After a brief period of being smitten with my Kindle I've started buying a lot more books recently. Whilst I happily got rid of my CDs over Summer I'm still aiming for this kind of vibe by the time I get a proper house

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2007/07/13/toibin3.jpg

So I'm on the hunt for gems I might have missed & am always interested in DiSers opinions on such things. Hard to settle on five but I'd be tempted to go with:

1. Mark Danielewski - House Of Leaves. Long time since I've read this but I can't remember a book ever consuming my life in such a total way. A complete one-off.

2. Nabokov - Lolita. Could have easily put in Pnin or Pale Fire but pretty much nothing steps up to the voice he's created with Humbert Humbert

3. DFW - Infinite Jest. Read this over about a year and it didn't really hit me until months later how seismic a work it is. He is the most naturally gifted writer that I can think of

4. Haruki Murakami- Kafka On The Shore. The first Murakami book I read, and one that hasn't been bettered for me. I love how tranquil and quixotic his narratives are. A very calming, beautiful book.

5. John Kennedy Toole - Confederacy Of Dunces. Found out about this one through a DiS thread and picked it up after seeing it won the Pulitzer and reading about the slightly bizarre nature of the author and its release. Thought it was a complete delight, still chuckle to myself about Ignacius to this day