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Anne Tyler is my literary idol. I study her writing and enjoy her books immensely. There's good reason she won the Pulitzer Prize for
Breathing Lessons . And I recommend every other Ann Tyler book I've read, including The Accidental Tourist , Back When We Were Grownups , Celestial Navigation , and Patchwork Planet . Great mainstream fiction.
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No wonder nearly every novel John Grisham writes ends up on the big screen. I read The Brethren  on an all-day train ride and couldn't put it down. I must admit, though, I was rooting for the bad guys to the very last page.
I just finished The Summons and highly recommend that one also. A great rainy-day, all-day read.
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Bi-plane pilot Richard Bach is perhaps best known for his classic novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull , which I must admit I've never read. But I have read Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah twice, perfect for a plane ride or a lazy afternoon. One and Bridge Across Forever are excellent, as well.
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I love true adventure. Peter Jenkins is the best travel writer I've read thus far, including the fascinating two-part account of his five-year walk across America in books entitled--you guessed it--A Walk Across America and The Walk West . And you can follow those up with Across China and Along The Edge of America , the latter being about Jenkins' solo journey by boat along the Gulf Coast. I especially enjoy reading about the real characters the author meets on his travels.
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Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life is a book about writing that's actually fun to read. Hard to believe, I know, but take my word for it. She shares some excellent tips, such as listening to your broccoli and writing bad first drafts.
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