I've been having a hard time getting into Marvel NOW! and really reading any 616 Marvel AvX onwards. Mainly cause I just got into comics 1.5 years ago and I'm something of a completionist when it comes to reading arcs and such. That being said I really want to read the big events that have made Marvel so popular in the past 10-15 years or so. I want to read "modern Marvel" to get caught up on the long brewing tension that brough on AvX and kinda go from there. So basically that's what I need help with. Picking a starting place and getting an idea of what order to read it in.

Anyone got any suggestions?

In terms of the tension that brought on AvX......there's a lot of reading to do. In order:

1. Avengers Disassembled ---- The beginning of the Scarlet Witch's mental breakdown.

2. House of M --- Scarlet Witch snaps, recreates reality, wipes out the mutant gene and makes mutants an endangered and slowly dying species.

3. Decimation: House of M: The Day After/Generation M/X-Men: The 198/X-Men: Endangered Species ----- optional stories you could check out to get a feel as to the scope and severity of what Wanda did to the mutant race.

4. Messiah CompleX ---- Birth of Hope Summers, first mutant to be born after the Decimation.

5. Cable volume 2. ---- Hope growing up with Nathan Summers in the future. Not terribly important unless you really like Hope or Cable.

6. Second Coming ---- Hope and Cable return from the future. Emergence of the Five Lights.

7. Uncanny X-Men #526-530 ---- Hope tracks down the Five Lights. Unimportant.

8. Generation Hope ----- Hope's adventures with the Five Lights. Also not terribly important.

9. Avengers: The Children's Crusade ---- The Scarlet Witch returns.

9. Schism + Regenesis ----- X-Men split into two sides, one led by Cyclops and the other by Wolverine.

10. Avengers: X-Sanction --- Hope's relationship with the Phoenix Force underlined.

11. Avengers vs X-Men.

For other major Marvel events, read Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege in that order.

What @citizenbane said. It's pretty much all you'll need to read.