For Burton Weiss, the Berkeley, California bookseller, "there are two. One is Perkei Avot – a volume of the Mishna ethics of the fathers. The other is The Analects of Confucious. I have read them many times, am mindful of both and from time to time take them out to read again. They encourage thought."

For Merrill Whitburn of Pride and Prejudice Books [Balston Spa, New York], "My favorite 20th century novel is Ford Maddox Ford's 'The Good Soldier.' It’s one of perhaps three of the best books of the 20th century. It's very intricate and rewarding."

For Ron Randall of Randall House, Santa Barbara, California "'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Wind in the Willows' come to mind but for me it's a fantasy, about as thick as a Manhattan phone book, a cult book, 'Islandia' by Austin Tappen Wright. It captured my imagination. I read it in my early 20's, recovering from surgery. It was magic and I think it must still be."

For Ben Weinstein of the Heritage Book Shop in Los Angeles it's a single book and an entire subject. The single book is "Grand Deception" by Alexander Klein. "It’s an anthology by authors such as Mark Twain and others that wrote short stories on interesting hoaxes, con men, frauds and impersonators. It’s entertaining."

For Mark of Alexander Rare Books of Barre, Vermont, "A book that made a difference for me and might for others? It's Lolita. I read it as a senior in college, became interested in the author, started to buy bibliographies, met dealers, became a collector and eventually a dealer. Fall in love with a book. You never know where it will take you."

Susan Alon of Miriam Green Antiquarian Books [Clinton, Connecticut] approaches the subject through recollection. "I more remember my first library rather than my first book, the Westbrook Public Library, an old sandstone building that is now the Historical Society. My memory is of walking up the steps and crawling around the shelves and discovering - the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley - many books - a dozen or so. At 11 I was reading T. S. Elliot and mourning his death at 12, reading J. D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye as a teen, already disappointed with Ezra Pound at 20. Along the way I developed a love of science and found in 'Life: Its Nature, Origin and Development' by A. I. Oparin clarity and perspective on the biochemistry of life generally and human life specifically. In my life I've read many books but this one has been perhaps the most important. Some books are walls and others windows. For those with interest in the science of life this is a grand vista."

For Bill Reese two titles come to mind: "'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass,' both by Lewis Carroll. "I went to Gilman School in Baltimore. There I competed for the annual literary prize that was always based on four books. Alice and Through the Looking Glass were a constant, the other titles changed each year. Over the years I probably read these two titles twenty times and from them learned to read systematically and critically. They taught me discipline in reading." For both pleasure and challenge they are a worthwhile summer read.

And finally there is John Doyle of Crawford Doyle in New York. He mentions two books by Patrick Leigh Fermor, "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook." They are accounts of Fermor’s journey from London across Europe in the 1930’s. And he makes one other recommendation – the New York Review of Books website and their link to NYRB Classics:

New York Review of Books Classics

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Books For Sale