes (universe hopping smugglers/spies/couriers) and the Laundry Files (co.puter scientists and mathematicians as civil servants fighting against the occult)
Voltaire's Bastards by John Ralston Saul. It showed me how the world really works. Also The Doubter's Companion as a supplement to that.
Edit to add that after reading through all the comments, it's pleasing what a well-read community we have here.
"The Arsonist in the Office" by Pete Havel
Helped me recognize that the incredibly toxic job I was in was not sustainable.
"It's Your Ship" by D. Michael Abrashoff
Excellent book on leadership. Should be required reading for anyone who manages people.
"Psychopath Free" by Jackson MacKenzie
Most people probably have no idea what it's like to be in a relationship with someone who has a personality disorder. It can be absolute hell. It certainly was for me. This book provided some good insights but also helped me feel less alone.
There are other books but those are three big ones for me.
John Darnielle's Devil House is a GREAT novel. All of his books are but it's particularly great
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley.
Whale Done by Ken Blanchard
Two books that made me cry at the end and helped me shape my idea of war and what really is for the common men are "Il sergente nella neve" (the sargent in the snow) by Mario Rigoni Stern, which is about the retreat of the Armir (italian army in Russia) after the second Don offensive by the Red Army from the point of view of Stern, as they started the endless march back to Italy on foot, with the Red Army biting their asses. Almost 80.000 between dead and missing. Amazing piece of literature and yet another reason to despise fascism; and All quiet on the western front, which doesnt need many explanations.
Absolute chills everytime i think about those books and the images of tragedy and hopelessness they shaped so vividly in my mind.
Fear of Small Numbers, by Arjun Appadurai
Something Happened, the other, far lesser-known work by Catch-22 author Joseph Heller. It's too apples-to-oranges to throw around "better", but I already love Catch-22 and still prefer Something Happened. It's considerably longer, but in my opinion, it's criminally overlooked.
"Entering Space: Creating a Spacefairing Civilization" by Robert Zubrin. My mother's work when I was growing up had a "free book shelf" that someone had put it on and she'd brought it home because I liked sciency stuff, and I've been extremely interested in space development and futurism ever since.
As a kid I read Paulo Coelho's 'Veronika decides to die' and it kinda reframed some of my thinking. From what I recall, it's a very wholesome and light read!
It's more of a short story in a book filled with time traveling short stories.
I'm trying to find what it's called, but I still have the book. After reading it, I had a brief period of time where I was questioning my own freewill and choices.
Basically it starts with a time machine being in a warehouse and scientists all around. The person inside is doing everything backwards and they are attempting to communicate with paper, often getting answers before there is a question. It's a good read and I won't spoil the end.
