Books that changed your mind

[daylen]

Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst by Robert Sapolsky

"No brain operates in a vacuum"

Didn't really change my mind in a dramatic way, but the book significantly strengthened my interest in biology.

[Redo]

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. A great "book" on Stoicism written by a dedicated student. It taught me how to manage and deal with pain, and to be more conscious about how I'm spending my time and what my thoughts are. It also made me realize that this is a continuous, lifelong process, and even Marcus Aurelius had trouble following his own philosophy from time to time and needed to keep reminding himself not to make mistakes.

Another book on Stoicism is Discourses by Epictetus. While Meditations was a journal/personal diary, this is a detailed, complete book on Stoicism.

[OTCW]

Non fiction:

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman

AllGod's Children by Fox Butterfield

Hellhound on HisTrail by Hampton Sides

Fiction:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Roots by Alex Haley

[fiby41]

Bhagavad-gītā. It's not a book per se but a song which makes it great for making audio books out of. It's a quick read/listen as compared to other books in this genre (took me about 4.5 hours the first time) and is internally consistent.
First spoken on this day 5085 years ago.

[slsdly]

Feeling Good by David Burns. Cognitive behavioral therapy, it works. I'm not consistent about it, but when I am applying the appropriate techniques, I have never felt better.

[PracticalPete]

Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf
7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness by Jim Rohn
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker
The Untethered Soul by Michal A. Singer
Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto

[Lemur]

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. A great "book" on Stoicism written by a dedicated student. It taught me how to manage and deal with pain, and to be more conscious about how I'm spending my time and what my thoughts are. It also made me realize that this is a continuous, lifelong process, and even Marcus Aurelius had trouble following his own philosophy from time to time and needed to keep reminding himself not to make mistakes.

Another book on Stoicism is Discourses by Epictetus. While Meditations was a journal/personal diary, this is a detailed, complete book on Stoicism.

This.

Also these...

(1) 1984 by George Orwell (communism is bad...m'kay)
(2) Economics in one lesson by Henry Hazlitt (There are winners and losers in every economic situation but I'll never forget the lesson that breaking someones window to create a job for a window installer is a net negative economic activity. Never forget the other guy..the businessman who owns the window; IOW, many economic events such as the purchase of milk at a grocery store effects many many people in small degrees... )
(3) The Warren Buffett Way (helped me understand stock valuation)
(4) The Hungry Brain by Stephen Guyenet (helped me understand our current obesity epidemic and basically why my previous diet attempts failed and how to develop strategies to defeat the unconscious mind.
(5) Flight from the City by Ralph Borsodi. (for me a fun read about self sufficiency...only halfway through this one and need to pick it back up again.)

[IntellectualWatcher]

The Alchemist brought some perspective into my life. The themes (free will, personal legend, oneness) in the book will make you think about what you want out of your life and how you should go about achieving these goals. The book is short. I was able to finish it the week that I started. You can find a great summary and infographic on the book here: www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Alchemist/infographic/

[sarger17]

"Eat to Live" by Dr. Fuhrman. Convinced me to eat healthy permanently, not just a fad or diet.
"The Road to Serfdom" by FA Hayek. Central planning doesn't work.
"Ron Paul, the Revolution" By Congressman Ron Paul. What the founders envisioned for government in America.
"Get a Life, You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well". Always thought I needed to have a massive index fund to retire happy. Not so much the case.
"The Seven Story Mountain" by Thomas Merton.
"On The Shortness of Life" Seneca
"Blowback" by Chalmers Johnson. Retired CIA Agent discussing the unintended consequences of US Foreign Policy.
"Mere Christianity" CS Lewis.

So many more.

[Gilberto de Piento]

I'm not sure reading these books changed my mind but they gave me the full background in some areas that I was interested in. These ideas had an impact on the way I go about my day.

