I mainly read fantasy/sci-fi, so books I've recently read that I think are worth mentioning:
A Song of Ice and Fire (series)- George R.R. Martin (An amazing series, can't recommend this one enough. Very dark fantasy series with some brilliant characters. HBO are doing a TV show of the series too)
The First law (trilogy)- Joe Abercrombe (Fantastic characters, each with their good and bad points, and all with their human side and a varying but delightfully evil one)
Dune- Frank Herbert (Classic sci-fi, don't think much more needs to be said)
The Malazan Book of the Fallen (series)- Steven Eriksson (Be prepared for a very long and difficult to read series of books though. Eriksson likes to shove you in the deep end early and forces you to grasp his other-worldly concepts. Rewarding if you can keep with it)
The Name of the Wind (Will eventually be a trilogy!)- Patrick Rothfuss (This book is so well written that he can describe normally boring events and make them seem special. I swear, this guy could write about someone taking a crap and make it interesting)
The Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man (trilogies)- Robin Hobb (Well written, interesting characters. Just a very good series of books)
The City and the Stars- Arthur C. Clarke (The only Arthur C. Clarke book I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A good sci-fi novel)
Nineteen Eighty-Four- George Orwell (A classic must-read. Possibly more relevant today than ever before)
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (A highly emotional story of 2 boys raised together in pre-Soviet invaded Afghanistan, but who end up on very different paths)
Magician- Raymond E. Feist (A lot of books in his series about Pug the Magician, but I still think the first one is the best. read the revised version)
Wizard's First Rule- Terry Goodkind (OK, a lot of people in this thread have already stated everything wrong with the series, but the first book is probably still worth a gander if you like fantasy. Be prepared if you go further though, as he pushes his political and philosophical views on you, and rather obviously too)
I realised some of the books above are a bit hardcore or depressing, so for some lighter reading :P
The Black Magician (trilogy)- Trudi Canavan (An easy to read series of fantasy books. A bit slow in places and she's not the best writer, but a good series nonetheless)
Dark Materials (trilogy)- Phillip Pullman (Designed for teens, but still readable for the hardcore reader)
