A few of mine:
Influence - Robert Cialdini
Describes simple techniques that can greatly influence people’s behavior. Understanding these brings awareness to how people are trying to manipulate you.
Art of Invisibility - Kevin Mitnick
Describes how hard it is to be truly anonymous today and how easy it is to track people. I think everyone deserves to know how much they are being spied on.
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
I can’t imagine trying to be a human without some sense of the majesty and humor of the situation in which one finds oneself. This book has so much stuff in it that it enriches my perception of the context of human life.
God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens
They make you learn about lots of religions in school. They should also make you hear at least one dissenting view, I think. This is one of the more reliable standbys.
Age of Reason by Thomas Paine is another great one regarding religion.
The Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s pretty epic -ba dum tss-. And I think it would be good to read as it was humanity’s first international best-seller (as far as we know).
Everyone should probably read the most popular religious text in their region to better understand the culture around them.
The Giver. Many of us read it in school for a reason. I feel like it really helps give perspective on why we need to experience the full spectrum of emotion and sensations, both the good and the bad.
The Demon-Haunted World by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan
Flim-Flam! by James Randi
Both for the same reason, they both taught me more about critical thinking and skepticism, then I ever learned in all my years in school.
I don’t know about everyone but the book that shook me was Ishmael. I don’t agree with all the conclusions but questioning “mother culture” and how we just accept “progress” around around us as natural and right was a gamechanger.
