Top 100 books for adults from the past 150 years

Updated February 27, 2024
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A gentleman in moscow
Towles, Amor.
Paper Book
OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD A Showtime/Paramount+ series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov From the number one New York Times-bestselling author, a beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life...
Ulysses
Joyce, James
Paper Book
'Everybody knows now that Ulysses is the greatest novel of the century' Anthony Burgess, Observer Following the events of one single day in Dublin, the 16th June 1904, and what happens to the characters Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly, Ulysses is a...
The handmaid's tale
Atwood, Margaret
Paper Book
One of the most powerful and most widely read novels of our time in display-worthy hardcover: A gripping vision of our society radically overturned by a theocratic revolution--from "the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction" (The New York Times) The sixth and final season...
Never let me go
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Paper Book
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER * From the acclaimed, bestselling author of The Remains of the Day comes "a Gothic tour de force" (The New York Times) with an extraordinary twist--a moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric modern classic. One of The New York Times's 10...
The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Paper Book
Generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the "roaring twenties", and a devastating expose of the "Jazz Age". Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which...
Educated
Westover, Tara.
Paper Book
THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER A BETWEEN THE COVERS PICK Selected as a book of the year by AMAZON, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW YORK TIMES, ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, VOGUE, IRISH TIMES,...
Lessons in chemistry
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
THE FUNNY AND INSPIRING, MULTI-AWARD-WINNING BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 8 MILLION COPIES SOLD, now a major Apple TV+ series starring Brie Larson A Book of the Year for- Guardian, Times, Sunday Times, New York Times, Good House Keeping, Woman & Home, Stylist, TLS Oprah...
How to win friends and influence people
Carnegie, Dale
Paper Book
The most famous confidence-boosting book ever published; with sales of over 16 million copies worldwide Millions of people around the world have improved their lives based on the teachings of Dale Carnegie. In How to Win Friends and Influence People, he offers practical...
Gone with the wind
Mitchell, Margaret
Paper Book
Since its original publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind--winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time--has been heralded by readers everywhere as The Great American Novel. Widely considered The Great American Novel, and often remembered for...
Things fall apart
Achebe, Chinua.
Paper Book
"A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world." --Barack Obama "African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe." --Toni Morrison "A...
Half of a yellow sun
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Paper Book
**DREAM COUNT, the searing new bestselling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is out now!** THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 'WINNER OF WINNERS' One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' 'A literary masterpiece' DAILY MAIL 'An immense achievement'...
For whom the bell tolls
Hemingway, Ernest.
Paper Book
Hemingway's great novel of the Spanish Civil War 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for and I hate very much to leave it' High in the pine forests of the Spanish Sierra, a guerrilla band prepares to blow up a vital bridge. Robert Jordan,...
Memoirs of a geisha : a novel
Golden, Arthur
Ebook
1984
Dean, Michael
Paper Book
Orwell's classic novel tells the story of a world where thoughts and actions are controlled by the all-seeing Big Brother. When Winston Smith rebels and searches for the truth he learns a painful lesson about his world and the people in it. Also a powerful film directed by Michael Radford.
The catcher in the rye
Salinger, J. D.
Paper Book
The Catcher in Rye is the ultimate novel for disaffected youth and has influenced countless coming-of-age stories since. Holden Caulfield is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up,...
Invisible man
Ellison, Ralph
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. One of The Atlantic<...
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
Paper Book
For use in schools and libraries only. A totalitarian regime has ordered all books to be destroyed, but one of the book burners suddenly realizes their merit.
Lord of the flies : a novel
Golding, William
Paper Book
The 50th Anniversary Edition of the Lord of the Flies is the volume that every fan of this classic book will have to own! Lord of the Flies remains as provocative today as when it was first published in 1954, igniting passionate debate with its startling, brutal...
The fellowship of the ring : being the first part of The lord of the rings
Tolkien, J. R. R.
Paper Book
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure tale, The Lord of the Rings. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven...
Atlas shrugged
Rand, Ayn.
Paper Book
Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil,Atlas Shruggedis Ayn Rand's magnum opus- a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller-nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American...
On the road
Kerouac, Jack
Paper Book
The classic novel of freedom and the search for authenticity that defined a generation One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his...
Lolita
Nabokov, Vladimir.
Paper Book
'You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.' Humbert Humbert, a European intellectual adrift in America, is a middle-aged college professor. Haunted by memories of a lost adolescent love, he falls outrageously (and illegally) in lust with his landlady's...
