Anno Dracula — Kim Newman. This is the vampire book to end all vampire books. No matter how creative you think you are, no matter how inventive you think your take on vampires is, I promise you that Kim Newman got there first.
The Black Company — Glenn Cook. Hands down the best dark fantasy novel of all time. All the dark, grim, “edgy” tropes that modern authors like to hang their hat on? Glenn did them 1980. In the space of a single book he created, perfected, and subverted the entire genre.
Catch-22 — Joseph Heller. One of the most effective anti-war books ever written, largely because it eschews maudlin tragedy porn and shows modern warfare for what it is: petty, mean spirited, and absurd.
Declare — Tim Powers. A spy novel with a truly excellent twist that I won’t spoil. Creepy and dramatic and beautiful as hell.
Jennifer Government — Max Barry. An amazing little novel about police work in a fully privatized future. It also taught me more about how to structure a novel than anything else I’ve ever read. I cannot recommend it enough.
On Killing — Col. Grossman. An officer of the US Army who had never seen combat himself still managed to write what is widely regarded as one of the best examinations of combat psychology to date. Since I’ve never been a soldier, I’ll have to take their word for it, but Vietnam vets have been known to give this book to their family as a way of trying to explain what happened to them. Since most genre fiction involves violence sooner or later, you might as well pick this one up.
Meditations on Violence — Rory Miller. Non-fiction, and a bracing shot of reality to anyone who thinks they understand how violence works from watching TV. Essential reading for any author, self-defense aficionado, or anyone who simply seeks to understand violence as it exists in the real world.
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 — Antony Beevor. One of the best examples of military history for a popular audience out there. Read it, shudder, and be thankful you didn’t go through that battle.
Transmetropolitan — Warren Ellis. Probably the best comic book ever written. It’s not about superheroes (although there are plenty of good books about capes). It’s the reincarnation of Hunter S. Thompson vs. The President of the United States sometime in the distant future. Sheer, unabashed genius.
vN — Madeline Ashby. One of the best robot books ever written, vN also represents (accidentally) one of the best representations of the trans experience ever written by a cis writer.
Whipping Girl — Julia Serano. This is a really excellent “intro to being a trans woman” book. I’m not 100% on board with everything (her definitions of gender are a bit fuzzy) but it’s a damn good primer to get you started if you want to know more about trans women.