A personal "brain expanding" book for me was The Miracle Planet but timing is everything, as an 8 year old who had only been reading children's books it taught me that you can read through anything with persistence
The Bible has a lot of mind games & plot twists. I read it as an atheist seeking better perspective on a couple thousand years ago
I can't take anyone reading Ayn Rand seriously anymore; it's what all the selfish right-wingers read and take as gospel, those that take a massive shit on everyone but themselves - Trump to name but one. And it's ironic because Rand herself was fervently atheist and hated conservatives as they turned to religion and nationalism in the 50's.
I found the stories in Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged to be compelling enough that I could both empathize with (some of) the characters while at the same time disagree wholeheartedly with their choices.
They're good books for trying to find out _why_ you agree or disagree.
I don't want to moralize too much, but I think it's a mistake to generalize this much about a person based solely on your knowledge of a book they've enjoyed.
The major theme in the fountainhead is integrity to ones personal convictions and artistic craft and has almost no direct reference to conservative politics.
This also amuses me as Trump is pretty far from the Greenspan/Rand economic perspective too.
Or anything Vonnegut or Philip K Dick
A personal "brain expanding" book for me was The Miracle Planet but timing is everything, as an 8 year old who had only been reading children's books it taught me that you can read through anything with persistence
The Bible has a lot of mind games & plot twists. I read it as an atheist seeking better perspective on a couple thousand years ago