When a new, algebraic edition came out, edited by John Nunn, I just had to get it. Please let me know if you have any questions. It is key to always remember these 5opening principles: Hence, it is recommended that you play classical chess openings in which you occupy the center with your pieces. Good Chess Opening Books for Beginners and Beyond https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/good-chess-opening-books-for-beginners-and-beyond. CHESS: The Ultimate Chess Tactics and Strategies! (Explained! What I find odd is that I don't have any of the books mentioned above on my shelf. How to Reassess Your Chess: The Complete Chess-Mastery Course, 8. A Complete Guide, Chess Career 101: Everything You Need To Know. If youre looking for a bulletproof opening repertoire, without a doubt, the best chess publishing company is Quality Chess. You can make playing the middlegame easier if you include training in pattern recognition with tactics training. Since then, Quality Chess has published many more brilliant opening books by authors such as GM Mihail Marin, GM John Shaw, and GM Parimarjan Negi. Youll need to study and be very critical with your own games to improve faster. Chess Delta is an online platform for all chess lovers. Team Nepo or Team Ding? I would suggest The Immortal Game. One of the best features of this book is, it uses all the theoretical and practical instances to teach you the importance of sacrificing pieces to win your board. An excellent book suitable for Beginners (One move ahead) right up to very advanced (visualising 10 moves {20 half moves} ahead) is: Beginning Chess by Bruce Pandolfini is a good book too. What other tools would you suggest to improve? However, due to the immense number of published chess books, it can be difficult to figure out which books are worth studying and which are not. Will need to check it out! Very, very philosophical about the relationship between theory and practice. His students have to think aloud so that Silman can detect the key problems in their chess understanding. Many might disagree that this book is good for beginners, but even if youre just starting out in chess, try to go through this book and you will see drastic chess improvement. thank you for suggestion of books and ya i am intermediate player i want to become something in chess and my age is 21 so what should i do become best player. 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players, 11. Chess is a game of logic and strategy. http://www.onlinechesslessons. Many chess players suffer the frustrating experience of wasting valuable chess study time on boring books. Does Playing Chess Make You Lose Weight? 3. There are over 400 pages of grandmaster wisdom for you to incorporate into your games. And does learning with a grandmaster help one improve faster? quizzes, each taken from grandmaster play, and focussed on different positional themes. The founder and main content creator of this website, Pritam Ganguly, creates helpful chess-related content to help the readers learn chess and improve their chess-playing skills in an easy way. We also have many recent products in our online store at: The student is methodicall, step by step, trained to visualise future positions accurately. I absolutely agree with the book recommendations. I was about to make a smart-a$$ed comment about what is an intermediate player? Kramnik: My Life & Games Vladimir Kramnik, Iakov Damsky. Some middlegame possibilities at various levels: 50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf, Chess Strategy for Kids by Thomas Engqvist, http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Strategy_for_Kids.pdf, Starting Out: Attacking Play by James Plaskett, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101549/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review467.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf, Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy by Neil McDonald, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092313/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review620.pdf, Chess Strategy for Club Players by Herman Grooten, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101926/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review696.pdf, Chess Training for Post-beginners by Yaroslav Srokovski, https://web.archive.org/web/20140712013538/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review945.pdf, Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093249/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review890.pdf, How to Reassess Your Chess (4th ed.) It is important to comprehensively improve your overall game. This book contains a quality amount of tasks and their solutions. The Keep It Simple books are suitable for intermediate and advanced players, so you can play this repertoire for many years. Intermediate players should work on their chess openings with books that combine theory with plenty of explanations. Before buying any particular book, I suggest going to the publisher site to see if it is possible to view a sample. Thank you. I used to repeat Chernev like a mantra in every tournament game I played. If not you can improve in more different ways. Practice makes a man perfect, you know! Sounds great Ryan Ill look forward to working with you! He provides a solution by demonstrating how the mind can be sharpened. I am only a beginner but can definitely learn and grow with this book. However, a little warning in advance these are not bedtime reading. There are a lot of differing opinions on which ones are best, for instance, this list contains the best chess books rated by 10 chess masters. Ill be ordering my system soon and checking out the vids. The clash between control of the center by pawns and the hypermoderns always reminds me of socialism vs capitalism and the message that no dogma reigns supreme and all systems retain their drop of poison. Do I lose rating if I withdraw in a rated daily tourney. (A Complete Guide! Chess has had a big effect on my political philosophy. https://www.ichess.net/shop/. 