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The Monkey Wrench Gang; Edward Abbey
Smila's Feeling for Snow; Peter Hoeg
Blinding Light; Paul Theroux
Milroy the Magician; Paul Theroux
The Mosquito Coast; Paul Theroux- required reading for community residents (grin)
Somerset Maugham's short stories
Saki's short stories
George Santayana short stories
Letter's From Hawaii; Mark Twain

Anything by Haruki Murakami
Anything by David Mitchell
Anything by Ben Elton

I'll add to this as time passes. There's a huge list here. I've left out obvious reads like The Lord of the Rings because that should pretty much go without saying and pretty much everyone has read it. I've read it about fifteen time and out loud at least three or four. That used to be a Christmas gift of mine which ended when my relationships stopped recycling.

[Village Idiot]

I'd add Frank Herbert's Dune to any list of recommended reading, among others.

[m_astera]

I've read CS Lewis' Narnia books aloud to several girlfriends and my children.  Makes me smile just thinking about them.

I've always been a fantasy and SF fan, but only if it's literate as well.

IMO, the best "fantasy" written to date is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.  Personally I'd vote it the best English language fiction written to date, period.  I've read most of the books three or more times, always finding new marvels.  And I almost never read fiction more than once.

Jordan died last year, apparently without finishing the series, but the eleven or twelve volumes he did finish will, I believe, stand the test of time.  It's the only fiction I brought with me when I left the USA.

[covkid]

Seeming that  south/central American countries are a favourite location for many posters here as a destination  for the new shangri-la, may i suggest 'The secret of the Incas;Myth astronomy and the war against time' [/i] by Dr William Sullivan. A very interesting read for those with a penchant for meso-American history and culture.

[john c (UK)]

IMO, the best "fantasy" written to date is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.  Personally I'd vote it the best English language fiction written to date, period.  I've read most of the books three or more times, always finding new marvels.  And I almost never read fiction more than once.

Jordan died last year, apparently without finishing the series, but the eleven or twelve volumes he did finish will, I believe, stand the test of time.  It's the only fiction I brought with me when I left the USA.

Hiya, The Gathering Storm (Final book vol 12) is out on 9th November this year and is by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I have been waiting since 1992 when i read the first one, an exceptional tale.

I would add Stephen Donaldsons 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeleiver' vols 1 and 2, although it is a heavy read.

[m_astera]

"Hiya, The Gathering Storm (Final book vol 12) is out on 9th November this year and is by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I have been waiting since 1992 when i read the first one, an exceptional tale.

I would add Stephen Donaldsons 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeleiver' vols 1 and 2, although it is a heavy read."

Funny, just after I posted my rave about Jordan I decided to see what was happening and read an interview with Sanderson.  Looks like he is up for the task and is mostly filling in the blanks.  I was most pleased to read that Jordan had written the conclusion himself.

I read the first two or three Thomas Covenant books long ago.  They were very well written but a little on the depressing side for my taste.  Maybe that's what you mean by a "heavy read".