Two books have had a significant impact on UCLA professor Hal Hershfield over the years. The first book is 'A Visit from the Goon Squad' by Jennifer Egan, which is a beautiful novel that explores the interconnections between a group of friends in New York and how their stories intersect with strangers. Hershfield finds it to be a meditation on the interconnections we all experience. The second book is 'How Proust Can Change Your Life' by Elaine Dibbaton, which distills practical life lessons from the works of Proust. Despite being over 20 years old, Hershfield still finds this book incredibly useful and frequently returns to it.