- The ONE Thing ("What’s the ONE thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else will become easier or unnecessary?" - I spend too much time doing things that are useful but don't have compounding effects)
- Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life (It's OK to say no to people, you don't have to spend all your time trying to make sure other people are happy)
- Starting Strength (Lifting weights doesn't have to be complicated, simpler is better - not that I am a big lifter but I get into it off and on)
- Letters from a Stoic (be content with the basics and don't ask for too much, don't stop improving yourself)
- ERE (read this long after all the blog posts and being on this site for a long time, still thought the way that it was put together in the book was useful)
- Your Money or Your Life (have a healthy relationship with money)
- Common Sense on Mutual Funds (don't chase the best mutual fund or other investment, invest in index funds)
- Bureaucracy (government and other bureaucracies are slow by design)
- Moral Politics (conservatives want government to behave like a strict father, liberals want it to be a nurturing mother)
- Some book on periodized training (periodized training works)

[George the original one]

"Eat to Live" by Dr. Fuhrman. Convinced me to eat healthy permanently, not just a fad or diet.

Yes, that one did it for me, too.

Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money by Dolly Freed
Pretty self-explanatory title and an entertaining read as well. Should be one of the foundational books for everyone pursuing ERE or simple living.

Water Wise Vegetables by Steve Solomon
Gardening book that can help west coast gardeners manage with less irrigation. Not so applicable for the east coast, where there isn't a dry season, but if you're in the midwest or anywhere there's less than 3"-4" of rain per month then useful.

[fiby41]

The Joy of Not Working by Ernie Zelinski

[loutfard]

I just read "The distracted mind", a 2016 book by neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley. It deals with our brain and the distractions of the modern world.

A core part of the book explains how our brain works, with special attention given to the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is a recent and uniquely human evolution of the animal brain. Gazzaley introduces us to some limitations. How we are rubbish at multitasking, for example, and mostly in denial about it. Or how starting in our early twenties, we gradually become much worse at suppressing distractions.

He extends a model for foraging by animals into one for humans foraging for information.

Very interesting for eremites might be the structured suggestions on how to keep the brain healthy and focused. Not randomised controlled trials; but strong signals nonetheless. I've filtered out a few easy, simple and free ones:
- technological hygiene. Keeping the bedroom free of screens for example.
- meditation as a basic concentration exercise. Just regularly practicing concentrating on one's breath is a very promising signal towards better concentration.
- spending time in nature, or even looking at pictures of nature (!)
- physical fitness. These improve the brain function in general, including the cognitive parts.

One random non-action takeaway from the book caught my attention. Prominent scientists see a strong direct link between social media and narcissism. I'll have to reread the beautiful ancient story of Narcissus...

[DutchGirl]

Song of the pearl, by Ruth Nichols. More or less accidentally bought by me as a teenager at a library book sale.
It was the first book that showed me a belief system that was different than the one that I grew up with. Mind blown.

[Biscuits and Gravy]

At age 13 a teacher introduced me to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and that is when I discovered reading was not just for entertainment, but could be used as a doorway to new ways of thinking. I’m certain that teacher changed the course of my life.

Beloved by Toni Morrison undid my racist upbringing, as did Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From The Beginning.

Your Money or Your Life changed my relationship with money and work.

Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett taught me how to feel and express my feelings, which was notably absent from my parents’ curriculum. This was such an uncomfortable and necessary book for me.

Passionate Marriage taught me how to differentiate and be intimate.

[jacob]

Aside from Keirsey's MBTI books that I mentioned upthread 7 years ago, I'd also add Kegan's "In over our heads" , Beck and Cowan's "Spiral Dynamics", and Cook-Greuter's "Ego Development: A Full-Spectrum Theory" as having heavily contributed to the insufferable categorizer of people/perspectives that I have become today. It's been like having the cheatsheet to how everybody thinks instead of having to guess or project from "literature" or oneself.

[Sclass]

How Markets Really Work. Joel Kurtzman.