One of my all-time favorite lines about books was from Steve Martin who said in a comedy routine (as I recall the line): "Oh yeah, I love to read! There's nothing like sitting down and enjoying a great book! And let me tell you, MOBY DICK was fantastic. At the end...when Ahab's rope gets tangled and he's tied to the whale...and the camera pans over to Gregory Peck as they sink into the sea...man, that's just great writing."
Personally, my all-time favorite would be Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars among other things or someone like E.E. "Doc" Smith and his intergalactic Lensmen series. I just have a soft spot for old school pulp adventures because back in the Thirties and Forties it was adventure on a more innocent and grand scale of exuberance, a time where anything seemed possible both then or for the future.
For horror, Clive Barker...For fantasy, like everyone else, Tolkien or Lewis or Rowling...I loved early Crichton when he blurred science more with a fantastical note (Jurassic Park seems to have been his high point). And then there are always case by case books -- like "A Tale of Two Cities" -- which are classic in nature and you just have to love or something silly like "Meg" about a 200 foot shark on the loose which just makes for fun, doofy reading plopped on the couch.
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