Stop & Think Question: What book has had the single biggest influence on your life?

[ElLoboLoco]

Tough one.

I will go with To Kill a Mockingbird. 1984 gets an honorable mention. 

[Capn_Jackson]

Lord of the Rings.

Go ahead, call me a nerd, I’ll 100% agree with you.

I read them first a few years before “Fellowship” was released in theaters, and read them a second time the year just before the movie came out, so I was fortunate to have the world already firmly built in my mind before the movies. I’ve read them a number of times since, totaling 12 times I think. I can’t get enough. My wife makes fun of me because she reads a different new book every week. I throw in her face that I listen to at least one symphony, sonata, or choral masterwork every week, but regardless, the works of Tolkien have been an obsession of mine for damn near 30 years.

After that, Jurassic Park for its depiction of Chaos theory (and super-awesome dinosaur action!!), or Frankenstein for its themes of humanity and alienation.

[riderpride]

Is he a little high on himself? Yes

Does he get too personal at times? Yes

The book is a good glimpse behind the curtain to see who's pulling the strings in a economy with a fiat-based currency. This is the stuff you don't learn in school. I reread it last summer as a refresh and was glad I did.

Cheers!

[Goldeneye]

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson 

Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Both books were very influential on my career path which has been very rewarding. 
 

Great question and thread!

[LaoFan]

On 4/15/2026 at 8:55 AM, ImTripN2 said:

Atlas Shrugged.

I actually prefer Fountainhead - but both are fantastic.

[joeypots]

14 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

Been reading that one going 30 odd years. 🫡

41 years last Sunday.

[NYGuido]

12 minutes ago, joeypots said:

41 years last Sunday.

Congratulations! Man, you all are so inspiring to a relative newcomer like me!

[puromaniac]

Nerd alert: This one. Launched a protracted "ah ha" daze when I began studying it. Relevant to how all economic, human, ecological systems are related as they travel through "nested" adaptive cycles (including rigidity and collapse). Spoiler alert: Humans suck at proactive change; we usually make meaningful changes (to our lifestyles, health choices, relationships) only when confronted by a crisis or surprise.

[El Niño]

On 4/15/2026 at 1:31 AM, gormag38 said:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M Pirsig

I read this one a couple years ago, and it changed me, too. I still like to open it up to a random section for a spell. 

[gorob23]

Flags of Put Fathers 

You think your having a bad day, read this... 

[JohnnyO]

Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar by Fernando Ortiz 1940. Although it is out of print used copies are available. It contrasts the two crops before 1940 and the effort on the tobacco part is solid. A lot of Taino images with cigars and the culture of the leaf back in the day. It talks about Behiques and the Spanish Crown control of the market. The sugar part is a bit boring but understandable for the time frame. Ortiz would have not imagined at the time that Habanos SA would be asking $500 for a cigar and that sugar would be $1/lb 86 years later. John

[JohnnyO]

On 4/14/2026 at 4:32 PM, Ford2112 said:

As a kid it was Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. 

That Huck Finn was a mother******

[mikejh]

The Bible

[Rhod]

One Second After by Dr William R Forstchen

About an EMP attack on the Eastern US and how a family and a community work to survive.

It didn't turn me into a "prepper", but I definitely think a LOT more about what my plan is if the SHTF. Especially when traveling and also in regards to my diabetic daughter. (The family in the book also had a Type 1 daughter and it really hit close to home...)

[PuroDiario]

On 4/14/2026 at 4:12 PM, El Hoze said:

Man, I feel like a shallow person! 

“Margin of Safety” by Seth Klarman. It’s an investment book by probably the most revered legendary investor most people have never heard of. The concepts of that book shaped everything for me careerwise. 

Seth is a big horse guy and the owner of Klaravich Stables. I had the chance to shake his hand up in Saratoga one year and I totally wimped out. Didn’t have the nerve. 

Big $ resale value there. Collectible, cult level standing. 

[yuppie]

Be Here Now by Ram Dass.

[El Hoze]

11 hours ago, PuroDiario said:

Big $ resale value there. Collectible, cult level standing. 

I still have my copy I bought in college. I do find it a bit ironic that a book about buying things at a discount would be selling for thousands of dollars when there are PDFs for free online. 

[Dlowil]

The Holy Bible KJV without a doubt.