basal book

A "basal book" is one that is absolutely crucial to a particular academic discipline or profession, a book that everyone who knows anything knows about. It is a book (or perhaps an article) that forms the basis for understanding a certain topic or joining a certain conversation. It is often the sort of book that everyone wants to have read but no one wants to read. It is always the sort of book or article that cannot be digested properly by reading it all the way through just once, but must be studied and digested (analytical reading helps with this).