I read Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament by John Walton and it was an amazing read.
What impressed me was that the author tries to describe the conceptual world of the inhabitants of the ancient middle east, i.e., how their very thoughts were different then ours (and how he came to this conclusion). In my opinion it had a nice touch of cognitive science, even though the author never mentioned it explicitly.
Maybe I just had bad luck with my choice of books, but most other books on pre-Roman societies I read either describe the "output" of this conceptual world (art, events...) or focus on single isolated aspects ("Did the Bactrians consider themselves Greek and what was their concept of Greekness?",...). Is there a name for this "conceptual" subgenre of historical writing and can somebody recommend me books in that direction on ancient history?
For me, one of the most influential bodies of scholarship--overall!--has related to literacy, and how a society coming to trust in texts is the result of/changes how people think. (Even people who cannot themselves read.)
Additionally, Mary Carruthers has two really important books on how medieval people thought as developed in the monastic tradition:
I do recommend reading BoM first. Although as a warning, it's very dense; some of it you can probably skim. (And contrary to what will show up in the Google/Goodreads search results, it is soooo not a novel.)
If you're interested in a whiz-bang-blink-and-you'll-miss-it look at some of the ideas, I have an earlier answer on Was there such a thing as a medieval mind? As a warning, the first half of the answer looks at historiography, but keep reading! ;)
ETA: Oh! One more:
This one might take some background in medieval Christianity, but it's at the level of getting a review in the London Review of Books--so, not overwhelmingly obscure or difficult. Anyway, Bynum (who is probably the best writer on this list) traces how miracles and religious power and such became more and more invested in physical objects over the course of the late Middle Ages. She argues that what is at stake was questions about the ephemerality of the world itself.
...If nothing else, she at least discusses the parody pilgrimage badge (souvenir) that features four penises carrying a vagina on a litter.