If you are really on a budget you can also download many of his stories for free, there is no copyright so a simple search engine should point you in the right directions.

Sherlock Holmes is best known for the shorter stories, rather than the novels. To start off I'd look for an anthology of his stories, preferably with the illustrations intact from their original publications in magazines. One book isbn number 0890090572 for example would do nicely and should be rather inexpensive.

If your budget isn't quite as bargain oriented as mine there are two volumes from the Barnes and Nobles Classics line up which have every Holmes story ever written by Doyle.

I think it's safe to assume that Dracula is his most famous work, at least in modern times after the vampire craze and several movie versions. You might as well start there.

You have a few options as to how to get the book. You can download it for free, but what's the fun in that. I prefer isbn 0785800425 which is a collection of Dracula, Dracula's Guest and an unrelated story Lair of the
white Worm. In that set you get a good variety.

For sheer whimsy I also like isbn 0763625086 which is a liberal modernization of the story, slightly truncated. It's not the classic but the book is beautiful complete with blood soaked pages and creepy illustrations that fit the hastily written journal style of the book. A must for any Dracula fan, despite the re-write.

I'm surprised that Great Expectations is voted as the best place to start. I'd suspect that it's because many here haven't delved deeply enough into Dickens. In my opinion that novel is very atypical od Dickens work with it's slower pacing, lack of style, and the overall pessimistic overtones. While it is a great novel in many ways, it's horrendous in others.

I recomend starting with A Christmas Carol. It's short, fun, and gives you a good taste of Dickens style. From there move on to something with more meat. Save Great Expectations for at least the third, unless you like contemplating suicide while you read.

I know what you're thinking, another celebrity trying to cash in on his name. You are wrong though, Shatner has ideas and his books are easy to read page turners. I'd recommend starting either with Tekwar if you want to delve into a slightly pessimistic world, or with Man o' War for a unique take on Martian cliches. I'm told that his book Ashes of Eden is pure genius, but I haven't read it yet. Beyond that his Trek franchise seems to focus on joining the two shows into one mishmash. Again I have no personal knowledge because the idea doesn't stir my soul like the Tek series did.

I wouldn't call the book a lesser, but it is different. The book is in a way what Adams whished the radio play could have been. It's longer, the ideas are smoothed out, and it's order has been changed to make the stories flow better. That asside the radio plays are great and should be enjoyed after the book. I say after because you'll apreciate the changes better that way, then see the TV show, the movie and play the text based game.

You can get the complete set from Amazon.co.uk with all five volumes in one box set. The radio plays are musts for any Adams fan and are unfortunatly overlooked by far to many of them.

The best place to start with Anne Rice is with her most famous work, Interview with the Vampire. From there you can decide to move on or not. I do not recomend skipping any because most of her novels (except Vittorio) are designed to fill in information from previous works.