1) The Giver. It was the first book that really hit me and put everything in a new light, the first book I stayed up all night to read, the first book that made me cry. – Sarah Custen

2) The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. Eugenides’ writing is like reading a brilliant tapestry. It doesn’t need action to create captivating stories. I lose myself in this book every single time I read it. – Chase Straight

3) It’s a tough call, but I can read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas over and over and it never gets old. If I could write as well as Hunter S. Thompson without using as many (read: any) drugs, I would be a happy, happy man. – Trevor Hale

4) Celine’s entire thing. You can pickup Rigadoon or Castle to Castle or Death on the Installment Plan or Journey to the End of the Night and you’ll get mainly the same thing: a brilliant, feverish mind playing with the rhythm of speech and thought across a life among barbaric, crazy people. -Kyle Stegerwald

5) East of Eden by John Steinbeck. A multi-generational saga of two intertwined Californian families replaying the tragic Cain and Abel story. The themes of betrayal and redemption are powerful and often painful, but the sweeping story is as addictive as a soap opera. – Rachel Hanson