I’ve never been a fan of literary novels, especially those longwinded, meandering amalgams of overly flowery prose and bore you to tears characters. They usually go nowhere and seem to exist only for the purpose of giving their writers a platform to show off their command of the language. Once in a while, however, a gem comes along that blends together the myriad of intangible factors that when weaved together build a tapestry that becomes a masterpiece. Disgrace is such a novel.

J. M. Coetzee, twice winner of the prestigious Booker Prize and 2003 Nobel laureate for literature, shows himself at the height of his powers with this wonderful, flawlessly written novel. It is a true masterpiece of pacing, characterization, prose, style, and theme. This novel is everything a literary work should be. Although it is not a thriller, strangely enough it reads like one. From the very first page I was sucked in and was not able to put it down until I turned the last page.

Life can be terribly unfair at times. In the late sixties, early seventies Coetzee taught as an assistant professor of English at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Unbelievably his application for permanent residence in the United States was denied. It appears that holding a PhD in English, linguistics, and Germanic languages wasn’t enough for him to qualify. I’d like to meet the genius that made that decision. Perhaps had he had some connection to extremist terrorist groups he would have had better luck. Oh well.

I highly recommend this wonderful novel, and anything else J. M. Coetzee has written. He is one of the best writers of our time and if you haven’t yet read him, you’re in for a treat.

And Then There Were None, also published as Ten Little Indians, is one of the most intriguing, bewildering, and ingenious mystery/thriller novels of all time. It belongs at the very top of must reads, not only for mystery lovers, but for fiction fans across all genres.

Agatha Christie leaves no argument, with this novel, that she will forever be the queen of the close room mystery. I have read virtually all of her work, and I can say that this novel shows her at the top of her game.

This is an intricate page turner that slowly builds up to one shocker of an ending. This novel is at times dark, and in very subtle ways, complex. It is nothing like Agatha’s previous work up to this point.

In short, this novel is a spectacular couldn’t put it down good read. If you have seen the stage or movie adaptations, you may not be aware that Agatha Christie rewrote the ending of the book for these. Read the book. It’s way better.

In the realm of couldn’t put it down literary winners, I believe The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand rightfully holds a top spot. This powerful masterpiece will hook you after only reading the opening sentence.

If you’re an idealist with high aspirations who holds fast to personal visions and ideas, this is the book for you. After reading the first page you will fall completely in love with the protagonist who struggles to mainstream his contemporary architectural ideas and defeat the principles of architectural dogma.

But regardless of your politics, or your philosophical views, as a story this book is just plain good reading.

Having experienced the power of this massive book first hand I must air a word of caution. Before you delve into this fast-gripping brain teasing novel, be sure to eat, bathe, and take your vitamins. Once you read the opening passage, this book will stick to your fingers like glue.

I guarantee once you start this puppy you won’t be able (or even want to) put it down. Don’t wait, this book is a must read.

I have read many books in my lifetime. From classics to science fiction to even an occasional romance novel, but of all these books, only very few have had the power to actually influence my life. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of these novels.

This riveting masterpiece takes you on the journey of a despondent young man contemplating an unthinkable ethical dilemma. Within the opening pages this novel will grab hold of you and send you back to 1800 Russia where you will vividly live the mental anguish and rationalization of the protagonist’s choice and the unexpected ramifications of his actions.

I love this story because I feel that it truly speaks to the human condition. Every single one of us at one point or another has faced ethical and moral dilemmas and the pressures that come with making the right choice.

If you haven’t already, pick up a copy of this novel and get ready for a twisted tale of greed, crime, and punishment you won’t soon forget.

This novel is simply amazing. This is a very serious book that attempts, in one sweeping tale, to tell the entire story of the American west. But for me that fact is beside the point. This book is one of those delightfully engaging page-turners that grabs a hold of you and transports you to another world, forcing you to forget your worries. You would have a difficult time finding better entertainment elsewhere.

If you’re put off by westerns, don’t let that steer you away from this wonderful book. You won’t find any silly caricatures here. The characters are richly drawn, and are so multidimensional that they seem more real than most real people you will ever meet. This novel won the Pulitzer prize and rightfully so. Mr. Mcmurtry deserves any accolades we can heap on him for giving us this wonderful masterpiece.

