Recommend the 20 best books you've read in the last five years

donutage: It's a "classic" for a reason. Ambitious, profound, playful, at times bizarre. Like many, I read this back in high school and was somewhat flummoxed by the "boring" "digressions" about whale anatomy and sailing ships. When I re-read it a couple years ago, I was more willing to take the sprawling narrative on its own terms and found it infinitely enjoyable.

oregonobsessionz : Tried to read this because it was getting great reviews, but found it to be depressing and annoying.