Mike Casto

That's a tough question. I have been a voracious reader most of my life, but here goes nothing.

1) *The Magic Wagon* by Joe R. Lansdale
Few people handle coming-of-age stories as well as Lansdale. Proof of this can be found in his novel, *The Bottoms*, which won the prestigious Edgar Award in 2001. *The Magic Wagon* hooked me from its first sentence, "Wild Bill Hickok, some years after he was dead, came to Mud Creek for a shoot- out of sorts. I was there. Let me tell you about it."

2) *Kundalini Equation* by Steven Barnes
As a lifelong practitioner of martial arts, this novel resonates with me on many levels. This story of a man who gains, for lack of a better description, super powers through the practice of Kundalini Yoga could have been a dismal story, but in the hands of a craftsman like Barnes, it shines.

3) The Matador series by Steve Perry
This series has so many things going for it, I don't know where to begin.

4) Hap and Leonard series by Joe R. Lansdale
Hap and Leonard have the kind of relationship I had with my adoptive brother, Rick. We grew up together and got into--and out of--our fair share of trouble side by side.

5) *Grunt Life* by Weston Ochse
Having suffered through my own run-in with PTSD, reading a book where the heroes suffer it and, in fact, it helps them be the heroes they are, is a great experience.

Anything that catches my attention. Currently, I'm rereading the *Wild Cards* series edited by George R. R. Martin and *How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend* by Linda Addison.

The genres I am most drawn to are fantasy and sci-fi, but I also read quite a bit of action/adventure and crime fiction.