Currently thinking about books

I am currently reading the tenth and last book in the best fantasy series possibly ever written:
The series is called Malazan Book of the Fallen written by Steven Erikson.
These books are full of everything you could ask for in a story- war, love, treachery, comedy, despair, greed, compassion, etc.  I keep experiencing shock at the skill Erikson has at writing- the plot is sensational and so detailed and the writing is more elegant than a lot of classic books.  The Malazan world is so detailed and thought-out that it is perfect.  Here's a snip-it of how this series started: 

The Malazan world was originally created by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games using a modified version of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. By 1986, when the GURPS system had been adopted by Erikson and Esslemont, the world had become much larger and more complex, approaching its current scope. It was then developed into a movie script entitled Gardens of the Moon. When this was not successful in finding interest, the two writers agreed to each write a series set in their shared world. Steven Erikson wrote Gardens of the Moon as a novel in the period 1991-92 but it was not published until 1999. In the meantime, he wrote several non-fantasy novels. When he sold Gardens of the Moon, he agreed to a contract for an additional nine volumes in the series. The contract with Bantam UK was worth £675,000, making it "among the largest fees ever paid for a fantasy series"


I will be so depressed that the series is now over- I have already read the whole thing twice over, and each book is about 1,000 whopping pages long.  This is my major endorsement of the day! : )


Anyways, I do believe that there are so many books- like those I just praised- that are better than what are largely recognized as 'classics' or 'literary fiction.'  A friend of mine sent me a link to David McCandless' Books Everyone Should Read: A Consensus Cloud.


It is very cool looking, and I like the cloud a lot, and definitely agree with a lot of what's on there.  But, it's interesting how people conceive of what ought to be read.  Do they say these titles just because everyone else says them?  Were they forced to accept they were great by how they were educated?  Were these titles selected because they deserve to be in this cloud of books everyone should read?  And, why do we always say "everyone should read such and such?"  So many questions- what do you think?


Song of the day time! Let's do something oh so very funky!
Here's Daft Punk - Face to Face 
Enjoy friends!