The Alchemist. It gave me hope when religion and society did the opposite.

Dies the Fire by S.M. Sterling [amazon.com]

Roots

Not only my favorite book but one of the most important books of the century. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is the first allegory to look at mankind scientifically, as under a microscope. The results are very disturbing that humans are following the wrong part of their animal nature, Jack, Freud's id. The character representing reason is ignored, eventually killed. My short book tells the complete story.

[amazon.com]

Expression Of Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. Greatly increased my knowledge of why us humans and animals act the way we do.

"The Bears of Blue River" by Charles Major. When I was in 5th grade, after lunch and recess, my homeroom teacher would have us rest our heads on our desks, and then she would read to us for about 10 minutes. I remember this book, my classmates, and Mrs. McKee with fondness. We called the book "Ben" after the main character. If we were being unruly, Mrs. M would say she wouldn't read to us, and we'd all say "Please read Ben"!. It wasn't until DECADES later, when an ex-boyfriend bought the book for me as a gift, that I read the main character's REAL name:Balser! I'm guessing Mrs. M knew we'd be little shits and make fun of the name, or snicker each time she said it, so she took it upon herself to change the little boy's name to Ben.

"The Absolute at Large" by Karel Capek

I have read self help books quite a bit but one favorite book was "Facts of Life & Other Dirty Jokes" by Willie Nelson

Brave New World, because it shows a not so dystopian future where we as a spcieces have given up true individuality and emotion for the "greater good".

The Hitchhiker's Guide series and the Dirk Gently series both by noted atheist Doug Adams

The books I have read the most which I guess makes them my favorites are Where The Red Fern Grows and the Riddlemaster trilogy by Patricia McKillip.

I can't manage just one...

Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane by William Peter Blatty

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (short story rather than book)

Sapiens: A brief history of Humankind. by Noah Harari. I didn't pay much attention to history in high school, however, this book and his sequal Homo Deus surely peaked my interest.

I can't choose. I have so many favorites.

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character, by Richard P. Feynman and Ralph Leighton.

Many of the hilarious events related by Professor Feynman resonated with events in my own life.

How can a group of Agnostics fail to mention "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins? It changed academia's perception of biology. The gene is the basic unit of life, not the cell.

The Moral Animal - Robert Wright. Its dry, but dang does the world make sense through the lense of evolutionary psychology once someone lays it out for you. I'd highly recommend to anyone trying to make sense of society.

Nonstop by Brian Aldiss, generation starship stories are my favorite scenario in Sci/Fi and he to me wrote the best one.

Puckoon by Spike Milligan. It was one of the few things that cheered me up, as a kid who was 'Emo' before it was a thing.

Anything that starts out "Several and a half metric miles north east of Sligo" is going places. "'Caw' said the crow. 'Balls' said the Milligan."

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. My go-to, comfort book.

The BIBLE, of course!!!

God, I don't miss being a couple years younger intellectually.

All quiet on the western front : because it portrays the stupidity of war and should be read by everyone

"The Lord of the Rings". I read "The Hobbit" while an older boy was making me pleasure him and I loved escaping in my mind. As I got older reading TLOR kept me feeling safe.

I cannot say. It changes all the time, and there will always be more that one.

I need to think on this.