Mother Night

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Also NurtureShock taught me a lot about parenting.

White Teeth, Zadie Smith Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, Tom Robbins Homage to Catalonia, George Orwell Catch 22, Joseph Heller Timequake; Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Seven Pillars of Wisdom, TE Lawrence The Histories, Tacitus The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (caveat, it was most effective when I read it at 16) Redwall, Brian Jaques (got me really excited about reading when I was in the fourth grade) This list could be much, much longer, but those are the most prominent 'life-changers' that come to mind.

If you haven't read a Kurt Vonnegut book, I highly recommend that you do. The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Breakfast of Champions, and Slaughterhouse 5 are all great places to start.