Here are a handful that really stuck with me and changed how I think about things:
Gig: Americans Talk about Their Jobs
The Tao of Pooh
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Tao Te Ching
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny
Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity
How the Mind Works
The Design of Everyday Things
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
Some of these are typical for the audience here, but a few are more off the beaten path. I really liked "Gig" and "A Pattern Language".
Fiction is harder to pin down. I think, overall, reading fiction has had a greater impact on my understanding of human nature than non-fiction has. But it's diffused over a larger number of books so it's hard to point to specific ones. I think simply reading a large volume of fiction helps me understand all the ways people can live and think.
Fiction is harder to pin down. I think, overall, reading fiction has had a greater impact on my understanding of human nature than non-fiction has. But it's diffused over a larger number of books so it's hard to point to specific ones. I think simply reading a large volume of fiction helps me understand all the ways people can live and think.