Hi all.  I was hoping for some suggestions of good books and/ or series in either urban fantasy or straight /(high) fantasy.  I've read a lot already and definitely have books and series I love, like and tolerate.  I don't always have time to commit to a new series so stand alone books are great as well as series.  Im listing below the authors whose series pop immediately into my head; I've certainly read more than what I have l isted.  I've read Piers Anthony and only liked incarnations of immortality and Ive read the black dagger brotherhood and its drifted a bit more towards erotica/ romance than I prefer in my vampire books.  Don't get me wrong, I read just about anything but when I'm in the mood for one type of genre, I get frustrated when the bookds drift into a different genre than Im expecting (and frankly sometimes Im just not in the mood for the language in the J R Ward books.) In any case, on to my list....

Thanks in advance for any/ all of your suggestions.

I've read:

Laurell K Hamilton, both Anita and Merry (tolerate now though early anita was fantastic),

Kim Harrison (love)

Keri Arthur (riley jenson series - loved)

Richelle Mead (all 3 series or hers - succubi and thorn queen a bit better than vampire acadamy but all liked to love)

Patricia Briggs both Mercy and Alpha and Omega (prefer Mercy but other is ok)

Ilona Andrews LOVE

Carrie Vaughn Kitty Norville series (really liking this now but finishing up what is available now)

Charlain Harris Sookie Stackhouse

Seanan McGuire - October Daye

Melissa Marr Wicked Lovely

Pc cast and Kristen Cast - house of night series

Melissa de la cruz - blue bloods series

Kelly Armstrong Bitten etc...

Stephanie Meyers Twilight

and then swtiching gears slightly:

Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy

CS Friedman - all of them but I really liked Black sun Rising, When True night falls and Crown of shadows

Anne Bishop

George RR Martin

Doris Egan (ivory series)

THanks again

There appears to be a lot of overlap in people who like Anne Bishop and George R. R. Martin and people who like Jacqueline Carey, particularly the original Kushiel's Legacy trilogy. The first book in that series is Kushiel's Dart, and while the series is eight books and growing, each novel has a satisfying conclusion of its own and the series is broken up into trilogies that work independent of each other, so you don't *have* to commit to the eight 800-page epics from the start. ;)

She also has a science fiction stand-alone (well, for now; there's a sequel scheduled for next year) called Santa Olivia that's excellent.

Haven't read any of the other authors on your list (not a big urban fantasy person) but my favorite urban fantasy novel (and one of my favorite novels of all time) is Sunshine, by Robin McKinley.

Since you like the urban fantasy, try Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series.  There isn't as much (or hardly any) romance in it like there is in the series you've listed but it's very well written and hilarious. 

Another possibility would be Tad William's War for the Flowers.  It's nominally urban fantasy, but mostly set in a parallel world of faire.

I second the recs for Sunshine by McKinley and the Kushiel's Dart  series by Carey. 

Most anything by Charles De Lint!

yeah kind of main stream there and leaning towards urban fantasy romance. But I like those too sometimes :)

Margaret Ronald - Spiral Hunt and Wild Hunt

a smart girl who has powers as tracker and runs afoul of some Celtic deities

Laura Resnick - Disappearing Nightly, Doppelgangster ... Unsympathetic Magic

about a bootylicious dancer in Broadway who aspires to be an actor, she gets mixed up in some magic and weird old magician

Lilith Saintcrow - Dante Valentine series ... Working for the Devil, Dead Man Rising, The Devil's Right Hand and 2 more complete the 5 book series

about an ass kicking Necromancer with a big sword, she gets a hit on her by the Devil's top assassin, but continues her Bounty hunting ways

I noticed that out of your YA authors you didn't put Cassandra Clare.  Her books are amazing.  The first trilogy, The Mortal Instruments Series is an Urban Fantasy, but gets pretty epic.  Her second series (which consists of one book right now) is more Steampunk.  Check out Maria V. Snyder, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is also a fantastic vampire author.  She started writing when she was 13 or 14, but you can really only tell that in her first book.  The rest are almost flawless.  Beth Fantaskey's first book Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is amazing modern fantasy.  I also recently started reading Mercedes Lackey and loved her Beauty and the Beast story, The Fire Rose.  It isn't urban fantasy, but I'd say it's almost Steampunk if you're into that.