1. The author was a very swift thinker and mover which is quite visible in his book. For that reason, in this article, were going to take a look at some of the best chess books on the different aspects of chess. Mikhail Shereshevsky shows plenty of necessary attitudes to improve your endgame technique, such as Dont hurry, Plus-equal mode, Cutting off the King and so on. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess is a good book for beginners. At this point, chess books are a treasure trove for us. The answer is a synthesis, the ability to combine creativity and calculation, art and science, into a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.. Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations, and Games. Last but not least, The Amateurs Mind by Jeremy Silman is another brilliant chess book worth studying. Middlegame Masterclass GM Damian Lemos, best chess tactics books for advanced players according to 10 grandmasters, The Art of Checkmate IM Renier Castellanos, How To Learn Chess Openings The Definitive Guide, Why Finding the Best Strategy in Chess for You Is Vital, 2022 Chess Olympiad: Competitive Chess Comes to Chennai, The Worlds Elite Are Playing in the 2022 Candidates Tournament, Finding the Perfect Training Course Couldnt Be Easier, Taking Down the Powerful Kings Indian Defense, Dvoretskys Endgame Manual Mark Dvoretsky, Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953 David Bronstein, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal, Control the center. but thought better of it. IM Anna Rudolf provides fantastic lessons on the transition from beginner to intermediate level in her Master Method. In order to win a game, the very first important thing is the opening. The author delivers extremely detailed analyses and revolutionizes the field of opening training. However a much neglected area in chess is that of training the student to visualise / calculate accurately. This book contains examples along with why the previous player played it. You need to put a lot of work into it. The reason this book is titled one of the best is because of its internal structure. (specifically the e4, d4, e5, d5 squares). Cheers, Will. I couldnt find these books in my local bookstore. One who has read it and excelled in the analysis of the position will remain at an advantage in every single game he plays. In light of this, mastering this essential skill will make you a fearsome opponent. In particular, I loved Rios' exposition of White's plan of exerting queenside pressure against Hedgehog systems. You have to think about your current situation on the board in order to understand the next teaching. A good approach is to work through a chess book until you finish it before opening another book. A set of 33 games are analyzed with respect to its opening, midgame, and endgame. Active learning is the key to getting the most out of your chess books. When you are serious about improving your endgame skills, Dvoretskys Endgame Manual is the right book for you. Reduce your opening study time even more by playing the Semi-Slav Defense against 1.d4. And what other tools would you suggest that can help improve ones play? I think The Soviet Chess Primer published in 2014 in English translation and updated for modern chess play, a Quality Chess book, is excellent for all levels. For openings, my favorite manuals are chess openings for white / black, explained by Alburt et al. Thanks! I have heard from a friend of mine who is 1800 that 1 lesson takes 60 to 90 minutes at the orange level. - GM Matthew Sadler, The Power of Pawns by GM Jrg Hickl (2016), "The didactic concept of the book is admirable. Each chapter defines the structures, explains the typical characteristics and shows the plans for both White and Black. Master the grand art of Chess Calculation (Friend), to be released for publication in May 2013. Take a closer look at the series Grandmaster Preparation by Quality Chess. 2. It contains a bunch of tasks at three different levels to enhance your gameplay and thinking capacity. Reading from so many varieties of books and their applications and implementing them into your chess games will help the intermediate chess player within you to flourish more and more. In light of this Simon put together an instructive training course to help you improve all facets of your chess. It is obvious that the thinking level of an intermediate player will not match the levels of the grandmasters, so this book offers the gameplays of amateur and gives you an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of other players at your level. The language offered is very clear, straight, and easily understandable by all levels of players. In conclusion, warmly recommended. He gave the intermediates an option to learn from his games, openings, endgames, tactics, strategies, and obvious mistakes. As if a player is winning and doesnt know how to finish off his game, he will definitely make a blunder out of anxiousness. The student is methodically, step by step, trained to visualise future positions accurately. Once youve understood these principles, you can focus more concretely on certain chess openings. For more advanced players, My System continues to be inspiring and thought provoking. Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond, Understanding Chess Middle Games by GM Nunn. In his book, Jeremy Silman provides the readers with great insights into the strategical failures of club players. Each book is 24 lessons, 216 lessons all told. Jacob Aagaards books Attack and Defence or Strategic Play are excellent to improve your middlegame strategy. Tim Brennan & Anthea Carson together wrote Tactics Time! Here is a review of three other books in the series:http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner. So these were some of the best chess books for intermediate chess players. Ive included the links to the recommended books to find them on amazon above. Thank you for taking the time to read our best picks for the best chess books for all players. Think Like a Grandmaster (Kotov) was a groundbreaking book when it came out. A Helpful Guide For Parents! Here are a few suggestions to help you get started. Mark Dvoretsky was one of the best-known and most respected chess trainers in the world. However, for the serious player looking to really sink their teeth into endgame study, Mastering Complex Endings by Daniel Naroditsky will provide you with lots of practical advice. Chess Secrets of Positional Chess by Drazen Marovic will help you with this and teach you how to use weaknesses in your opponents position. Silmans complete endgame is a complete course for beginners, intermediate, and masters, written by Jeremy Silman. ), Is Chess.com Premium Worth It? Now everyone tries to immitate it. Garry Kasparov explains in his famous book How Life Imitates Chess: Ive often wondered, where does our [chess] success come from? The reader participates by assessing positions and invariably receives useful tips for practical play." For a change, none of the quizzes has a driect tactical solution; but a few of the wrong answers are wrong because there is a tactical refutation. Does learning with a grandmaster help one improve faster? If the Grandmaster is a good trainer, of course. And I still win using Reinfeld every day. This way, you get to play similar structures against all of Whites main moves. One Hundred Soviet Chess Miniatures (PH Clarke) is an old favourite of mine. Focus on all aspects of the game. The results will improve as you study more theory and gain experience with the opening. ), 171 Pages - 10/31/2015 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher), Uses both theoretical and practical knowledge, Gives insight and ideas of the grandmasters, 280 Pages - 03/09/2017 (Publication Date) - Academy of Intellectual Games (Publisher), Point of view of both student and teacher, 432 Pages - 04/28/2017 (Publication Date) - New In Chess (Publisher), 511 Pages - 05/17/2020 (Publication Date), Forced checkmates and pre-analyzed games are written, 402 Pages - 04/01/1997 (Publication Date) - Siles Pr (Publisher), Informations are rated and divided accordingly, 2042 Pages - 10/19/2012 (Publication Date), Given examples of both the grandmasters and amateur players, Logical analysis of each game with respect to each move is demonstrated, 138 Pages - 06/19/2018 (Publication Date) - SDE Publishing (Publisher), Includes algebraic notations of a grandmaster, 1104 Pages - 08/13/2013 (Publication Date) - Black Dog & Leventhal (Publisher). All you need is a defense against 1.e4, and you have an entire opening repertoire for Black. Even Top Grandmaster Michael Adams confirmed: The high-quality Grandmaster Repertoire series has taken this format to a completely different level.. After learning the basics of chess, it becomes very important to know the board and position properly, as it helps in pre-planning the game. Read more about Chess Delta. - FM Harry Schaack, http://sagarteacheschess.blogspot.com/2015/09/python-strategy-book-review.html, Petrosians Legacy by Tigran Petrosian (1990), https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103409/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review309.pdf, Petrosian: Move by Move by Thomas Engqvist, "Engqvist gives us a rare treat and a genuine, sympathetic understanding of one of chess' greats who nowadays tends to gets lost in the shuffle!" (15 years old) They have to go through a lot of studies and an ample amount of practice to reach a certain height. The founder and main content creator of this website, 2. I am a big advocate of chess and its positive effects on other parts of life. Try not to move a piece twice in the opening. - Michael Ciamarra (2014), Grandmaster Chess Strategy by Jrgen Kaufeld & Guido Kern, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093410/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review812.pdf. Logical Chess: Move By Move: Every Move Explained New Algebraic Edition, Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games, How To Learn Chess Openings? In addition to this book, be sure to invest time working with the new classic in endgame study by De la Villa, 100 Endgames You Must Know.. What influences chess, and what an opponent can think by looking at your moves is analyzed clearly, so that you do not miss out on an opportunity to checkmate. All the tricks are at your fingertips. This book offers you chess opening combinations and checkmates. Dont miss one of our highly recommended courses at iChess. Here is the GingerGM to explain the opening as only the GingerGM can explain it. The technique of self-assessment is used here to help you master chess. Train Your Chess Pattern Recognition is a book you can return to time and again. Dont only focus on chess openings or chess tactics. You say intermediate. How to Open a Chess Game 7 different GMs each contributed a chapter, from beginner-friendly to expert level. There are lots of online resources for you to learn enough to test an opening in online play. Where can I find some books that focus on middlegame strategies, openings and endgames? An endgame requires patience, tactics, understanding, positioning, and strategies. Learning from our favorite players has been a dream for all the chess lovers like us. Lets take middlegame strategy, for example: How do players like Magnus Carlsen outplay their strong opponents in the middlegame? Ill have to order some of your suggestions online later! Easy for read and understand. There just are not enough books on this subject. When trying a new opening online, focus on getting a feel for the positions that arise in the middlegame and