GEB is in my top three as well. But looking back at it and the other important books in my life, it seems that it matters very much when I read them, and where

GEB is in my top three as well. But looking back at it and the other important books in my life, it seems that it matters very much when I read them, and where I was at the time. For example, the Lord of the Rings was hugely influential for me, in part because I bought it (in one volume paperback) with the sales of my first program, and read it in school (also during our English lessons, the good teacher let me do that when she saw what I was reading).