/lit/ - Literature

So, let's have a thread about one of your favorite books.
Doesn't have to be number 1 (I for one couldn't tell you what my favorite favorite book is), just a book you really, really enjoyed for whatever reason that may be.

Tell us the name of the book and why you think it's great.
Doesn't have to be too fancy, you can write how much you want about it. I'll start (please excuse how I write; structuring my thoughts and writing in general was never a strong suit of mine).

One of my all time favorites is Brett Easton Ellis' "American Psycho".

I love the way this book is written. You get a direct view into Bateman's psyche and his inner workings. You also get to see firsthand how he gradually succumbs more and more into insanity, thanks to chapters ending midsentce for example.
It's also the only book that had me laughing out loud and a few seconds later feeling sick to my stomach.
Overall a great book. It may seem a little dry sometimes, courtesy of the fact that Bateman tends to describe stuff like suits and business cards in agonizing detail, but that again is one reason why I love the book's style. We get to see what our protagonist cares about, or at least what he seems to care about. Moreover, him describing his gruesome murders in the same dry detached fashion, shows again what kind of a person he is (psychopath), without appearing lazy.

So I ask you, what's the one book you want to tell us about?
You may also post books you hate, books you wanted to be great but couldn't get yourself to like them, or books that couldn't live up to their hype in your eyes.

I'm looking forward to your participation.