Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. Above all, Faulkner's manipulation of the standard narrative makes this text a shining jewel of modernism. Loved it.
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Epic fantasy, and... that's all I can really say.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. A book of digression, loosely following a central theme of how meaning arises in spite of meaninglessness and consciousness, from physical processes.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. This book was awesome.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. An amazingly funny book.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. A grand work that truly does justice to the topics of the title, some of the most memorable characters come from this work. Prince Andrei is probably the most awesome.
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. A work much like War and Peace, but much more heavily focused on the former and focusing only on a single battle. Its significance next to Tolstoy's text is mainly its familiarity of setting and characters.
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. Essentially a basic introduction to philosophy disguised as a mystery novel.
The Dead by James Joyce. Part of Dubliners, The Dead is one of the most powerful stories of human isolation I have ever read.
I think you are the only person to include Faulkner, Tolstoy, and Joyce on your list, as well as Goodnight Moon. The variety says quite a bit about the range of your interests as a reader. The one that surprised me the most, however, is not Absalom (as I had thought would be the case) but The Dead. That story is not for everyone, but I agree with you about its power, especially the conversation in the hotel room at the end between the husband and wife while the snow falls outdoors. Wow!
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