1. Fight Club — Chuck Palahniuk

What can I say? This was the first book I was reccomended and read for pleasure. Yes, the movie is better (how often do you hear that?). But after reading it, I said, “I want to do that.” It will always hold a special place in my heart.

2. House of Leaves — Mark Z Danielewski

There is not a harder hitting psychological mind fuck of a book than this one, here. Period. If you think there is, read this again. I’ve never been haunted by a book, this one did it for weeks.

3. Syrup — Maxx Barry

Click the link above, read the first paragraph. You’ll understand why this is one of the coolest books out there. And the fact that it’s a marketing satire started the wheels turning in my own authorly aspirations. This book made me think about who I want to be when I grow up… if that ever happens.

4. The Locklear Letters — Michael Kun

This is one of the fastest reads out there. It’s written in letters from the main character and will have you laughing out loud on every page. It’s not only a cool style, it’s a great story. Check out the follow-up, too; Everybody Says Hello.

5. Torture the Artist — Joey Goebel

This is basically the story of every artist out there in some form or another. It’s funny, it’s witty, and the guy who wrote it is the bee’s knees. Vincent will always have a special place in my heart… poor guy.

6. At The Gates of The Animal Kingdom — Amy Hempel

First lines are often what make us want to read books. Her story, The Harvest, has my favorite first line from any story/book, ever. “The year I began to say vahz instead of vase, a man I barely knew nearly accidentally killed me.” Now, read it again… yeah… it’s awesome.

7. Flowers For Algernon — Daniel Keyes

If you’re looking for one of the most heart-wrenching books ever written, read this book. At some points it’s painful to read, you’ll most likely cry, but it’s all worth it. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks ago… June 15th, 2014. :-/

8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — Hunter S Thompson

Again… with these openings! If you’re not dying to read every page of this book after the opening, I don’t know if we have anything in common…

“The trunk of the car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . . . Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.”

9. Leaving Las Vegas — John O’Brien

His dad called this his suicide note, which is sad, but it’s one of those books that will have you laughing out loud on one page and in tears the next. It’s a beautifully depressing book.

10. Contortionist’s Handbook — Craig Clevenger

After Palahniuk said that it was one of his favorite books from the last 10 years, I had to dive in. I can’t count on one hand how many times I’ve read it… give me a comment if you get the joke.

11. Hell’s Half Acre — Will Christopher Baer

I know it’s a top 10 list, but… this one needs to be here too. I mean, just the opening! “Pink gray sky, the color of muscle.” Where do you go from there? Dude’s amazing. It’s a shame we haven’t heard anything from him in years.

12. Shella — Andrew Vacchs

I know… I can’t stop. There are so many books I love. If you haven’t realized it yet, if the opening of a book takes my legs out… I can get behind it, check this one: “The first time I killed someone, I was scared. Not scared to be doing it—I did it because I was scared.”

Go read all of these and we can compare notes. ;-)

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