The Sword of Truth (Series) - Terry Goodkind: My first born, Kahlan, is named after the lead heroine of this series - that should tell you everything you need to know about the excellence of this series. Book 1 (Wizard's First Rule) and Book 6 (Faith of the Fallen) are my favorite two of the entire series. The series tells the story of Richard and Kahlan as they strive for a life of freedom against the circumstances continuously pushing against them. Give the first book the first 3 chapters and you won't be able to put it down

The Belgariad & The Mallorean (Series) - David Eddings: A total of ten books telling the story of Garion and his closest friends and family as they race again fate and time moving to the final "decision" for the future of their world. 

The Xanth Series - Piers Anthony: This was the first series of fantasy books I ever picked up. There's humor, with, and a colorful array of characters continuously intertwined with each others. There is a large number of books in this series and it could be considered somewhere between Young Adult and Adult literature. 

The Kingkiller Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss: The first two books are The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are the begining of the planned Trilogy. As of 2025, the third book as yet to be published, but the first two books are phenomenal and some of the best I have ever read. It's the story of Kvothe narrating his own Auto-biography to a ghost writer from his youth to adulthood. The only frustrating part of the series is that we are all still waiting for the third to be released. 

The Incarnations - Piers Anthony: A series telling much the same interconnected story from different perspectives of "human" manifestations of various incarnations such as Death, Time, God, etc. 

Star Wars - Various Authors: As a serious Star Wars fan, it is obvious that the extensive series of novels have played a significant role in my life. I own hard copies of nearly every single novel before the "Rey" Saga from Disney and enjoyed everyone of them. The best ones are the opening "Heir to the Empire" Trilogy by Timothy Zahn and the some of the final ones focusing on the life of Jaina and Jacen Solo. If you are interested in reading them, I recommend "published" order. Star Wars books about the universe after Return of the Jedi (and before Disney took over) started before there was even a glimmer of the prequel trilogy. Every book written by every different author was required by Lucas Film to maintain the Star Wars universe of continuity and connectivity. Every book after the Heir to the Empire Trilogy was required maintain the same timeline and build upon each other. Before the prequels were released, little to no information could be included about the time before "A New Hope." Once the prequels were released, new novels could then begin to fill in more of the stories before the original trilogy and opened up even the "Old Republic." After the release of the "Rey" Trilogy and Disney declaring the original books no longer canon to the Star Wars Universe, my interest in the continuing novels waned and I have moved on from the series.

Cal Ripken - 

George Washington - 

The Bible: I've read it cover to cover once and as of 2024 and currently working through a second attempt. My favorite books are Proverbs, Matthew, Judith, and Revelations.

Dear Bob and Sue - Matt and Karen Smith: If you are interested in National Parks, this is a great set of books taking through the travels and adventures of Matt and Karen Smith as they took on the mission to visit all the American National Parks in a year.  

The Geek Way - Andrew McAffee: How successful companies are doing things differently in the digital age of the 21st Century. 

Wisdom of the Bullfrog "Leadership Made Easy, but not Simple." - William H. McRaven: Think you might be a leader some day? You need to read this one.

Never Eat Alone - Keith Ferrazzi: You're doing "networking" all wrong. Learn how with this one. 

Outliers - Malcom Gladwell: The patterns and deep reasons why some people/groups succceed or fail beyond the obvious and more superficial ones. What month were you born in? What year were were you born? Where were you born? What is your ancestry? It's amazing how many of these things impact making us "who" we are as individuals.

Good to Great - Jim Collins: Why did certain "good companies" become great when their counterparts only remained "good" or may have altogether collapsed? 

It - Stephen King: "You'll all float down here." Better than the movie!

The Green Mile - Stephen King: "I'm tired boss." - One of the few books who's movie was just as good as the book.

The Long Walk - Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King): You'll never think about long walks and long runs the same way again.