i was raised on the chicago great books which would probably influence my listing...
without rank here are 10 important books to me
1984. george orwell.
a thousand nights and a night. burton translation/version.
poems and sermons. john donne.
moby dick. herman melville.
to the lighthouse. virginia woolf.
gilgamesh. david ferry translation/version.
parliment of birds. attar (i forget the translation)
collected poems. dylan thomas.
collected poems. dafydd ap gwylim.
book of common prayer (both editions of the 1900s)
"We must protect our precious bodily fluids!"
--General Jack D Ripper
more my Top 10 books: Lifetime Readings