Does no one like classics anymore? Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest (okay technically that's a play, not a book); Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion; Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird were just amazing.

...seems like some of the best authors I've ever read are either dead or nearly-dead (ahem ).

Same same! Both book and movie were great. Pardon me while I do the oh-my-god-I-love-Mr-Darcy thing

Yea I've heard lots of people say that Mockingbird was too slow to finish. But I personally really liked it. Then again, that could be because I plan to study Law, and Atticus Finch was way too cool a lawyer to abandon the story.