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The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged of course), it really rose my bar for great storytelling. Also the sandwich is pretty good.
I came here to just recommend 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Such a profound, breathtaking novel.
The Cornerstone and The World is Not Enough, by Zoe Oldenbourg -- an epic duology (?) about the life a Norman knight. I've never read a more vivid (even that's too weak a word) historical novel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zo%C3%A9_Oldenbourg
The Master of Hestviken by Sigrid Unset -- the most moving account of one man's life struggles I've ever read. Unset was a Nobel prize-winning author of the 30's/40's who has been nearly forgotten. I read this tetrology straight through without stopping (about 18 hours). Couldn't stop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_of_Hestviken
Amazon has turned it into a Prime Video Original, which I have yet to watch since Episode 1 didn't strike me as great.
Edit: I think the best sci-fi fiction book I have ever read is Red Rising, it is a newer book.
Depends on how old you are, or for me it did. Some books resonate at different points in a person's life. The fiction that's had the most impact on me as an adult was all stuff I read in my early 30s. * Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller — Perfect for a single man in his 30s. Very solipsistic and hedonistic, which is a great way to explore that decade. Each of the books in the series is a novel length prose poem. Absol…
For a lover of Borges, what would you recommend first from Chiang?
I don't really see why book recommendations can't just be "books you enjoy". But if you're specifically looking for "books that affect your outlook on life", you might try reading through Peanuts. It's a comic strip, but there's a lot going on in there.
But reading stories is fun, and something I do constantly. Currently I'm re-reading Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Every year or two I re-read Dune, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Amber, and Steven Brust's Taltos series. Always a pleasure.
My recommendations would probably echo those already posted, with the addition of small random stories that I remember fondly because they were just fun, interesting, or surprising (e.g. H. G. Wells: The Door in the Wall, or the original Mary Poppins books recently completed after finishing the Dresden Files for the first time.)
Albus Dumbledore changed my Outlook on life.
Find the time to read Vonnegut.
Harry Potter!! The writing is simple but the wisdom is profound. Everytime I have reread one of the books in the series, I discovered something new. One particular scene made such a strong impression on me about being calm in difficult situations. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry is flinging Dumbledore's precious instruments around, Dumbledore remains monk-like still.
Kurt Vonnegut's works: The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, Player Piano, Jailbird, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater... Find the time to read Vonnegut.