Bible and 2 anchor verses Joshua 1:9 and Isiah 41:10.
The Bible
The Canterbury Tales
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Treason by Ann Coulter
To be added to (or dropped from) this occasional ping list, freepmail Albion Wilde.
Mere Christianity.
None of mine have appeared before (hmmm . . . ):
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs
Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond
I, Robot. Isaac Asimov.
1984, George Orwell.
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
Probably the top books that provided me philosophical insight in my formative years around 10-12 years old. (Yes, I knew what a library was at that age, and I read every Peanuts book there was.)
Vision of the Annointed
by Thomas Sowell.
Brilliance
The Bible - First and foremost. Everything else is minor compare to this.
The Westminster Confession of Faith (including the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms)
Calculus: A First Course (Lynch, Ostberg)
Besides the Bible, my world view was unalterably influenced by The Mystery of Providence by John Flavel (a 17th Century Puritan).
Anything James Thurber but especially /The Thirteen Clocks/ - taught me how to write.
1. The Bible
2. Advanced Organic Chemistry-March
I read this, actually studied it, the summer before I entered graduate school. My graduate focus was organic chemistry. March compiled a systematic index of organic reactions and mechanisms which helped me enormously pass preliminary exams and my oral examinations on the road to receiving a Ph.D.
One of the highlights of my professional career was to see my name as one of the references in a later edition.
The Prince of Foxes—a historical fiction by Samuel Shellabarger. Sounds pretty ridiculous on the face of it, eh?
Here’s the backstory. Along about 1950 I was about 10 or 11, moping around the house complaining I had nothing to do. My mother knew I loved to read, but realized I needed something more than the standard fare for juveniles like the books about collies from Albert Peyson Terhune, the Black Stallion series or the Hardy boys.
She suggested I try reading some of her ‘grown-up’ books from her Book of the Month Club subscriptions. I was leery of reading them, but she said I’d enjoy them—and knew that the Prince of Foxes had a theme and range of action I’d enjoy. It was a great choice—some mild sex scenes, historical theme, great plot with villains and heroes, and plenty of buckling of swashes.
That summer I went on a binge and read everything in the family ‘grown-up’ bookshelves. It engendered a love for fiction that opened up a world that I enjoy to this day.