The magnum opus of Nobel Prize winner Undset, and the basis for a very good recent movie directed by Liv Ullmann. A compelling, colorful, intense romance of 13th-century Norway with evocative medieval diction. -- Deepa

You want a wonderful romp through a post-nuclear-apocalyptic world? One with apoplectic soldiers, righteous preachers, innocent Everymen on a doomed submarine ride to face trial for crimes against the future? With cameo appearances by Nostradamus? Well, you've found it. -- Michael

A forgotten novel by an ignored author set in the Forgotten war. The author is mostly known for his paintings and for his typographical innovations in the Modernist journal Blast. Far from painterly fiction, this novel of the Spanish civil war still manages to transform Lewis' visual style into a compelling narrative. Character studies and set-pieces meet with an inevitable force. Lewis' entire aesthetic is encapsulated in the culminating image of a car hurtling through the desert, the trunk filled with something important but ultimately mysterious. Check this out if you are at all interested in the fringes of modernism or just for an unexpectedly good read. -- Nathan

One of Barnes' wittiest and most clever books, Flaubert's Parrot is simply delightful. One plot is based on the narrator's search for the real parrot (now stuffed) used by Flaubert as his literary muse. Together with the narrator, we travel and tour through Rouen revisiting Flaubert's life, friends, and other such clues to help us ultimately solve this mystery.
On another level, the novel takes us down an equally, if not more, intriguing path. What is life? What is art? Where is inspiration? Is the parrot a metaphor for or a parody of the ability (or inability) of language to accurately represent the art of life? Does Flaubert, Julian Barnes, or for that matter the reader, solve this second mystery? -- Sheri

Most of us know and love Mr. Hornby for High Fidelity - well, he has proven himself once again as a strong voice in contemporary fiction. About A Boy proves that he is growing as a writer. It is a funny and touching story about boyhood and manhood. -- Elizabeth

A beautiful collection of stories by a writer often overlooked. Whether writing of fractured families, transforming friendships, or lost love, she writes with graceful simplicity. After reading this collection, I searched out her other books and have never been disappointed. -- Joanna

This award-winning novel follows the life of a reclusive woman living in coastal New Zealand who find a mysterious boy lurking around her home. A reluctant yet deep relationship develops between her, the boy, and the boy's guardian. A beautiful and unforgettable story. -- Cheri

This book was banned in the author's native Ireland when published in the 1930s under the title Mary Lavelle. A travel story and women's liberation novel all in one. -- Jen S.

Even if you didn't see the movie, this screenplay reads almost like a Russian epic -- a meditation on life, art, and the human condition. The interview with Hartley beforehand is a beautiful revelation. -- Yves

This is an excellent first novel by a talented twenty-something British author. Garland has written an exciting adventure novel while analyzing the Generation X trend to backpack across the globe. It combines the rapid pace of a bestseller with the subtle insights of excellent fiction. -- J. B.

This is an extremely fast-paced and pulsating novel about the intense relationship between writers and their readers. Foucault is not a character who appears in the book, but he is a powerful presence in the story. I read it greedily. -- Chuck

An enchanting mixture of environmental politcs, family relationships, and water-dousing folklore. I am becoming a Chris Bohjalian fan. -- Meredith

This is a novel of passion and beauty. Through the imagined writings of Hadrian, an erudite, yet remarkably capable Roman emperor, Yourcenar recounts his almost religious devotion to his lover, his lifelong search for knowledge and experience, and his taste for absolute power. This book is the culmination of decades of research, but it is Hadrian's inner musings, not his public life, that serve as the focus of this amazing work. -- Jeni

MacLaverty's seamless blend of the personal and political is one reason why he's my all-time favorite Irish novelist. Another is the beauty and compassion of his vision. This is the story of a contemporary young woman, a composer, whose artistic ambitions and personal rebellions put her in opposition to her tradition -- and society. MacLaverty probes deeply, speaks simply, and is uncannily good at revealing the genesis of musical composition. -- Chuck

My disbelief is difficult to suspend, but it happened quickly in the first pages of this book. I never minded that the protagonist was an eagle, out to ransom his human mother away from her snake captives. I was too busy marveling at the writing, which is exquisite (to say the least) and powerful enough to make Ye Olde Canon look quite dull. -- Jill