In no particular order:
1. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo—this book radicalized me. Read it when I was in the 7th grade and my parents didnt know what had hit them!
2. Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole—discovered this in a little bookstore in Portland, OR called Through the Looking Glass when I was 14 and thought it was pure magic. It still is.
3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner—Faulkner was a genius and this book is the height of his creative force.
4. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier—is there a more finely crafted psychological suspense novel?
5. Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls—this book was one of the first to make me really FEEL the story. I read it so many times my mom finally banned it from the house!
6. ‘Salems Lot by Stephen King—mostly because it was my very first King and it scared the bejezus out of me. I made all my friends read it and we thought this new guy, King, was really great. (It was 1975, who had heard of him?)
7. Gate to Women’s Country by Sherri S. Tepper—this is a sci/fi fantasy novel, but it is one of the best examinations of relationships between the sexes I have ever read. Tepper creates an entire universe that is entirely convincing.
8. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens—Dickens can tell a story and this one is a classic. I just couldn’t put it down and have reread it several times, always finding something new.
9. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice—as far as I’m concerned Rice has never duplicated the skill and finesse she exhibits in this novel. When I first read it I was already a fan of the genre and she shattered all the conventions.
10. Into the Forest by Jean Hegland—a disturbing and convincing look at what happens when society as we know it falters. Questions about human nature are ultimately answered hopefully, which is where I’d like to align myself I guess.

Jeez, I cant believe I’ve managed to limit it to 10 . . .