Have to say I've been a big fan of Fantasy and Sci-Fi from a young age, so most of my books are from those genres.
Garth Nix was an author I fell in love with while doing my GCSEs. I was a big fan of the Old Kingdom trilogy,
Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. Sabriel, the first, was my favourite, mainly because, being the first one, it was the one that introduced the main characters that followed intothe second and third. It is a story about the daughter of the one man trained the fight the undead as they struggle back to life. How she learns about death and the dead, so when her father disappears from life, she can take up the role as Abhorsen to defeat the strongest dead enemy the Abhorsens have ever encountered. Lirael and Abhorsen follow on in the same fast and exciting pace as Sabriel, with quirky characters like the Disreputable Dog and the 'loveable' Mogget.A few of Nix's other books, like Shade's Children and The Ragwitch were also good reads, the Morrow Days series were better for the teenaged readers.
Liz Williams's book The Poison Master, I loved from the begining. The idea of alien influence in the Elizabethan age is quite a unique one. The way Williams writes, weaving past and present together giving the readers an insight to Alivet's ancestors is almost dramatic irony. When Alivet, the twin of the Enbonded Inki, is approached by a garnet-eyed gentleman (from another planet) she is given the chance to fight her own planet's government to free her sister from a terrible life of servitude. Empire of Bones is another by Liz Williams as well as The Ghost Sister.
My latest favourite has to be Fiona McIntosh, which I discovered by accident on RISI. Myrren's Gift, along with Blood and Memory and Bridge of Souls, are all part of the Quickening trilogy. These books follow the story of young Wyl, General to the Army of Morgravia, at least until he falls foul of the Prince Celimus. After the traumatic witch trial of the innocent Myrren, Wyl is given a gift. But this gift works in a horrendous, unimaginable way that will cause Wyl more grief and sorrow than anything else that Celimus could do.
Well that's a few of my best reads, hope you all enjoy!