My Favorite Books/Authors for young men (age 16 and up) 

 If you want to take a break from Tom Clancy or Clive Clusser try these:

Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield. Forget about 300. That was a comic book. Gates of Fire is the best telling of the story of Thermopylae you'll ever read. I’ve heard it’s virtually required reading at West Point. http://www.amazon.com/Gates-Fire-Novel-Battle-Thermopylae/dp/055338368X

Death in the Long Grass, Peter Hathaway Capstick. The last of the Great White Hunters and African big game guide tells what it was like.  http://www.amazon.com/Death-Long-Grass-Peter-Capstick/dp/0312186134

Dean Koontz: any of his books from 1995 and on are especially good, but I enjoyed these the most. 

From the Corner of His Eye http://www.amazon.com/Corner-His-Eye-Dean-Koontz/dp/0553582747

Frankenstein, Book One Prodigal Son http://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Dean-Koontzs-Frankenstein-Book/dp/0553587889

Frankenstein, Book Two City of Night http://www.amazon.com/City-Night-Dean-Koontzs-Frankenstein/dp/0553587897

Frankenstein, Book Three Dead and Alive http://www.amazon.com/Dean-Koontzs-Frankenstein-Alive-Novel/dp/0553587900 

My favorites when I was a teen:

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Lord of The Rings

Alexander Dumas: The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Christo

James Fenimore Cooper:  The Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder

Edmund Rostand: Cyrano de Bergerac 

Edgar Rice Borrows: Tarzan of the Apes (his Mars and Moon series have also been recommended to me).

For readers 21 and up

C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narina is a great series, but it was written for kids. Here is Lewis’ adult series. There's nothing objectionable in these books, but I put them in this section because I don't know if the average teen will have the patience to get through them. A thinking man's fantasy series.

 Out of Silent Planet http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Planet-Space-Trilogy-Book/dp/0743234901

 Perelandra       http://www.amazon.com/Perelandra-Space-Trilogy-Book-2/dp/074323491X

 That Hideous Strength http://www.amazon.com/That-Hideous-Strength-Space-Trilogy/dp/0743234928

 Audible.com has an excellent mp3 audio version of this trilogy.

Jim Butcher The Harry Dresden series. Think of this series as Harry Potter for adults. A real wizard works as a private detective in modern day Chicago. The best urban fantasy series today. Great writing and a truly moral hero. As close to the edge as you can get in the fictional use of magic without going over it. May be too close for the immature, but for all others a great series.  http://www.jim-butcher.com/ 

Dean Koontz Dark Rivers of the Heart. This Koontz book is strictly for adults, but it is among my favorites.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Rivers-Heart-Dean-Koontz/dp/0553582895

The Captains and the Kings, Taylor Caldwell. A Kennedy-like family in the 1800’s, their rise to power and the true king makers behind the scenes.

http://www.amazon.com/Captains-Kings-Story-American-Dynasty/dp/0449205622