I've resisted getting into this, because I am sure my list could include thousands of titles, but I can't keep quiet, so here goes...

My earliest childhood (I began to read at 3) was spent with Pooh and Christopher Robin, and all the Oz books I could find. Dr. Dolittle taught me to pay attention to animals; they have things to say to us.

Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins and the sequel, Rose in Bloom, seemed to speak to me, more so than her more famous books. Likewise, what stuck with me in Kipling was Captains Courageous and a short story ,Baa Baa Black Sheep ,that had me sobbing all over the pages.

When I was 10, Arthur C. Clarke blew me away with Childhood's End, and sometime shortly thereafter Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress started me thinkng about the nature of the soul.

To Kill a Mockingbird has already been discussed here--I agree with everyone, it is one I reread periodically.

Did I mention our son's name is Samuel Clamons? (No, his middle name is not Langhorne.)

Dorothy Sayers proved to me that murder mysteries could be engaging, thoughtful and beautifully written; Gaudy Night is a gem of a book in any genre.

Mary Renault, in the King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea, gave me new ways of looking at beloved myths, and Michener's The Source opened for me the world of archaeology.

Escaping now and again into Jane Austin's world helps give me perspective on this one, and I love her prose and her humour.For pure escape into a complex time and place I've never found better than MM Kayes The Far Pavillion-- Kim with a love story!

There are so many more.....