My favorites are;
Tithe by Holly Black
Dhampir by Barb & J.C. Hendee
Theif Of Lives by Barb & J.C. Hendee
The Darker Side: Generations of Horror edited by John Pelan
Thats all for the time being.
I probably haven’t read a Parker novel in 20 yrs. A lot of these writers tend to lose it quickly. Try “Repo” for a good mystery set in New England. Ex cop and a woman who runs a business repossessing high-end boats.
I don’t read a lot anymore. I do love Hemingway. I like the short stories more than the novels. I guess the last novel I read was the last Harry Potter book. I have a great fondness for historical fiction that centers around the early british isles especially the celtic period before and during roman occupation. I used to write a little myself mostly short stories. I just have too much to do since I retired.
Ron
The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr.
The entire Elvis Cole detective series by Robert Crais.
Anything by George Pelecanos (currently reading Shoedog.
Anything by Dennis LeHane, including Mystic River and Shelter Island.
Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle and some of the recent pastiches.
Anything by Mark Twain, William Butler Yeats, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.
Any baseball book by Bill James.
The Tolkein Trilogy.
The Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke.
Anything by Michael Connelly.
Yes, I love detective mysteries, the classics, fictional history, fantasy and baseball…
Philo
I have lots of books I love, but whenever I see a “my favorite book” thread, I have to suggest A Confederacy of Dunces. This is the greatest book every written. Right now I’m also reading House of Leaves which is completely insane, and also Orthodoxy, which is awesome, but a religous book, so I dunno if ppl are into that sorta thing.
Let me stress again, that Confederacy of Dunces is a must read for all english speaking people 
cheers!
Brendan
I just looked through the shelves and realised the books I’ve read the most times are ‘Larkrise To Candleford’, ‘Green Rushes’ (now normally published under the title ‘The Quiet Man’), ‘Last Night’s Fun’ and all my Jerome K Jerome books.
BTW has nobody recently read ‘The Star of the Sea’? I recommend it highly .
I most definitely forgot those two. I also really liked Shadow of the Hegemon.
I also forgot kids’ books. One fish two fish red fish blue fish is my absolute fav by Dr Seuss. I also like the Lorax and Dr Seuss’s ABC’s.
written or co-written by Maurice Sendak are the Little Bear stories and Where the wild things are
Staying at someone’s house, she had a book called Stella Luna that is absolutely wonderful. It’s about a fruit bat who’s raised by birds. Lovely story and lovely illustrations.
Oh! I love One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I have read that book (to kids and to myself!) at least a hundred times. Have you ever read another Seuss book, The Butter Battle Book? It’s absolutely precious. I love it.
I’d say that’s true of all genres of fiction.
Ah, books… my ever-faithful companions! I honestly don’t know what I’d do if someone took all my books away.
Some of my long-term faves:
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Anna Karenina
Fantasy Fiction:
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series
all of the Harry Potter books
Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern series
Terry Brooks’ Shannara series
These are just a few out of many. I also love reading Celtic Mythology books and faery tales from around the world, in addition to all my spirituality and healing books. Right now I’m reading Alchemical Psychology, by Thom Cavalli, Music and Sound in the Healing Arts, by John Beaulieu, The Celts, by Jean Markale, Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy, by Robert Jourdain, and The Mabinogi and Other Welsh Medieval Tales, by Patrick K. Ford.
Best,
Ad
I’m not sure I agree. Lots of crime fiction is plot driven. In the crime group, police procedurals are less concerned with character than how cops (or lawyers or crime scene techs) do things. There seem to be some romance writers moving to mysteries. I’m not sure a 5 page description of the anatomy of the cop’s girl friend/soulmate and her perspiration patterns offers much character development. There are many writers whose pure talent with language seems to be their driving force. Others focus on history or politics. I’m not being judgemental here. There are good bad and great books in all catagories. Some of each kind are built around character others aren’t. It’s a good thing people have different tastes.