endgame. Also you can learn good tactics from 777 mate in one move. so I think it will have the same effect on you! Jeremy Silman sets up instructive positions on the chessboard. The Anna Rudolf Method IM Anna Rudolf, Get Instant Access and 58% Off! To begin with, this book offers you to read and know the importance of chess and the tactical moves and how they help a person grow in real life. Kasparov learned from it and recommends it. The ultimate aim of this book is to teach the intermediate student about logic and why we need logical analysis in it. Lastly you can look Manual of Chess Combinations series from Sergey Ivashchenko. This book teaches and explains why it is important and how to put your best foot forward. Tactics Time! The 350+ training exercises will help you practice your new chess wisdom. I hope, now you have decided on the chess book of your choice. Absolute beginners will find Chess for Rookies helpful, while intermediate players are more likely to enjoy Lessons With a Grandmaster.. Maybe someone needs to make it though. Here are six of the best chess books favored by grandmasters: There is a wealth of information to choose from in the many top-quality chess books available today. This is a company located in the United Kingdom. The aptly titled Mastering Chess Strategy by GM Johann Hellsten provides you with much essential knowledge. Starting from a beginner, intermediate and a grandmaster must have a logical analysis of his game to win the game. Learning from the best is always what you want. A lot like real chess, in that respect. Also Read: The Difference Between Mistake And Blunder In Chess. This is one of the great middlegame chess books for beginners and intermediate players. LOL I'm not sure the OP will be helped by any of these books "Back to Basics - Tactics" would be the best suit for him right now, judging by his rating. Your email address will not be published. Chess Delta is an online platform for all chess lovers. There are chess books for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2021 iChess.net. 4. Examples are the best teachers in every aspect, if you want to learn and experience practically a situation, then you must try this book. it masters you in positional advantage at the end of it. Cheers, Will. From this, I finally got the concept of the centralised knight dominating a passive bishop. Also, as an addition, you are taught about the algebraic expressions and notations that are very essential if you are playing a famous opening game or forced checkmates. The book CHESS STRATEGY FOR CLUB PLAYER is written by Herman Grooten. The chess book you start with is determined by your level of play. Remember, your initial results are not as important as your comfort levels in the game. With a huge advantage of experience, he penned down the importance and advantages of a piece of positioning. However, if you are ready to make a change now. The endgame chess book Fundamental Chess Endings by Mueller and Lamprechtis an extensive endgame manual that is excellent for beginners. Good chess books provide us with well-structured lessons on different topics. Super-interesting look at the history and culture of chess. Chess strategy is common to all three phases of the game. I particularly like the Kasparov book. Possibly of interest:https://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-books-everhttps://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-books-and-youth-vs-old-agehttps://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-cyborg-chess-teachers-and-chess-books. With his Endgame Bible, Mark Dvoretsky has produced a comprehensive work on the endgame which is directed to chess players of all levels. Required fields are marked *. That means there is an opportunity for you to gain an advantage over your rivals. Tactics Time! An excellent chess book for beginners to start out with is Discovering Chess Openings: Building Opening Skills from Basic Principles by John Emms. This book was called the opening-bible for any 1.d4 player. Judgment and Planning in Chess (Euwe) is another old favourite. I have a lot of the old favourites, and a few old books that probably deserved a better fate (or maybe not). In terms of reward for your efforts, endgame study offers you the best returns on the time you invest. If you want to devote a reasonable amount of your time to chess training, a universal approach to the game yields the best results consistently. Can an intermediate player use some of the beginners books if it helps them? Yes, of course! this list contains the best chess books rated by 10 chess masters, Save 50% and Get Instant Access to The GingerGM Method GM Simon Williams. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This is one of the top five preferences because it teaches you from your mistakes. But if youre willing to do the work, your effort will definitely be rewarded. After you narrow down your choices, then you can look for chess books covering your openings. In this book, you will learn how to use the Queens Gambit Declined against the Queens Gambit, Queen Pawn openings, the English Opening, and the Reti. Moreover, Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky is a great source of inspiration and a great chess training book to improve your endgame technique not to be confused with endgame theory. If your Elo is around 1400-1800, it makes little sense to buy chess books that are full of theoretical lines and do not include a lot of text on the key ideas and basic concepts of the opening you want to play. Thanks Will! Your positioning will determine whether you will decide the came of the opponent or you are going to lose it. The best part of the book is, it has a divided rating system and helps the player to make speedy reactions. The grandmaster himself wrote this book and his way of conveying and teaching is unique, as you have to repeat the steps until you get the correct