It would be appropriate to list aviation books that have influenced me in a chronological order; however, a lot of time has passe across my horizon and I have forgotten many. Some were loaned to me and some where given away or lost, but their mark has been engraved in my soul.
Deep in my mind is a not so vivid picture of a red and yellow high wing plane, which was in one of my childhood readers; was that my first aviation story? Of course there were the oral
stories by my father who flew on Canso's (PBY) during sub patrols in WWII, or stories of his
technical work on the Mosquito.
For years I read aviation books and magazines, especially "Kitplanes" or "Flying" and articles about the replica "Dawn Patrol" had me dream about the escape of fantasy into the sky. My odyssey is another story.
Really, the number one book for me was a history of the Wright Brothers, done for the 100 year anniversary. Its not that it was the best book, rather in a historical way it is fitting that it comes to mind first.
I may run out of word limits here and I will expand this post  on my website...
For me the most meaningful flying history, biographies and autobiographies are about our Canadian pioneer bush pilots. I am sure that in other parts of the world there are equal stories of courage and adventure. I now live on the edge of the Canadian "north" and in my
flying I can pretend to relive some of the scenery at least. A lot of the aviation firefighting equipment evolved in this element.
"Skippers of the Sky" - William J. Wheeler (The early years of bush flying):"Stranger to the Ground" - Richard Bach (Author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull); "I Live To Fly" - Jacqueline Auriol (She became the first woman to qualify as a test pilot and break mach...);
"The Lonely Sky" - William Bridgeman; "Piece of Cake" - Derek Robinson (historical novel about British WW II arial combat); "Breezes Against My Brow" - Bernie Runstedler (a friends personal anecdotal odessey); "Stick and Rudder" - Wolfgang Langewiesche (classic instruction reference); "Born To Fly" - Shane Osborn (the courage of a young man to fly, even before he had to excercise it for his crew); Garth Wallace's many funny stories (look up "www.happylanding.com" - great reading). And last but not least and not last:, all the stories in the  UPAC  and COPA pubications...thanks Adam, Kathy, Emily.