To confirm the good judgement of previous posters: “In A Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson-A Yank’s take on Australia. My mother sent a copy to my girlfriend and we had a constant tug-of-war over it. Bryson could be an ambassador if he would only lower himself. 
-also: Mark Helprin’s “Winter’s Tale”, a story of an Irish burglar, gangs in the Five Points, cooking, railroads, metalwork, engineering, a horse, snow, etymology, journalism, courage, love & sacrifice. I found a dog-eared copy in Seattle’s “Half-Price Bookstore” for fifty cents hours before starting a three-day train trip from Seattle to Detroit. It really improved the trip. I’ve
seen this book described as “…wildly inventive..”, and its true.
-Will Durant’s “Our Oriental Heritage”, part of his and Ariel Durant’s compendium of world history. I like this one best as it details the cultural cross-fertilization of ancient cultures in the near and middle east coherently. Invaluable for those of us without a “classical” education.
-Erskine Childer’s “The Riddle of the Sands”, a good World War I-era spy thriller on the North Sea.
Childer’s own story was dramatic as well, and he was executed in 1922 for carrying a gun given him by Michael Collins:
http://www.irish-society.org/Hedgemaster%20Archives/childers_-_pt1.htm
http://www.irish-society.org/Hedgemaster%20Archives/childers.htm
-Patrick O"Brian’s serial Aubrey/Maturin series- holds up well to repeat readings.
-Jorge Amado’s “Home is the Sailor”-a langorous tale of a genial upper-crust Brazilian layabout called upon in a crisis to perform the role he is purportedly qualified for, that of a sea captain.
The only book of Bryson’s that I have read is Mother Tongue, about the English language, and there were more than a few factual errors in it. I assumed that he wrote about languages, but it looks like he just writes about anything he chooses, which would explain the errors.
I’m on a short story binge right now, reading lit mags like Night Train and Tin House; the weekly New Yorker fiction; and I’m going through the Best American Short Stories anthologies for ones I missed.
I’m also reading young adult lit, because I’m writing a YA book and I’m trying to immerse myself in the form.
Last Book I read was House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. Oh, I read Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven too.
For those of you who like short fiction, Night Train magazine is a terrific journal, whose stories are literary but accessible. I highly recommend tracking it down. A list of stores is available here
The All of It by Jeannette Haien is my favorite novel. It is simply a good story, told with compassion and humor. It challenges lots of judgements made by many of us, and conveys hope. It’s also written in dialect, which makes it fun.
I never used to read non-fiction, until I married Vince. Now I can add some good biographies and field journals to my list of favorites, too.
Otherwise I’m immersed in early Spanish ballads at the moment. If I read too much in English I start feeling guilty.
Jennie
I loved James Morrow’s The Wine of Violence some years back. I’ve been wondering if I should break down and buy his Godhead trilogy; have any of you sf readers read that? My beastly local library does not have such a heretical work, of course. It sounds marvelous.
How could I forget, Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn.
He’s written some out there stuff, like [/i]Gun With Occasional Music, a futuristic detective story with a talking kangaroo, for example, that I actually enjoyed; but Motherless Brooklyn is a modern masterpiece - the inner workings of a mind of an orphan criminal turned detective with a heart and tourette syndrome. The contrast between the speech and the active intelligent mind lurking behind it is unforgettable.
Philo
The Little Engine That Could – I always cry when she get those “good thing for boys and girls” over the hill.
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel – An allegory for life: Work long and hard and be rewarded by a substandard minimum wage job.
Candy – Much more fun than Candide
The Serge Storms chronicles by Tim Dorsey (Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Stingray Shuffle, Orange Crush, Triggerfish Twist) – see the Serge Storms Florida Experience here – http://www.timdorsey.com/
Corporate Ethics for Dummies by George Bush (with Ken Lay). No, wait. That hasn’t been released yet.
Makes me think of the Byrds doing Child of the Universe–one of my all-time favorites.
…I should have “Chronicles: Vol.1” in my grimey little hands by this weekend. I. Can’t. Wait. Viva Bob!!