I didn't like Gardens of the Moon. Read like an extended D&D scenario.

So I've been picking my way through the books mentioned, some I loved, some not so much.

So far,
American Gods - favorite mentioned
The Corrections - liked it a lot
Blood Meridian - Good book, boring in the middle, not my favorite.
Killing Pablo - Interesting, short read.
The Heroin Diaries - Really scary glimpse into the world of addiction.
I've had trouble getting into Kafka on the Shore and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, they just don't seem to be my taste right now.

Does anyone have any recommendations based on this list? I also just read Smoke and Mirrors which is Neil Giamans short stories and am probably going to start Neverwhere: A Novel, but would like to keep my list updated. This thread has not let me down so far, so lets hear some more!

Thanks to everyone ITT who recommended The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon - I just finished it this morning and thought it was brilliant. Based on your collective recommendations I'll be picking up The Corrections, Cloud Atlas, Predictably Irrational, The God Delusion and American Gods for my (Australian) summer reading.

Would like to recommend Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance. I read this book straight after Shantaram. I get the love and the hate for Shantaram, I thoroughly enjoyed it but also felt a sense of being duped by cliche as I was reading (which is possibly what stood out to the haters), and also felt like a good 100-200 pages of the book could've been taken out and it would've been just as good.

Anyway the reason I say this is that while reading A Fine Balance I felt like it was almost a better replacement of Shantaram. idk if that makes sense since the books aren't exactly the same or anything, but Mistry is a lot more refined and understated with the way he goes about telling his story.

Another one I enjoyed this year was Bereft by Australian writer Chris Womersley. It's a gothic novel about loss set in outback Australia in the 1920s.

As far a writing and wonderful metaphors, I would say The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. I love his style and the flow of the book is great. I think it is a YA. He describes ocean life beautifully.

for poker players, Poker Nation by bellin is a page turner

I've started infinite jest based primarily on the recommendations itt, but I have no idea wtf is going on yet, although the author's style is interesting, for lack of a better word. I'll soldier on because if you can't trust edf who can you trust?

Also the latest G.R.R.M I found to be a bit too dense. I'm all for a complicated, intricate fantasy novel, but I struggled getting through that one, while the opposite couldn't be more true for the prequels. Am I alone on that?

Infinite Jest is a very divisive book. Personally I think it's a piece of crap. I don't think you're going to enjoy it if you found GRRM to be intricate.

Weird post but..Anyone know of some good books on "positive thinking" or something along that line? I've had anxiety for a while now and it's mostly because I am extremely scared of death. I know it's stupid to worry about it so much but lately it's on my mind a lot. Obviously I need to see a therapist or something soon but it's not easy to do where I am so it may take a little while.

got through 2 pages of the list and def some goodies i'll have to check out. mine are all sciencey:

1. elegant universe (1998 but let's squeak that in there). briane greene. he wrote in the past 10 years 2 more books but for science lovers neither were as in depth or informative though the latter ones gave better visuals since they were meant for the general public.
2. a brief history of nearly everything by bill bryson. EXCELLENT book that is a good mix between the science of greene and the broad appeal of Iwritefor Everyman
3. before the beginning by martin reese (another string theory book)
4. the users guide to the human brain. very cool book that is 'tough' to read but SUPER informative.
5. freakonomics1/2 by steven levitt (not sure when 1 came out but both are great).

so my contributions probably suck from a "read before bedtime" selection but if you are interested in sciencey stuff i highly recommend these.

my fiction contribution: Girl w/ the dragon tatoo. read it in like 2 plane flights. REALLY intriguing.

Updates?

My submission: Papillon

Last 10 years: Publication date 1969

I know this post is from 4 years ago but I'm ****ing shocked anyone would mention the Kite runner in this thread. It's not the worst book I've ever read but it's pretty awful.

The Tender Bar by JR Moehringer. After reading it at his final match ever at the US Open in New York, Andre Agassi called the author that night to ask him to ghost write his memoir- ironically called "Open" and was in vegas two weeks later living with JR writing the book. Both are amazing but The Tender Bar is the best book/move/show I've ever digested. His writing is beyond surreal and inspiring. Not sure if Open was already mentioned?

link for The Tender Bar- http://www.amazon.com/The-Tender-Bar...the+tender+bar

And all the social/cultural/economic books like The Tipping Point, Blink, What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Caldwell, The Wisdom of Crowds by James Suroieki, Freakanomics mentioned above, and all the Chuck Klosterman Pop Culture books- Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, IV, and my favorite Eating the Dinosaur.

The Baroque Trilogy and Anathem, both by Neal Stephenson

Cryptonomicon too, though now older than 10 years (so is Quicksilver, just). Those are some of my favourites, I have hardback firsts of all his books.

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway was one of the best books I've read in the past couple of years. Also really enjoyed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Some books which might help:
Learned Helplessness by Martin Seligman
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Path of Least Resistance by Robert Fritz

^Seligman book above is actually entitled Learned Optimism, which discusses the concept of learned helplessness

Would definitely +1 Flow. I found it cleared my head and made me feel quite positive and motivated which sounds like something you are searching for.

Any specifics that make you feel this way? I started it a while ago, and after about 10 pages I knew it was brilliant. How many works of fiction have you read that take you on such a varied journey of thoughts and topics? Obviously some people don't like endnotes, and it's absolutely over the heads of 98% of the population. But crap?

Now Martin is a millionaire and nobody knows who the **** Steven Erikson is. (One time HBO!!)

They get better. I was a bit ambivalent after GotM but i'm a fan now.

I thought a Visit From the Goon Squad was great.

The Adventures of Cavalier and Klay has its moments, but I really only finished it for the sake of finishing it. As others have said, it dragged on, and I was ready to be done with it. Chabon is an awesome writer, though.