I've read all of Greg Iles books and loved them all. Most of Stephen King, especially The Dark Tower series and The Stand, John Grisham, Pat Conroy, Dan Brown, ALL of Dean R. Koontz. Also enjoy Ken Follett - The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End; Nora Roberts and Fern Michaels. Hard to find now, but I loved Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, James Michener, Herman Wouk, James Clavell, Robert Ludlum. Oh, and I'm 61 and I've read all Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books (and cried like a baby through the last part of The Host) and the Harry Potter series!! And I agree that the Lord of the Rings series is great.
Now I'll be looking for some of the authors ya'll have mentioned. Thanks for this thread. It is always good to get new ideas.