Well so far in my philosophy class, we've read a little of Descartes, Plato, Locke, Aquinas, Anselm, Dawkins, and Paley. But it wasn't until recently, when we read some of Irish philosopher George Berkeley (1685-1753) that I was truly blown away. That was one amazing dude.
In my English class, we are reading Mama Day by Gloria Naylor. I'm not a big fan of U.S. southern-based writing, but you can't say she didn't make her characters live and breathe.