Snakes and Earrings - Hitomi Kanehara

Tough one. Self-destructive masochist waster as a protagonist never invites much sympathy. I suppose there was Fight Club. I didn't like it at first. I had exactly zero sympathy for the narrator (not that she or the author intended to provoke sympathy I'm sure, but that's not the point) and it seemed sparsely written and just too grim and nihilistic (even for me, which is saying something). As it went on I got more into it. The death of a main character had quite a powerful effect on my emotions in fact. Short and not at all sweet, but worth the read.

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

My first actual foray into the overcrowded genre of high fantasy (not counting Lord of the Rings or Dark Tower) and I loved it. The setting is vividly evoked but doesn't steal the show. Each character is very well-written. The story is all politics, espionage and assassination, but with a streak of the supernatural. The magic is very subtle (all about telepathy and empathy) and the "Red Ship Raiders" are superbly frightening. The spying and assassination stuff reminded me very much of the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion. This is one writer I'll definitely be coming back to.