For high fantasy, I love Guy Gavriel Kay.  He has a trilogy (The Fionivar Tapestry + a later related book Ysabel) that I love, and he has a bunch of singles and duos that are great.  I second Sunshine by Robin McKinley, and I love all of her books.  And I super-second Cassandra Clare.

Try Neil Gaiman.  Just finished Neverwhere (urban fantasy about London) by Gaiman, a wonderful read, stands alone, and have ordered Stardust.  Try Cherie Priest who wrote Bone Shaker (urban fantasy about Seattle).

Neverwhere is the best.  Hands down.  I literally finished Stardust yesterday, that was really good too, but definitely Neverwhere wins.

You like a lot of the same stuff  I do :) (Ilona andrews is my all time favorite!!) Here's some stuff I recommend;

Urban Fantasy

Rachel Vincent, Shifter Series. Same sort of heroine as Kate Daniels, or Mercy Thompson. She totally kicks butt!

Stacia Kane, Downside Ghosts series. This series is fantastic, but definitely dark!

Lara Adrian, The Midnight Breed Series. If you like J.R Ward, you will love these, same sort of feel to them, not tending as much towards smut/language.

High Fantasy

C.L Wilson, Tairen Soul series. This is one of those series that you finish and then look at your bookshelf thinking "What the hell am I going to read that will come even close to being as good as this". I seriously can't even describe how amazing they are, read them!

Michelle Sagara, Chronicles of Elantra. Good, good, good!! World building is fantastic, as is the main character. All the characters are so believable, and real.

Elizabeth Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion (it's a trilogy). One of the best fantasy series ever, in my honest, unbiased opinion :) I first read this when I was like 11 years old, and it's what started my love of fantasy books.

If you decide to try any of these, let me know what you think! I always like to know if people enjoy my recs!

Thank you all for the recommendations.  I've read the Butcher series and love that as well but forgot it when listing books.  I've also read Guy Gavriel Kay the Finovar series and liked it but not enough to really continue with his books.  I've read Moaning's series and a number of Gaiman's novels and really am not fans of their writing or stories, particularly Gaiman (though my husband loves his stuff).  I've read some Mercedes Lackey and some Lilith Saintcrow but not recently so maybe Ill try them again. Im really looking forward to trying Sunshine and a few others listed here.  Thank you all very much

Urban Fantasy I second Jim Butcher: Dresden Files series.  Also Simon R. Green: Nightside series, Secret History series, Ghostfinders series.

-RD

I don't think I saw it listed, but Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series is decent.  Also worth a try is Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance.

How about "The Ladies of Mandrigyn" by Barbara Hambly.  

You have a lot of urban fantasy recs already, so I am going to try to come up with some straight fantasy for you...

I haven't seen Trudi Canavan mentioned ... but she has a fantasy series about magic that I really enjoyed which is The Black Magician trilogy. (starts with The Magician's Guild).  She also has another series (The Age of Five) that I did not enjoy as much.

Others have already recommended Jacqueline Carey. When I finished the first Kushiel series it was very hard for my brain to snap out of it ... nothing in real life felt real for a couple of days. That is how deep my imagination was in the story.

I love C.S. Friedman, too. Another one I really like is Julie Czerneda.

If you like Anne Bishop, you may also like the James Clemens series that starts with Wit'ch Fire. (Unless you are bothered by completely unnecessary apostrophes littering up words like witch.). I enjoyed the books, though!

And for lighthearted paranormal .. I really enjoyed Julie Kenner's Demon series (think of a grown up Buffy at her lightest moments).