I tend to pick up books that are fantastic, magical or science fiction because I love to read about people and places that have abilities and qualities that are not quite possible in the real world.   I also pick up non-fiction books that, along with their entertainment value, are educational as well.   

The Dead Zone

Stephen King

fiction

A young teacher named Johnny Smith is "gifted," through a car accident that leaves him comatose for nearly five years, with a strange precognitive/telepathic ability.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ken Kesey

fiction

The book which inspired the classic movie.  The book is written from the perspective of the Indian, Bromdon.  Absolutely Stunning

Forever Odd

Dean Koontz

fiction

"Forever Odd" is a second novel of Dean Koontz' lovable character, Odd Thomas.   "Odd Thomas" is also the name of the first book.  Odd is well ... Odd.  He see's the ghost of Elvis and also others.   They come to him seeking help.   A very great character and story!

Alchemy of Mind

Diane Ackerman

non-fiction

A facinating read about the human mind.   Not only was it beautifully written in metaphors, it was also written with a sense of wonder and awe at the body's most complex part.  Wonderful!

Monstrosity

Edward Lee

fiction

Clare Prentiss thinks her new home and her new job as security chief at the clinic seems too good to be true. But the truth is worse than she could ever imagine as Clare is soon stalked by monstrous creations of genetic mutation.

The Regulators
Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

fiction

An evil creature called Tak uses the imagination of an autistic boy to shift a residential street in small-town Ohio into a world so bizarre and brutal that only a child could think it up.

Desperation
Stephen King

fiction

Nevada is mostly a long stretch of desert you cross on the way to somewhere else. And with someone else, if you're lucky...because it's a scary place.

The Heart of the Witch

Judith Hawkes

fiction

The Lockley Arms hotel stands as the meeting place for a coven of witches. When the hotel's owners perish in a mysterious car accident, the coven's leader searches for suitable replacements, for the coven membership must equal 13. The teenage twins who live across the street from the hotel volunteer to join the witches's circle. But during their apprenticeship, an evil force kidnaps several of the town's little boys, and the coven must pool its power to combat this sinister threat.

Industrial Magic
Kelley Armstrong

fiction

Paige Winterbourne, that enterprising witch, now finds herself an outcast, kicked out of and by her own coven. Having moved from Boston to Portland, Oregon, Paige’s attempts to create and establish a new and more supportive coven for the technological age are failing disastrously

Book of Spirits
Author of "Book of Shadows"

James Reese - fiction

In September 1826, the witch known as Herculine boards a ship for Virginia,leaving behind a childhood filled with scandal, dark magic and mystery.

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthor Golden
fiction

We follow Chiyo as she is sold from her poor fishing village and parents she loves to a reknown Geisha House in Gion. In this house Chiyo is transformed from an inquisitive young girl to Sayuri the most sought after Geisha in Gion.

Edgar Allan Poe:

Complete Tales & Poems

fiction

This collection of 73 short stories and 48 poems includes such masterpieces as The Fall of the House of Usher, The Purloined Letter, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and Murders in the Rue Morgue

Dracula
Bram Stoker
fiction

A naive young Englishman travels to Transylvania to do business with a client, Count Dracula. After showing his true and terrifying colors, Dracula boards a ship for England in search of new, fresh blood. Unexplained disasters begin to occur in the streets of London before the mystery and the evil doer are finally put to rest.

The Game
Penetrating the Secret Life of Pickup Artists

Neil Strauss - non-fiction

Very entertaining read of a nerd-to-jerk story of the author -- who has written books about Marilyn Manson and other rock stars.  It's bound like a bible -- even feels like one in your hands -- a clever marketing gimmick that got me to buy the book without knowing much about it.

Heather Graham
"Ghost Walk"

fiction

Heather weaves a tale of "I see dead people" set in New Orleans.  It wasn't scary/gory and the historic facts of New Orleans made it a colorful story.  It could have used more direct ghost contact.   Easy fun read.  I would definately buy more books by this author. 

Mary Roach
"Stiff: The curious lives of cadavers"

non-fiction

Mary Roach tackles a subject that most of us avoid and she does it with a wonderful sense of humor.   What happens to the human body after death?   What if the body was donated to science?  What happens to the body when it decays?   Have you always wondered but were afraid to ask?   Well, here you go.

Mary Roach
"Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife"

non-fiction

Mary Roach again brings a sense of humor to an otherwise serious topic.   Even the introduction was funny -- and I don't usually read "notes from the author".    I don't recommend reading exerpts of this book to those religious types that are intolerant of other's opinions of religion. 

Edward Lee

"City Infernal"

occult fiction

Enter the city of hell -- Mephihistopolis - -with it's blood red sky, gore galore and plenty of shocking literary visuals.   The world he creates is rich in detail and plenty of suspense.