It is known that Tolstoi was a great learner. He read throughout his life and was continually engaged in philosophy, literature, and science.  He used the works of others to influence and challenge his writing and  beliefs.  He did not limit himself to Russian writers,but rather looked throughout the world for thoughts, techniques, and beliefs for which to inspire and explore.

In 1891 a fan wrote Tolstoi and asked him to make a list of books that were important to him.  Here is a part of the long list:

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On Tolstoy’s Book Shelf:

The Bible: Book of Genesis

Confessions and Émile and Julie by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin

A Sportsman’s Notebook by Ivan Turgenev

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer

Symposium and Phaedo by Plato

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Middlemarch by George Eliot (Pen Name: Mary Anne Evans)

East Lynne by Ellen Wood

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Gospels

Thoughts by Blaise Pascal

Teaching of the Buddha

The Way of Life by Lao Tzu

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevesky  (Myth has it that he asked for this book by his deathbed along with the Bible)

(Works Cited: http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/annkarenina/anna_author_bookshelftwo)