h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

a couple books that (for me at least) really draw you in, provoke a bit of thought, and aren't too dauntingly long:

soemthing wicked this way comes, by ray bradbury. great for this time of year, definitely more than a little creepy, but won't give you nightmares. that's coming form someone who got nightmares from the movie princess bride. a really really well-written book, very eloquent descriptions.

life of pi, by yann martel. reading the back of this book, it sounds a bit silly, but it talks about some really neat issues, and it is just a fun book. a lot of the time you can't really tell if what the narrator is telling you about is really happening, or a hallucination, or metaphorical, but it's all very ... cool. this book got my dad to read a novel, first one in like ten years.

breakfast of champions, by kurt vonnegut. my favorite of his books, it's funny and disturbing. you'll never look at those little *** thingies the same way, ^_~

mangas. those japanese comic books, you know, that you read front to back. try a couple. they're probably better than you think, and they read fast, and the pictures are fun to look at. most are a little silly, i'll grant you, but they're amazingly addicting. i really like the love hina series, and chobits, and initial d is pretty good, and the sailor moon ones are easy to find and not as dumb as they look, but do take them with a grain of salt. this whole category is wortha try if you're visualy-oriented

one flew over the cuckoo's nest, by ken kesey. i like this book a lot, despite having to read it for school. its probably better, to me, cos it's set locally, but it really is an overall amazingly writtten book, very moving.

and of course good ol' terry pratchett and douglas adams and lord of the rings.