Let's see, well, there's
I Strahd, The Memoirs of a Vampire and I Strahd, The War Against Azalin by P.N. Elrod. Very good, and I've read Memoirs twice. Strahd's a personal favorite character of mine and I often crack the cover again and again.
Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund. I never read The Flood since I've played the game and that's pretty much what The Flood is - the game in written form. A good writter, he attaches you to the characters quite successfully, especially John 117, the Master Chief.
Good Omens, the Pratchett/Gaiman combo. I love this book! It's not currently on my shelf because I've bought two copies. Let me clarify - I laughed through the first copy I bought so much I gave it to a friend insisting that she read it. Then I bought my second copy. Which I gave to a different friend after reading through it again and then I moved out of state and have since not replaced it. If you haven't read this book, something's wonky with you! Or not wonky enough.
The Belgariad and The Malloreon by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings. These two series inspired me so much I am now writing my own high adventure fantasy series. Interesting takes on magic and politics and deities. Deffinitely worth shelling out the cash for them.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. True, he got majorly chewed on by the Japanese community for the book, but I enjoyed it. Very believable characters you quickly become attached to and Sayuri is one of my favorites.
The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Silmarillion by (who else?) J.R.R. Tolkien of course!
No more Stephen King. I dropped off from reading horror. (On a side note, did you know he gets paid by the word? Could be why he started producing so much work at such low quality in such large page numbers).
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. The man is amazing. Screwtape will make you laugh and cringe, sometimes...okay, often at the same time.
Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief, and Memnock The Devil by Anne Rice. The Vampire Lestat was her best by far. Queen was where the plot thinned and the characters didn't hold as true anymore. Memnock reads like a personal explanation of her own religious views. Overall, her work descended after The Vampire Lestat. It's like she lost her edge after that. Armand...ugh. I can't believe I read the whole thing! (She gets paid by the word too. I'm starting to see a trend here...)
Shakespeare. Enough saideth.  And if you can get tickets to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, give your life's blood to get them! Okay, well, don't go that far. But it's so amazing. Three men do all of Shakespeare in about two hours and the one who plays all the women does an amazing Hamlet. I even got called to the stage once to be Ophelia briefly! This is a show worth so much...a two hour car ride being nothing. Even if you have to sit next to someone stinky all the way. Both there and back.  Oh, and Hamlet was written after the death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, due to plague.
My husband insists I read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Which I will do. Someday. When he's finished writing the series. I hate waiting for books to come out. Apparently the 7th was his notes compiled into book form because he had horrendous writer's block and deadline was looming.
Rudyard Kipling I have yet to read but have always wanted to. I love Tiger Tiger. True, it's only a poem, but something in it catches at me.
Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maude Montgomery. I've never lost my love for these books and now that I'm older I understand the later books of the series much better and relate to Anne better.
White Fang by Jack London. Simply a well-written, touching, endearing adventure story almost from White Fang's point of view but not. Also Call of the Wild.
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. This was so ahead of its time and so beautifully written I cried when it ended. Due to how it ends and also the fact that I was out of book! Beautiful background description and character reaction to circumstance.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I like this one for it's realism and pull on colonial America and the effect of the war on the formation of society as shown through the lives of four girls in Concord Massachusetts. Jo is my favorite, but then I think Jo is everyone's favorite.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It has such real people for characters the story sometimes staggers, but it pulls together well and makes for a good read overall. My copy is highlighted and underlined all through since I had to read and analyze the work for English.
The Killer Angels by ... I don't remember the author's name. I don't have a copy of this one, but I read it in high school for American History. It's written about the Civil War through the experiences of the soldiers and commanders who fought in it. Very engaging and deeply felt.
Manga -
Sadly, the only one I possess is the first Sailor Moon. I want to get the rest, hang it all! The scouts are so much better in Manga format than in anime! I also want all of the Ranma 1/2 stuff.
Fan Fiction -
SM OMOI of course! Sorry, that's the extent of my knowledge on Fiss' writing. I never saw Neon Genesis Evangelion so I wasn't attracted the fan fics of it. Is a grasp of the series necessary to understanding Higher Learning? I also read Mistletoe.
Also, a Sephiroth fan fic by Bishonen no Miko. Mmmm...Sephi sama...drool... It's the Mako eyes. Yummy...and good fan art from her too.
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