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Well, here is my list of books you should definitely read.
Catch 22 by Joseph Hellar
Wonderful, amusing, sad, satirical look at the pointlessness of war.
Secret life of Pi by Yann Martel
Already recommended by another poster. This is a great book! Hard to explain easily, but it's the story of one boy's survival whilst wrecked at sea and his spiritual journey along the way. Has some memorable surreal moments...
L.A. Confidential by James Elroy
This is probably one of the best crime novels of recent years. Actually it's one out of four "LA Quartet" books (all of which I recommend) that offer a great insight into the seedy side of life in LA during the 40's and 50's. Fantastic, rapid-fire dialogue and almost "stream of conciousness" narrative.
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
You've probably heard of this one. :-) Great book.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
I don't often recommend science fiction (and hardly read any of it anymore), but this one is absolutely superb. Whilst I'm at it, any of Iain M Banks' SF novels are worth a look too.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A wonderful book on injustice, humanity, crime and racial tension set in South during the 30's
[b]The Little Friend[b] by Donna Tartt
The much anticipated new novel from the author of The Secret History. Bears some passing resemblences to Lee's work, this is a good book (not a great book). Well worth reading though...
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Authors semi-authobigraphical novel dealing with being a POW during the fire-bombing of Dresden in WWII.
I could go on and on, but I'll let others chime in... :-)
Mr Mephisto
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