Growing up with parents who were avid readers I learned that books provided an escape to other worlds and gave me and endless supply of new ideas. I read every mystery/fantasy/scifi/adventure novel I could get my hands on. This in turn provided me with ideas on how an RPG should flow when I started to DM in the 90s.
sound and I both read the Fritz Lieber and Jack Vance fantasies that were models for many D&D ideas and quests. I also enjoyed Andre Norton, Ursula K. LeGuinn, and L. Sprague de Camp. The floor is open for authors that may have influenced your quests or your idea about what DnD is all about.
I read many books by Anne McCaffrey,Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, Marion Zimmer Bradley, CJ Cherryh, Larry Niven and Poul Anderson and on and on........