Best Books You Have Read?

Henryk Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis

Left Hand Of God trilogy
A Song Of Ice And Fire

The Count of Monte Cristo and World War Z are my two current favorites. For series' Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes would be my top two.

Scar Tissue; Anthony Kiedes Autobiography
Prey - Michael Chrighton

"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

A. Huxley - Brave New World
R. Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
L. Tolstoy - Anna Karenina (in no other book characters felt so real and I have read hundreds books)
J. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
The first three are not some light reading and Anna Karenina is (if you, or anyone else, is going to read this one in English get a translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky).
If you are a "beginner" when it comes to reading books, by that I mean you haven't read many books or you haven't study literature, I suggest you start with something light, like Young-Adult literature (usually something set in dystopian world), novels based (or the other way around) on games you like (I checked your profile and maybe Metro 2033 by Glukhovsky?).
I noticed a lot of people in this thread recommend classics and unfortunately classics books are usually dull when it comes to story/plot. However, what most people like about them is the way they are written (that's why people have favourite writers) and how they capture certain period in our history, or how they explore feelings, etc. Like one of my favourite teacher said: I don't necessarily read for the story itself but for the journey a good book takes me on".
If you want some more specific recommendations for you then we will need some information: what kind of movies do you like? what kind of period in history do you like? or do you prefer sci-fi? etc.

Hope it helps

My favorites among Many are the following:
Alphabet Series by Sue Grafton
Primal Fear by William Diehl
Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series by J. R. R. Tolkein
Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin

Eragon-Christopher Paolini

A Song Of Ice And Fire

Harry Potter

The Hobbit

Ender's Game

Andrzej Sapkowski - The Witcher Stories and Saga

The Hunger Games

Jumper-Steven Gould

I Am Number Four

The Host

lord of the rings

The Beach

Metro 2033

im currently reading Sea Biscuit. Its a great book.

The kingkiller chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in 3 Acts - Tom Farley

If you're a fan of Chris Farley, this is a great read. Such an inspirational character, only to be taken away too quick. Full of laughs and tears. Especially the end.

Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland

About a lonely, overweight woman. I actually don't know how to summarize this very well as I haven't read it for many years but, I loved it.

Cancer on Five Dollars a Day (chemo not included): How Humor Got Me Through the Toughest Journey of My Life - Robert Schimmel

(the late) Robert Schimmel is a dirty (but absolutely hilarious) comedian. Don't let that stop you from reading this book though. This book will make you laugh until you cry, and will also make you cry until you laugh. It's a shorter read, but once you start it's impossible to put it down. Robert takes you through his journey with cancer and how he goes about coping with his illness to helping others in the same situation. He goes into great detail about his struggles, how he lost a son to cancer and his marital struggles.

This book is vastly inspirational, and I would recommend everybody give it a read. He can be a bit crude, but that's his character.

Can't stress this recommendation enough. Such a great book.

RIP Robert.

Cloud Atlas
Blood Meridian

Joe Abercrombie's books: The First Law trilogy and the other 3 books set in the same world.

I would not be able to make a list with my favorite books. It will be a real torment to make and I'll definitely miss something, which will lead to kicking myself in the nuts.

Anything by Neal Stephenson.

Herman Hesse

James Joyce

Margit Sandemo - The Legend of the Ice People (First)
Margit Sandemo - Häxmästaren (Second) /// This series of novels has not been translated to English
Margit Sandemo - Legenden om Ljusets rike (Third) /// This series of novels has not been translated to English
+
Margit Sandemo - The Black Knights /// This series of novels has not been translated to English

The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1)
Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard #2)
The Warded Man (Demon Cycle #1)
The Blade Itself (The First Law #1)
Before They Are Hanged (The First Law #2)
The Passage (The Passage #1)
and many more... :-)

There's a lot... So in no particular order:

• Spook's Apprentice series
• Trudi Canavan's Black Magician / Traitor Spy series
• Chronicles of the Icemark
• Alpha Force series
• Harry Potter series
• Alex Rider series
• A Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones)
• Robert Muchamore's CHERUB series
• Muddle Earth
• Inheritance Cycle (Eragon / Eldest / Brisingr / Inheritance)
• Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series
• Lord of the Rings trilogy
• Hunger Games series
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
• Clive Cussler's NUMA Files or Oregon Files series

And more...

I'd say The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings, The Godfather, ...
To be honest, it really depends on your preference ^^

One of the indisputable classics is East of Eden.

Do yourself a favor and read that book.

Also, on video games, I highly suggest Masters of Doom (the story of id software)

"Chronicles of Ancient Darkness" by Michelle Paver is a wonderful saga, its target is kind of Harry Potter-like (imo). If you are looking for something that could make you reflect more of philosophy, politics and ethics you should try "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

If you're in it for the symbolism and stuff you might appreciate The discovery of heaven by Harry Mullisch. In the same trend I also love Kahlil Gibran's short stories, and Jorge Luis Borges' poetry. If you appreciate a good brainfuck now and then; DMT - the spirit molecule. Even though it's non-fiction it will definately make your mind wander :)

Going for something game related here:

• Daniel Suarez' Daemon and Freedom, the sequel
• Ready Player One (oh the memories!)
• Masters of Doom (non fiction)
• Metagame
• REAMDE (although I really love Neal Stephenson for Diamond Age and Snow Crash)
• Otherworld

The Magic of Xanth series by Piers Anthony, or any of his books for that matter.

Currently reading "It" by Steven King, it's fucking terrifying.