I loved every single page of it. I read it as fast as I could, yet kept trying to slow myself down because I didn’t want it to end. Thankfully Mr. McMurtry chose to write three other companion novels to Lonesome Dove. One is a prequel, and the two others are sequels. If I were you, and was desperately looking for an amazing read, something that would knock me right over, I would rush to buy this novel and its three companions. You may as well get them all. As soon as you finish one you’ll just rush out to get the next one.

Gone with the Wind is simply brilliant. This is a true work of art. It proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that superb, masterful fiction doesn’t have to be obtuse and unreadable, like most literary snobs would have us believe. Not only did this novel win the Pulitzer, but has managed, since its publication, to sell in the neighborhood of 25 million copies worldwide. Not an easy feat.

This is a very long novel that flies through your fingers so quickly, you won’t believe you could read that fast. At its core, this remarkable book is simply one hell of a page turner. It reads like a modern fast paced thriller, and it’s definitely a couldn’t put it down winner. But this novel is such much more. It is at once a history lesson, a romance, an adventure story, and a deeply characterized masterpiece.

It has been accused over the years of racism, sexism, revisionism, and of being on the whole nothing more than a fancy Harlequin novel. None of these things could be further from the truth. This novel is really about the end of a way of life, and about how those people most affected by it were changed by the ordeal.

If you haven’t yet read this novel you have absolutely no idea what you’re missing. Pick it up today and prepare yourself for an experience you will never forget.

A lifetime of reading has taught me to be leery of so called classics that have nothing to recommend them, other than the fact that school systems for years have forced us to read them, and sadly, without merit, these so called classics become part of the collective experience.  Lord of the Flies is one of those rare exceptions.  For aspiring writers and those of us who love a good tale, it is difficult to believe that this was Golding’s first novel.

What’s most remarkable, is that this novel espouses strong political views that were completely contrary to the prevailing opinions of the time, yet the author manages to do so without, in any way, harming an amazingly well told story.

At its core, this couldn’t put it down masterpiece embodies everything a good book should be.  It creates an unforgettable experience for the reader, with everything else that’s not story made secondary.  More than anything else, this is a high adrenaline adventure story that will keep you turning pages to the very end.  It doesn’t really matter that the story is not really about young boys stuck on an island, or that the author is trying to make a point about the human spirit and the need for a political system in order for it to blossom.

What matters is that after finishing this astonishing page turner, it won’t matter if you don’t understand all of its lessons; the story itself will stay with you for the rest of your life.  If you haven’t yet read it, there’s no time like the present.  And if you have read it, because you had to, and were too young to appreciate it, perhaps it’s time you gave it another try.  You certainly won’t regret it.

John Fowles would later become one of the most acclaimed authors of the twentieth century, and with good reason. His mastery of the language is superb and his ability to build tension and apply psychological pressure seems to flow effortlessly from his pen. The Collector is probably his most approachable work, easily read page turner fiction. I found it a chilling thrill ride and I’m sure you will too.

Combined with its sequel War and Remembrance these two volumes are the definite true and only real masterpieces to come out of the Second World War (in my humble opinion of course). What makes them even more amazing is their page turning can’t be put down quality.

These two massive volumes, over a thousand pages each, follow the lives of an American family, leading up to the war in the first volume, and during the war in the second. A la Forrest Gump, the protagonist Victor Henry manages to find himself a minor player in every significant event during those tumultuous times.

These books are the most historically accurate works about the war ever written. This is not by accident. Rather than run the risk of botching the job, Herman Wouk hired competent historians to help him thoroughly research this remarkable epic.

After finishing these two volumes you will know more about the Second World War than you ever could have learned by actually formally studying it. Hell, when I was done I had trouble convincing myself I really hadn’t lived through the war.

All that said, the best part of these two amazing fiction books is this–they’re a hell of a great read.

For a long time I refused to read this book. I mean rabbits, really. But my bias and ignorance kept me away from one of the best fiction books of all time. Talk about couldn’t put it down.

At first it seemed to me that the author was a little slow to catch his groove but about ten pages into it I realized I was working my way through something exceptional.

This book is touching, exciting, at times poetic, but overall exceedingly beautiful and a can’t be but down hell of a thrill ride. You’ll laugh you’ll cry but above it all you’ll never be able to walk by a wild rabbit again without wondering, hum what’s the little bugger thinking?