Jesterraiin is doing an amazing job of uploading inspirational posts. Let's get a little community effort going and see what we can come up with in terms of inspirational reading.
Looking at my 2e boxed set, I can't find an inspirational reading list. Here are a set of books that I feel get some aspect of the setting right.
Actual Dark Sun: The Prism Pentad series by Troy Denning. Though considered apocryphal by some (due to the apparently fragile mortality of some key figures in Dark Sun lore), this series offers some decent adventure ideas for a Dark Sun campaign, with each of the five books exploring a different aspect of the Dark Sun lore.
Desert planet: Of course I need to mention the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Nigh omnipotent planetary governors, water scarcity, nobles flaunting water wastage as a symbol of power, and an oppressed underclass plotting rebellion. The Dune series also offers a cautionary tale of grasping power from a dictator only to secede it to a charismatic dictator (however reluctant that dictator may be to exercise power). The Bene Gesserit and the prescient Atreides lineage offer an interesting view into psionics.
Post apocalypse: The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance. The namesake of Vancian magic and Vecna, Jack is one of the first authors to take a glimpse into a far future ravaged by magic and magitech, and the omnipotent sorcerers who bend reality to their will.
Sword and Planet: John Carter of Mars and the Barsoom series in general, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A set of speculative fiction which would become a major influence in the world of early science fiction. The main character focus of the series is John Carter and his later descendants. John Carter is a soldier transported from the verdant Earth to the dying planet Mars, finding that due to the lower relative gravity of Mars he has near superhuman capabilities. A word of caution on this series: it's a product of its time. John Carter, a veteran of the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, goes on pulpy adventures saving the "savage" Martians many times and even rescuing the damsel in distress, whom he promptly marries and sires multiple children.