Adding to the list of books that have been influencers and shapers for me:
The Meaning of Everything – The story of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester, ISBN 0-19-517500-X
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein, ISBN 978-1-44340-496-9
Read 7 Pillars of Wisdom (TE Lawrence) and then read this
The Golden Warrior – Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia – Lawrence James – ISBN 0-34910673-8
Serpent of the Nile (Women and Dance of the Arab World, Wendy Buonaventura, ISBN 1-56656-117-5
The Travels of Marco Polo, ISBN 0-88029-135-4
6 volumes (Hinduism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Protestantism) Editor George Braziller but various authors to each volume
Loved Travels of Marco Poland TE Lawrence. Did you read Lawrence in Arabia? Also the Lemon Tree? Both stellar as is Andes.