move as instructed. For those who are ready to immerse themselves in endgame theory, even more than ten years after the books release, there is still no better manual available today. Sadly, he passed away in 2016. Also, Imagination in Chess: How to Think Creatively and Avoid Foolish Mistakes by Gaprindashviliis good for tactical and positional exercises. iChess LLC All Rights Reserved. We also have many recent products in our online store at: This book is framed by Tim Sawyer, who trains you to deeper levels of chess. The 3 golden pillars of success in chess are undoubtedly, Tactical sharpness, Strategical insight, and Visualisation accuracy. Chess is one of those games that utilizes the players mind to the fullest and forces them to think and analyze the game. After laying the foundation, it is time to deepen your understanding of getting the most out of your chess pieces. Intermediate players should thus look at How to Reassess Your Chessby Jeremy Silman and Excelling at Chess by Jacob Aagard. http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-1-exceprt.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103321/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review699.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-your-chess-2-excerpt.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Build-up-Your-Chess-3-exceprt.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103659/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review778.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Boost-Your-Chess-1-excerpt.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BoostYourChess2-excerpt.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/BoostYourChess3.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review834.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess-Evolution-1-excerpt.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708085817/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review843.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess_Evolution_2-excerpt.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Chess_Evolution_3-excerpt.pdf, http://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Revision&Exam1-excerpt.pdf. if you want to be an expert, you need to practice games. Because it has solution diagrams after all puzzle. Orange books first, then blue, then Green. For this reason, working with the best chess books is one of the best ways to improve your chess. Then he plays them against his students in order to see how they would handle the position at hand. In our Middlegame Masterclass DVD, GM Damian Lemos explains the best guiding principles to follow in order to handle any middlegame position! It is not only an outstanding opening book but also it is a milestone of chess opening books in general. The book confronts a particular situation and discusses it with all the theoretical and practical knowledge of the author himself. Here are the 11 best chess books for intermediate players: The book BOBBY FISCHER TEACHES CHESS is a phenomenal book written by Bobby Fischer himself in 1966. This comes under one of the best books as it not only tells about a situation but how the move is best for a situation and which piece to use. Forcing Chess Moves (Hertan) is an extremely good book for improving your calculation skills. Already a very strong Player (2100+ ELO) and want to improve up to master level? The complexity of chess is but one factor. For beginners, the classic My System by Aaron Nimzowitsch can be recommended. For example, My System by Aaron Nimzovitch, Chess Fundamentals by Jose Capablanca, or Laskers Manual of Chess by Emmanuel Lasker are excellent choices. http://www.thechessmind.net/blog/2010/1/30/a-brief-review-of-carsten-hansens-back-to-basics-openings.html, https://web.archive.org/web/20140627031504/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen76.pdf, http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Understanding_the_Chess_Openings.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140626173432/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen128.pdf, http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/FCO_Fundamental_Chess_Openings.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093123/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review756.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf, It was part of a seven part series of chess books. There is nobody better to learn the endgame from than Jose Raul Capablanca. You can find plenty of chess DVD series on all the different topics in our shop. HOW TO REASSESS YOUR CHESS: THE COMPLETE CHESS MASTERY COURSE is a phenomenal book. Positional compensation was a poorly understood (or at least little discussed) concept in Spielmann's time, and to his credit he makes clear that his sacrifices are based on positional factors. No player is perfect right from the beginning! Keres, Tal and Fischer are my 3 favourites, but there are too many to choose from. He has offered the best lessons about how to attack the opponent with an efficient method of learning. This site also participates in other affiliate programs such as Clickbank, CJ, ShareASale, Fiverr, Chess.com and other sites and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. If your over the board rating is anywhere from 1400 to 2000, I recommend the Yusupov series. When you think of how complex chess is, choosing one chess book as the best is impossible. CHESS: The Ultimate Chess Tactics Strategies, 6. I have no idea why I recommended "Forcing Chess Moves" w/o looking at his rating first. Keep reading to know more about what those books contain, and select your favorite one out of them! I will be waiting for your answer. As you read books, you start gathering theoretical knowledge and logic which is the most important factor in the game of chess. My System is one of the most read and most successful books of all times.