Don't know if they count as books, but I would recommend the Scott Pilgrim series. It's chock full of win!

"Spy" by Ted Bell.
Genre: Action Thriller

"Gone for Good" by Harlen Coben.
Genre: Murder Mystery

The Circle Trilogy consist of "Black", "Red", "White", and "Green" by Ted Dekkar.
Genre: Christian Fantasy

"The Shining" by Stephen King.
Genre: Horror

The Lonesome Dove series consisting of "Dead Man's Walk", "Comanche Moon", "Lonesome Dove", and "Streets of Laredo" by Larry McMurtry.
Genre: Western

These are my favorite books

Danny Wallace books

"Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke changed the way I look at sci-fi books. It's an oldie, but a goodie, so check it out.

I highly recommend any book by Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, or Michael Crichton.

Personal favourites by each:

Pratchett:
1) Small Gods
2) Maskerade
3) The Last Continent

Douglas Adams
1) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
3) The Long Dark Tea-Team of the Soul

Crichton:
1) State of Fear
2) Jurassic Park
3) Sphere

I also enjoy Wodehouse, Tom Clancy, Lewis Black, Stephen Fry, Rob Grant, and occasionally Steve Alten.

I also enjoyed the Harry Potter series, but most people have already read that.

I recommend that all copies of the Twilight "saga" be burned, salted, put to flame, urinated upon, and set alight. Necessarily in that order.

Anything by A. Lee Martinez is pretty awesome especially Monster and Divine Misfortune.

Hmm...

"The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan

"Cell" by Stephen King

"The Coldest Winter Ever" by Sistah Souljah

"The Snow Garden" by Christopher Rice

"The Screaming Room" by Thomas O'Callaghan


This one's a very small (and old) book, but it's really good:

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

"Bimbos of the Death Sun" by Sharyn Maccrumb. It's a book about a murder at sci-fi convention. Genre: Humor/mystery.

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
Assholes Finish First

The last one I read that I rather enjoyed was The Fabric of the Cosomos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene

-Shoe

For the Fantasy Fan: The Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. Esp the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy and the newer Foundations, which the third book is to be released this October. Basically you have people born with special abilities (ie mind-speech, fire-starting, etc) that are 'chosen' by telepathic horses to defend the kingdom of Valdemar...trust me it way better than it sounds.

There is also the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain. Basically a girl get dragged in to save the world whether she likes or not type story.

And an alternate 'what-if' history series, Alvin the Maker books. Basically it a what if the little knacks or magics that superstitious people believed in during the early years of the US were real. Let's just say the Native Americans find it way easier to defend themselves by the 2nd or 3rd book.

For the Sci-Fi Fan: I would recommend the early Dune books and if you're brave Battlefield Earth by Hubbard. The books are way better and easier to understand than the movies..Both are on the older side, but good reads.

You like a little undead with your sci-fi then World War Z by Max Brooks and its a much easier read.


If you happened to have liked the Harry Potter series, maybe you might like the US version Percy Jackson, the Olympians series by Rich Riodan. Basically there is a summer camp that teaches the half-mortal children of the old Greek gods. The Greek gods are now in the US because it is considered (by the story) as the center of Western civilization as was Greece in classic times and the Empire State Building is the new Olympus.

I stopped reading horror stories at the Stand by King, so I really don't have any recommendations for that. Mystery, Western, Romance, etc I could never get into so no recommendations there.