Must Reads?

i have been thinking of doing this for quite awhile and just have been too out of sorts to really think about it...

i'm going to be doing a top-ten thing for the next few posts... more for myself to see how this changes, and how quickly it DOES change. first up, novels. and it will include series. only gonna write anything about the first five of the list.

1. the stand, stephen king

this is one of those books i read (and have only read once) that changed my way of thinking in pretty much every way. it made me see king in a new light, it made me see literature itself differently, and the nature of good and evil is so clearly defined while still being someone... shadowy. hands down my favorite novel of all time.

2. the dark tower (series), stephen king

king's self-proclaimed magnum opus. my favorite series of books of all time in any genre (but thinking about it,  how many series of books are there that are not fantasy?). the ending blew me away, the tale was one i felt an attachment to, and the connections with king's other works are astoundingly insane/genius. 

3. dragonlance (series)

only the weis and hickman books count here. another fantasy epic, but one that never takes itself too seriously. it has become a sort of guilty pleasure for me to admit loving these books, but they really were my "life after harry potter" novels... started them after reading harry potter 4 and loved every minute. 

4. the terror, dan simmons

i read this novel this year, didn't expect much... i have never really been into novels that take a real event and fictionalize them. this though, it was just that good to me.

5. jonathan strange and mr norrel, susanna clarke

another book that i read this year.. the second i read this year as a matter of fact. it was one of those novels i had tried to read numerous times and just couldn't get into, the writing style just bored me to no end. plus the footnotes really bothered me. yet, when i finally managed to get through it this year... i realized how well thought out it was. how much back story was laid out. just everything sort of came together in one package.

6. salem's lot, stephen king

7. bag of bones, stephen king

8. harry potter (series), j.k. rowling

9. shogun, james clavell 

10. the strain, chuck hogan

11. invisible monsters, chuck palahniuk

12. insomnia, stephen king

13.drood, dan simmons

14. of mice and men, john steinbeck

15. pet sematary, stephen king

16. the shining, stephen king

so not really a "top ten" i guess, and yes, i think stephen king is the best author of the last 75 years.