I read. I read way too much, as Zurie will almost certainly attest to.

Let's see ... I like Salinger, but not in the blind way that most people do. Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey, Seymour: An Introduction, and a handful of his Nine Stories are exquisite. But as an author, he's too self-serving as some of his unpublished work and lifestyle will attest to. Read a biography; he was kind of a jerk.

I enjoy Chuck Palahniuk's satires, except Diary, which left me cold, and Hauntings which I've yet to read. Yes, Fight Club was excellent but the movie was better, as was his later novel Lullaby, which I feel is him at the top of his game. Can't wait for Rant: An Oral Autobiography.

I'll take anything by Pratchett and Gaiman and gobble it up over a weekend.

I have an entire bookcase devoted to Stephen King. I thoroughly enjoy his writings because, like him or not, the man can spin a yarn that you'll follow to the very end ... even if you don't like where it leads you. I have a bunch in paperback, to be certain, and many in hardcover, several first editions: Firestarter, IT, most of his newer novels, and my friend found me a bloody first edition of Eyes of the Dragon, which is almost impossible.

the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a book I'm surprised I don't see listed here, as it seems, judging by some of the other lists here, right up some of your proverial alleys. It's kind of like a modern Catcher in the Rye. Definitely worth checking out.

Everyone in today's world should read Catch 22 to understand the excruciatingly beautiful madness that permeates military actions.

I'm not much of a fantasy reader, just a genre I never got too heavily into, but I do enjoy Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Lemony Snicket too, although that's more dark satire than fantasy. And of course, Pratchett, but he's just a god.

The original Ender's Game series is fantastic and the first book alone is a must read. In fact, some schools are doing units around it, which is fantastic. However, Orson Scott Card's other works I've read (Homebody, Lost Boys, and the Ender's Shadow series) are pretty banal. Not to mention that Card is a bigoted homophobe and his beliefs have started to leak into his writing.

Which brings me to my all time favorite writer, John Irving. I've only read a handful of his books so far, but The Water-Method Man, The Hotel New Hampshire, and The World According to Garp are all massively satisfying novels and I think Stephen King was right on the money when he described Irving as the modern Charles Dickens. My favorite book of his -- and favorite book in general -- A Prayer For Owen Meany best emphasizes his command over the written word. The man is astounding.

And of course, I've read a good many "classics", but I don't like to list those, since they make me sound pretentious. Well, more pretentious than usual.