What's the most eye opening / life changing book you've ever read?

[Danielle]

Discussion topic started by Harley in the emails.

For me, The God Delusion was a really life changing book because it was what really got me thinking and led me to atheism. Guns, Germs, and Steel was a really eye-opening book for me, along with a lot of Jared Diamond's other books.

[[deleted user]]

The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong
I would also recommend:
Guns Germs and Steel
Why the West Rules -for now
The Dream of Reason
and for the future:
Why Average is Over

[Marcel]

The book that got me rethinking my attitude towards religion is The God Delusion. I was an atheist I guess before reading that book, but always had some sort of respect for religion and the feeling that religion deserved respect. But God Delusion succesfully crumbled that....

[LaTonya]

Catch-22 has been one of my favorite books for some time now and I would say it has influenced my views quite a bit but mostly my sense of humor. As for books concerning religion, I've only really been interested in the topic recently and the first book I read was Waking Up by Sam Harris. I have never been religious or spiritual so I found the book quite an interesting perspective.

[Michael]

The bible. First, to make me a believer. Then, when I learned about how it came to be, to make me an atheist.

Also, Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World. That book made me fall in love with critical thinking.

[Shannon]

It's been a long time since I read it, but I remember Ender's Game had a pretty strong effect on me. It got me to consider humanism as a valid life philosophy, and I came away from that book and its sequel with a respect for humanism and naturalism I hadn't even considered before. Which is kind of weird, as I've since learned how problematic the author's actual views are. I kind of want to read it again and see if I see the same message in the story, knowing the context I do now.

Also please pardon any typos because apparently my autocorrect doesn't work on Goodreads?...

[Geoff]

As a youngster, Krishnamurti's 'Commentaries On Living'. A very interesting mix of eastern philosophy, psychology and a glimpse into what it means to have a still, observant mind. I switched from a science-based education to humanities and worked with people and their problems for decades after this.

[Justin]

Berger and Luckmann's "The Social Construction of Reality".

[Bill]

I think the first book I read that gave me an inkling into how religion came about was The Source by James Michener. As you all know, his books are SO long, and I read it in high school (I think). I don't know that it would be appropriate for this book club, but I think it was the start of my leaving Mormonism and religion in general.