Could you recommend me some books of German authors please?

Question: Could you recommend me some books of German authors please!?

I'm planning to study the language, and reading books seems to be a fine thing to begin with!. So can you recommend me a few good German books, interesting, beautiful and famous ones, if possible!?
And some sites where I can find them, too!.
And any other hints would be welcome, if there are some features unique to German language!.
Thank you!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

gutenberg!.org

they have classic German books to read on-line and download for free:

http://www!.gutenberg!.org/browse/language!.!.!.

and here is German authors list, which includes the works and translations to English:

http://www!.gutenberg!.org/browse/loccs/pt

just note that they keep Geminic and Scandinavian literature together!.

Wilhelm Hauff and his fairy tales are a nice start!. They are really romantic and scary and breathtaking!. Goethe - start with Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther ), it's a love story and considered to be lighter than "Faust"!. Faust is good if you have light knowledge of history of philosophy, otherwise you will end reading footnotes instead of the text, but I love it!.
E!.T!.A!. Hoffmann his stories are macabre and scary, though often are bend on philosophising as well, but to a lighter degree than Faust!. The lightest and the easiest, meanwhile is Hauff, you will enjoy it!.
Thomas Mann, of course - I liked "Confessions of Felix Krull,
Confidence Man" - but it's unfinished!. It was published in 1954 and you won't find it on gutenbgerg!.org!. "Buddenbrooks" is a family saga!.
Hugo Hartung - a satirist, his books about family of Meisegeiers are hilarious, it's a series!. "We, Meisegeiers" is the first book, and "We, Wunderkinds" is the second!.
Cornelia Funke, a modern author with her "Inkheart" series!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Do you want to read them in German or English!? Gunther Grass ("The Tin Drum"), and Hermann Hesse ("Siddhartha," and "Steppenwolf") are two good modern (20th century) writers!. Goethe of course is a classic writer of the 18th century!.Www@QuestionHome@Com