I went a long period of time a few years ago reading almost nothing in the form of a novel, as I didn't want to impact my own writing style by picking up other authors' styles inadvertently. I'm over that speed bump, and am back to reading good books. But a lot of the books I pick up now -- granted, somewhat at random -- seem to be missing something. Either I don't particularly care about the hero, or I can sense that some editor came in and butchered a really, really good manuscript. ... I don't want to read only the classics, tried and true. And I don't want to resort to reading only "bubblegum" books (fun books that I enjoy reading but that don't have a lot of substance). I'm really interested in reading today's good novelists. I don't have a genre preference, though I'm not particularly impressed with the new trend of trying to attach readers to heroes with no moral compass/Beth Bollinger, Accidental Rabbit Trails.

Question: Any suggestions for "good read" books?