As a kid:
Treasure Island Robert Luis Stevenson
Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling
Jurrassic Park - Michael Crichton
African Myths and Legends retold by Kathleen Arnott
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain
Dune - Frank Herbert
Congo - Michael Crichton
Teenager:
More of the Dune series...sigh they just wont end...
The Lost World - Michael Crichton
The Penderghast Series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childe beggining with Relic.
The Elvis Cole PI Series by Robert Crais
The Lord of the Rings saga JRR Tolkien
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde
The Modern Prometheus - Marry Shelly (Frankenstein)
Those are the highlights.