ITT recommend your favourite book

I've run out of excellent books - what is your favourite read? Tell us a bit about why you like the book so much, too. And if you can't choose just one, list a few! Please :) 
I'll start

1. Vanity Fair
Because of the epic romance. Also I'd never read a book before this where I could picture every single character clearly. I also *liked* every character in some way. Amelia especially.

or

2. 20,000 leagues under the sea
There was a LOT of boring fish-listing in this book, but there was also Captain Nemo to balance out the lame. He's maybe my favourite literary character, and the interaction between him and Professor Arronax had me hooked.

MEG by Steve Alten

Epic shark novel series.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

You should also read Candide.

>>40

 Seconded, Mieville is fantastic. Restored my faith in the capacity of genre writing to be relevant and fresh. Though I think I liked Perdido Street Station just a little more than The Scar.

 Other favourites:

 Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood, or The Wind-up Bird Chronicles. Very different books... go with Norwegian Wood if you want something fairly conventional but perfectly executed and completely beautiful, or The Wind-up Bird Chronicles if you're into surrealism.

 Vladmir Nabokov - Lolita. No, really, it's literature, take it the fuck seriously. Probably the greatest wordsmith to grace the English language since Shakespeare. And very, very funny.

 Henry Miller - Tropic of Cancer. Obscene, hilarious genius. Chuck Palahniuk and all his ilk could never have got off the ground without this guy paving the way.

The whole Dark Tower series by Stephen King

>>84
I wouldn't say WHOLE. I thought the 4th book dragged a bit in places, and the 6th just seemed like filler between the awesome of the 5th and 7th.

>>85
IMO, the Roland/Susan story in 4 is better than the rest of the series.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is absolutely hilarious. The writing is just phenomenal and Ignatius is probably my favorite character in anything I've read, just because while his physical appearance and absurd personality are so outrageous, his narration makes him seem so believable and victimized. Definitely a book to be re-read a few times. (I don't if someone has already mentioned this, I haven't looked through the whole thread)

1984 - George Orwell
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk

I could list many more, but these are my general favorites.

>>83
You and me have similar tastes. Thus, I will check out this Mieville author.

Also, The Giving Tree. ;_;

+1 The Old Man and the Sea. God, I love that book.

"A Clockwork Orange," Anthony Burgess

Make it the edition with the extra chapter. Yes, it is much better than the movie.

>>31
This and The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany; both by John Irving

Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
Chocolat - Joanne Harris
The Pirate's Daughter - Margaret Cezair-Thompson
The Duppy - Anthony C. Winkler

Still Life with Woodpecker-Tom Robbins
Jitterbug Perfume-Also Tom Robbins.

While I do feel that Everyone should read Catcher in The Rye, simply for it's cultural value, it's probably my least favorite of Salinger's books/stories.

Nine Stories (particularly "Perfect day for a Banannafish" and "For Esme, With Love and Squaller")
Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenter and Seymour, an Introduction
Franny and Zooey

All the work dealing with the Glass family is much better, IMO.

Also, if you feel like going on an allegorical hay-ride, take a look at Dante's Devine Comedy.

The Annex is fucking awesome.

http://annex.wikia.com