Been there AND done that!
Me me! I read parts of it in the Norton Anthology of Literature, and I didn’t even have to for a class! I kept waiting for it to get any good! I couldn’t imagine that anyone would engage in WRITING such a colossal waste of time without SOMETHING to show for it at the end.
Only read the first volume, didn’t get into it, but that series was massively popular in my high school in the early to mid eigties.
I used to work in a book store, and would sneak home any books that didn’t seem to be in the inventory system. Plus there are others I just don’t think anyone else has read.
Walls of Blue Coquina, by Sam Harrison. A hypnotic tale of a slow-as-molasses-yet magical summer on the Florida Gulf Coast. I absolutely can not get this book out of my mind.
The Man Who Awoke, by Lawrence Manning. I found this on a rack in a convenience store as a kid. It’s about a guy who builds an underground sleeping chamber that protects him from the cosmic radiation that is responsible for the aginf process. Every time he goes in, he comes out 5,000 years later.
The Second Greatest Story Ever Told, by Gorman Bechard. Tells the tale of the coming to Earth of Christ’s sister. Amusing, but not great.
The Bureau of Lost Souls, by Somebody Fowler. A not great but not bad collection of supernatural tales.
Necrom, by Mick Farren. Terrible alternative-reality occult/sci-fi, but somehow the story has stayed with me.
ALL of L. Frank Baum’s dozen or so original Oz books.
The Bible, cover to cover.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Latin
Some of the “Magic” Series, by Edward Eager, which include Half Magic, Knight’s Castle, Magic by the Lake, and The Time Garden (You can get these four as a boxed set I’m pretty sure I’ve read the first three). FANTASTIC books for kids. Kids living in the first third of the twentieth century discover various magic things, which always have some sort of twist. Every couple of books, the protagonists are the previous group’s children.
L. Frank Baum: I have all thirteen of the Oz books, along with most of his other children’s writings.
The Bible: Read it several times, as my Grandmother’s house was a rather more boring than anticipated.
Edward Eager: Have all seven of his books. Love them. Right up there with E. Nesbit.
Anyone remember Bridge to Teribithia? Read that when I was a kid, and absolutely loved it.
hypnotic tale of the Gulf Coast … sounds tasty … you might like Far Tortuga, too. Also, slow-as-molasses-yet-magical brings to mind John Crowley’s “Little, Big.”
The Infinity Concerto by Greg Bear. And the follow up, The Serpent Mage. I picked them up because I really liked Blood Music, and enjoyed them thoroughly. Come to think of it, I haven’t met anyone who’d read that til I recommended it, either…
George R.R. Martin’s earlier, SF books - Dying of the Light, Tuff Voyaging, Nightflyers - or his foray into rock’n’roll horror, The Armageddon Rag.
I’ve never met anyone who’s even heard of Matt Ruff. I read, and loved, Fool on the Hill a long time ago, but I lost my copy and I can’t find a new one. Sewer, Gas & Electric is also pretty good.
Well, let’s see, I read both the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues when I was a freshman in highschool, back in 1979.
In fact, my Mom gave me only volume II of TCOTC (The Illearth War) as a gift, and I read it, struggling to identify with the characters and setting since there was no introduction and Donaldson didn’t waste much space on remedial description… and I still loved it.
But I’ve hated everything else Donaldson has written. I almost made it thru two volumes of Gap, hoping it would get better, but couldn’t quite finish the second.
There are several books that I’ve wished I could discuss with people:
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Returning Creation by Janet Morris, and its sequels. Crossover SF/fantasy with adult themes. Inhabitants of the baroque, backwater planet Silistra suffer infertility, so a feudal matriarchy has arisen where the males pay for the privelige of attempting to mate with the ruling females, who ensconce themselves in palatial estates. The heiress of the richest estate finds out what it’s like to be chattel of the outcast caste. Lots of sex, violence and self-loathing by the main characters. Continues in the sequels. Perfect stuff for adolescents.
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Philosopher’s Stone by Colin Wilson. Paranormal investigator novel that starts out slow until the heroes stumble upon superhuman mental powers and then gradually discover the secrets behind Atlantis, the illuminati, lovecraftian horrors, and every other conspiratorial legend out there. A great way to introduce a young reader to these themes.
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Hellstrom’s Hive by Frank Herbert. It’s the Cheese! A mysterious California community that doesn’t import much of its food resists every effort to probe its secrets. Until our hero discovers Hellstrom’s Hive…
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Another by Herbert, this time Whipping Star. Stars are intelligent beings. The galactic government is so efficient that it includes a Bureau of Sabotage to throw monkey wrenches in the process so that citizens have a chance against their government. And someone is holding a star hostage and torturing it…
Hmmm… what else? I’ve read countless SF novels… those are all rather old. How about a recent one?
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Bloom by Wil McCarthy. Read an excerpt here. Rogue nanotech has completely taken over the inner solar system. The Earth has been converted into one big mass of grey goo. Humanity holds on by its nails beyond the asteroid belt, and things aren’t looking good there, either, because something strange is beginning to happen. Of course, someone’s got to go check on things sunward…
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Firestar by Michael Flynn. Hard SF about the growth of private space industry. Excellent characterization, solid scientific and technical basis, and epic scope make this (and its two sequels) a great summertime read, if you’re the type that likes to sit on the beach and get lost in big, fat paperbacks.
Candy, by Mian Mian. About a young woman in China’s underground scene of sex and drugs. It was actually banned in China, which should have given it more headlines around the world, but I’ve yet to find anyone who’s even heard of it. Real good book though.
Another one here for Galapagos (didn’t particularly like it), Letters From Earth (can’t really remember it), and of course the Discworld books.
The recent discussion about the planet Sedna makes me wonder if anyone else has read The Barsoom Project, Niven and Barnes’ sequel to Dream Park (and followed by The California Voodoo Project), in which the Inuit goddess makes an appearance.
I also really like Brian Daley’s Fitzhugh and Floyt trilogy, which no one else seems to have heard of.
Why, yes!
I also have all of the Discworld books, Hellstrom’s Hive and Tuff Voyaging. I’ve heard of Matt Ruff (a friend recommended Sewer, Gas, and Electric) but haven’t got around to buying any of his books.
[poker voice]See ya a signed first of Dying of the Light (but every time I start to read the darn thing, it puts me to sleep). I’ve read Nightflyers, and I’ve had several copies of Armageddon Rag.
Raise you Sandkings and Songs the Dead Men Sing. 
Sandkings was creepy as hell.
Pleased to meecha, Mr. Torque. I’ve even tried to get used copies from Bibliofind and Advanced Book Exchange, but they’re always waaaaaaaaaaay out of my price range.
Has anybody else ever read Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart? Great book set in ancient China. I picked it up years ago at Stars Our Destination in Chicago. I know Hughart wrote two sequels although I’ve only ever read one of them. It was good but not as good as the first.
I forgot about Wilson. I inherited a collection of all his books from my uncle. His fiction I didn’t like, but his non-fiction philosophy works were interesting…until he took the road off into Occult land.
My uncle actually had correspondence with Wilson and wrote his master’s thesis on him.
I should add that my uncle was pretty eccentric.
King Rat by James Clavell, which is my favorite book. The author is hardly obscure - nearly everyone knows Shogun, and the former was his first book and a bestseller in its time. However, I’ve never met anyone who read it and only one person who saw the movie.
As far as obscure Vonnegut goes, The Sirens of Titan and Mother Night are his most emotional works, tragic and hysterical at once.
Good story about prison camp life during WWII.