Orson Scott Card IMHO, the best Science Fiction and Phantasy writer alive. Not only because of the quality and interest of his tales (populated with very human characters that face important moral decisions) but also because they make you a better human being. He always touches me. Which of his novels I would recommend? Many! I'll mention some that went deep into my heart. I won't put in the first place the famous "Ender's Game" (I didn't cry with that one) but "Speaker for the dead", "Lost Boys" (the one I have read more times) and the Alvin Maker saga

Agatha Christie For Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, will be always "the woman". I could say the same about Agatha. Nobody like her for making you know, and love, the small English towns like St Mary Mead, where Miss Marple used to live. But why the other classics from the golden age of mistery novels, like William Irish, John Dickson Carr or Ellery Queen have COMPLETELY dissapeared from the shelves only for being replaced with a lot of dull books (with exceptions) is a mystery that only Hercule Poirot could solve. Only Perry Mason has managed to keep a little place in the bookstores. Probably the reason is the deep understanding that Agatha had of human nature, that makes her inmortail

C.S.Lewis I knew about C.S.Lewis because "Out of the Silent Planet" was published in Cuba. Years later I was able to read the Narnia saga and the other two books of the Space Trilogy and loved all them. But it was very recently when I was able to appreciate his other facet, reading "Mere Christianity" and I like it that much that I cannot resist the temptation to share it from here. PDF in English or (en español). I also recommend the excellent online course about Lewis of the Hillsdale College.

Harry Potter Yes! I confess it with pride. I'm old enough for not having to prove anything or for following the criteria of the main stream pundits. I'm a great fan of Harry Potter. I've read all the novels and watched all the movies several times and I'll continue doing that. If they are a product of the merchandising, as some people say, I don't care: I just like it. Besides, I became a Harry Potter fan from the first book, before the movies and before the big merchandising boom.

Isaac Asimov It was 1992 and I was in Mexico when the sad news arrived: Isaac Asimov, the good professor, the author more prolific than Lope de Vega had passed away. I still remember the emptiness of knowing that no more Foundation novels will appear in the shelves and that Daanel Olivaw would not act as deus-ex-machina again. Fortunately, he left books enough for centuries of pleasant reading. The movies based in his works had not made him justice yet, perhaps because Asimov is not very "cinematographic". And now, adding insult to injury they are going to spoil Foundation ("I Robot" it's a very entertaining movie, but it's NOT Asimov).

Richmal Crompton I met William Brown when I was a boy and I don't know how many times I read all of those books. The thing is that I continue reading them from time to time. If you have sense of humor you cannot be old enough for not enjoying the William, Douglas, Henry and Ginger (the "Outlaws") adventures. It's not easy to find them nowadays (not many reprints are made), probably because some of them are not very "politically correct".

Wodehouse And Richmal Crompton takes us to Wodehouse because I found them closely related due to the scene of their stories and their sense of humor (that I know not everybody is going to share). But I recognize it. I always have a lot of fun with Bertie Wooster, Jeeves and all the characters in Blandings Castle.

The universally recognized classics that had passed the test of time don't need advertisement. Some of them touch my heart more than others. I want to give special mentions to the "Bard of Avon". Mark Twain, C.S.Lewis (great in SF, fantasy and as a Christian Apologist), Tolkien, Poe, Dostoyevsky and many others that also put a bit of them in me.

The Beatles They not need presentation. I have to include it because they were an important part of my youth and I still listen (and enjoy) them from time to time. I'm a bit old fashioned. The Beatles, Queen or Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis, Pat Boone, Nat King Cole, country, sound tracks of musical movies: Annie, Damn Yankees, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Pajama game, Little shop of horrors, Camelot... Enough! The list of my musical DVDs is too long :) That is what I always have in the gloves compartment and listen while I drive. I confess that I'm very ignorant about the last 30 years music, with the exception of some country singers and some musical movies.

Star Wars It's true that the 2nd Trilogy was below the expectatives (also the expectatives were too high). It's also true that the special effects replaced the ideas and the script was dull. But... I can forgive all that. I still believe in the story of the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. If the world is divided in "Ringies" (my neologism for the "Lord of the Rings" fans), Trekkies and "Starkies" (another neologism) I'm a bit of all them. (But only a bit: I don't speak Klingon neither Elvish). (I wrote this before Disney took over the saga and made it wonderful again. Kudos to them! They are making me a happy camper with that. I forgive them for not continuing the Narnia saga)

Columbo "One more little thing, just for my report..." And here comes the fictional friends, headed by Columbo, the man with the trench coat and the old and always breaking car.("Have you considered buying another car?" "I already have another: my wife drives it.") Could other than Peter Falk be able to convert him in the unforgettable character it was? I doubt it.

Adrian Monk The fictional parade continues with Adrian Monk, his phobias, his interesting murder cases and --the heart of the saga--. his beautiful and eternal love to Trudy and the affection-exasperation relationship that he establishes with his assistants, first Sharona Fleming and later Natalie Teeger. No more new Monk chapters after the last season (the producers are mean!). We are missing him a lot. Fortunately, the modern Sherlock Holmes of Elementary is filling very well the role of "Beloved Detective in the TV Screen".

Superman It seems that I share this with Jerry Seinfeld but the truth is that, from my childhood, I've liked Superman stories and I still like them. I haven't missed a chapter or Smallville, I have in DVD all the movies and TV series and now I'm collecting the DC archives. Not a very refinate taste? Who cares!

Steven Spielberg I had some issues with this inclusion. Since Spielberg decided to make "serious" movies, looking for Oscars, somehow part of his magic touch was gone. But then I thought: he is still the man of unforgetable works as E.T, Duel, Close Encounters, Hook, Jurasic Park, Jaws and Indiana Jones (I'm not counting all the films he produced and have his "touch", like Gremlins And the magic was partially ack in the last Indiana Jones... It would be unfair to exclude who made me dream that much. So , remembering that St Exupery dedicated his Little Prince (that should be included here, but I'm not including single books: otherwise this would be endless) to "Leon Werth, when he was a little boy", I'm dedicating this to "Steven Spielberg, when he was the E.T. and Indiana Jones man".

Laura Ingalls Little House on the Prairie is an oldie that I discovered recently and made me an instant fan of it, touching my heart. I watched the TV series so I cannot talk about the books, that I have not read. I plan to do it. It's true that the best seasons are the childhood of Laura and there are some bad chapters (and even very bad ones, like the Halloween Dream) but "Nobody is perfect". When my wife and I finished the nine seasons we wanted more, so we started watching Highway to Heaven that had some familiar faces :)

Disney I enjoy a lot most of the Disney pictures. Half of my DVD shelves are filled with them. Of course, I don't like everything that the Disney company produces and I was upset with their decision of not continuing with the Narnia saga after two awesome movies. Fortunately Fox saved the day and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" was released. Also the Disney Channel is no more what it used to be. But Wreck-It_Ralph. the new Star Wars movies and others demostrates that Disney's magic is well alive, even without Pixar. Long live to it!

Doctor Who Thanks to the new way to watch TV (streaming) I was able to watch Doctor Who that became, for me, the best Science Fiction TV program ever, moving Star Trek to the second place. Now I'm watching the classic episodes that are not lost, and they make me nostalgic. They remind me the Flash Gordon episodes that I watched in my childhood (I have them in DVD).