I recently started reading The Geography of Bliss — our friends Matthew and Lisa bought it for John and he enjoyed it so I’m taking my turn. Here’s how the author’s Web site describes it:

Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss signals the arrival of the next great category of literary nonfiction: the philosophical self-help humorous travel memoir.
Weiner, a veteran foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, has covered a multitude of catastrophes and maladies from more than 30 countries over the past two decades. For The Geography of Bliss, however, he decided to tell the other side of the story by visiting some of the world’s most contented places.
Using the ancient philosophers and the much more recent “science of happiness” as his guide, Weiner travels the world in search of the happiest places. Many authors have attempted to describe what happiness is; fewer have shown us where it is, and what we can learn from the inhabitants of different cultures.

Early in the book, Weiner describes how where you live powerfully affects your happiness because your day to day life is so affected by the local culture you live in. I’m interested to learn more.
I’ve recently blogged about how Matt and Rene Greff were profoundly affected by Conversations With God, which I also loved. I blogged about my recent love affair with Who’s Got Your Back, too.
What books have you read that have affected how you live your life? How did it lead you closer to the life you want to lead?