When I was a kid there was a series of Encyclopedia's that sat on top of the cabinet in our living room. They were a yellow-brown colour and had huge golden letters embossed on the side: Childcraft, a series of introductory children's Encyclopedias written in an easily-understandable and gentle tone. The subjects I can most vividly remember at this point are Your Body, a fun and playful introduction to the basics of biology, and The Story of Ireland, a hit-and-miss collection of stories from Ireland's history that had a somewhat... biased view of specific events. 
I remember how much I loved those books because they were a mainstay of my weekends. I wasn't a particularly athletic kid and I loved video games, reading, movies and solitude more than spending time with other kids. Every Saturday or Sunday I would ask my grandparents to give me one of many volumes down. I particularly liked the Atlas that came with it, illustrated in big, broad cartoonish styles. 

As an adult, I'd say the most influential book I've read in recent years is Consider Phlebas, by Ian M. Banks, the first in an epic anthology series of sci-fi spaces operas. It follows the swashbuckling, manic, sombre adventures of Bora Horza, shapeshifting agent for the Idiran Empire as he tracks down a rogue Mind, a hyper-intelligent AI and member of The Culture, an enormous and endlessly powerful series of socialist worlds and space stations. The story grabbed me instantly because of it's powerful, dramatic opening. The story begins, in medias res, with the hero captured and undergoing interrogation for a series of events that the audience is not privy to, left to die as his "cell" fills with water. Until he's dramatically rescued and whisked away.

That's just the first chapter!

It's a wonderful and fun book, the first in a series of ten stories that are all equally unique and fleshed out. As an anthology, you can really read the books in any order, although there are fan sites that have a suggested reading order for what they consider the best experience. 

I hope you enjoyed reading, please message me if you have any questions about books or movies!