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.

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?

You’re either into science fiction or you’re not. Very few stories are so compelling that they transcend genre. There’s Star Wars of course and to a lesser extent there’s Star Trek. I might have left a few out but that is pretty much all I can think of. Some science fiction novels, however, are so darned good that they make believers out of the most ardent haters.

Enders’s game surprisingly enough appears pretty high on many people’s best books of all time. I have to admit I went into it with a pretty negative mindset but it didn’t take long for this modern time masterpiece to thoroughly win me over.

What a ride!! I don’t like giving away anything about a book. I think doing so ruins the writer’s intention on the way discovery of details and plot points should take place.

I’ll just say this, science fiction fan or not you’re sure to love this one.