[jacquesm]

I've never read a book, no matter how weird or even badly written that didn't have a bit in it somewhere that stuck. There is gold to be found just about everywhere. A single book that has changed your way of thinking, and I would assume that you meant 'in a positive way'?

For me if I had to point at a single book it would have to be Bill Bryson, A short history of nearly everything.

It shows besides being a very compact overview of how we got where we are today how often we repeat our mistakes and how easy it would be to make this world a much better place than it is today and which forces are holding that back. It changed maybe not my way of thinking but definitely my view of the world in a way that changed how I lie my life. I used to be an idealist thinking that we could achieve some lofty goal of human accomplishment during my lifetime (for instance, an end to wars of commerce) but now I realize that we may not realize that goal ever.

So, effectively this book freed me from fighting windmills and freed my resources to try to improve the lives of those directly around me instead of on a larger scale. The effects have been pretty dramatic.

[fylox]

I completely agree. One of those books which was in some passages extremely hard (or even painful) to read is "Thou shall prosper" from Daniel Lipman, a (right wing) Rabbi! It changed the way I look at business. Some arguments convinced me, others I still can't accept. But it showed me that axioms which seem counter-intuitive to me can build a very practical world view.

Another book which is rather on the extreme side is Eckart Tolle's "The Power of now!". Again, I sometimes couldn't stand his opinion. For example whenever he quotes Jesus and explains that most people get it wrong but in fact it would be like this or that.

But the book showed me that I was worrying and thinking way too much and that this is at best useless and sometimes even dangerous.

Often books don't even tell you something new. And I think even this is worthwhile as long as the author explains what you already know in a very different way.