For Literature: Anything by Dostoevsky rules. Kafka has some pretty intense stuff. Dickens is usually fun. Jack London has a lot of very engaging stuff. Hemingway is always enjoyable to read.
More contemporary stuff: Gene Wolfe is incredible, mindblowing. Scott Lynch's books are really good, so are Daniel Abraham's. George RR Martin goes without saying. R. Scott Bakker writes well constructed fantasy with a philosophical edge. Neil Gaiman rules. Patrick Rothfuss only has one book out, but it might be my favorite ever. And I'll throw in a recommendation for Joe Abercrombie and Richard K. Morgan as well; both bad-ass authors.
I know you said books, but I like pretty much every book by those authors :p.
Crusty VGchartz old timer who sporadically returns & posts. Let's debate nebulous shit and expand our perpectives. Or whatever.