To kill a mockingbird
Lee, Harper
Paper Book
Look for The Land of Sweet Forever, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces by Harper Lee, coming October 21, 2025. Voted America's Best-Loved Novel in PBS's The Great American Read Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize...
Catch-22
Heller, Joseph
Paper Book
This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller's masterpiece with a new introduction; critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos; and much more. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels...
Silent spring
Carson, Rachel
Paper Book
Now recognized as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century, SILENT SPRING exposed the destruction of wildlife through the widespread use of pesticides. Despite condemnation in the press and heavy-handed attempts by the chemical industry to ban the book, Rachel carson succeeded in...
All the light we cannot see
Doerr, Anthony
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in...
The feminine mystique
Friedan, Betty.
Paper Book
When Betty Friedan produced The Feminine Mystique in 1963, she could not have realized how the discovery and debate of her contemporaries' general malaise would shake up society. Victims of a false belief system, these women were following strict social convention by loyally conforming to the...
The autobiography of Malcolm X
X, Malcolm
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE OF TIME'S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The "extraordinary" (The New York Times) autobiography of the legendary civil rights leader once called the most dangerous man in America--essential...
Slaughterhouse-five, or, The children's crusade : a duty-dance with death
Vonnegut, Kurt
Paper Book
Read Kurt Vonnegut's powerful masterpiece, which is as timely now as when it was first published. 'An extraordinary success. A book to read and reread. He is a true artist' New York Times Book Review Billy Pilgrim - hapless barber's...
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia.
Paper Book
Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been one of the literary giants of the past century; his body of work is an undisputed cultural landmark and a touchstone for countless readers and writers alike. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a true classic, a timelessly fascinating and intricately...
Roots
Haley, Alex
Paper Book
Now a major BBC drama starring Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Laurence Fishburne Tracing his ancestry through six generations - slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lawyers and architects - back to Africa, Alex Haley discovered a sixteen-year-old youth,...
Lonesome dove
McMurtry, Larry.
Paper Book
A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning classicLonesome Dove, the third book in theLonesome Dovetetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last, defiant wilderness of America. Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome...
Beloved
Morrison, Toni
Paper Book
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * This "powerful, mesmerizing story" (People) is an unflinching look into the abyss of slavery, from the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner. With an afterword by the author. "A masterwork.... Wonderful.... I can...
A prayer for Owen Meany : a novel
Irving, John
Paper Book
"A remarkable novel. . . . A Prayer for Owen Meany is a rare creation. ... An amazingly brave piece of work ... so extraordinary, so original, and so enriching. . . . Readers will come to the end feeling sorry to leave [this] richly textured and carefully wrought world." --STEPHEN KING,...
A fine balance : a novel
Mistry, Rohinton, 1952-
Paper Book
With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency,...
Infinite jest : a novel
Wallace, David Foster
Paper Book
A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America  Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential...
Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
This special edition of HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE has a gorgeous new cover illustration by Kazu Kibuishi. Inside is the full text of the original novel, with decorations by Mary GrandPre.Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom...
Tuesdays with Morrie : an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson
Albom, Mitch
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A special 25th anniversary edition of the beloved book that has changed millions of lives with the story of an unforgettable friendship, the timeless wisdom of older generations, and healing lessons on loss and grief--featuring a new afterword by the author<...
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
The second book in the beloved, bestselling Harry Potter series, now illustrated in brilliant full color by award-winning artist Jim Kay in a deluxe jacketed hardcover edition with illustrated endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. A gift to be treasured by Harry Potter fans and book lovers of all...
The poisonwood bible
Kingsolver, Barbara
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller * Pulitzer Prize Finalist * An Oprah's Book Club Selection "Powerful . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty." --Los Angeles Times Book Review<...
Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it's the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run - and they say he is coming after Harry. In...
Girl with a pearl earring
Chevalier, Tracy
Paper Book
The New York Times bestselling novel by the author of A Single Thread and At the Edge of the Orchard Translated into thirty-nine languages and made into an Oscar-nominated film, starring Scarlett Johanson and Colin Firth Tracy Chevalier transports...
Harry Potter and the goblet of fire [illustrated edition]
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
The fourth book in the beloved, bestselling Harry Potter series, now illustrated in glorious full color by award-winning artist Jim Kay in a deluxe jacketed hardcover edition with illustrated endpapers and a ribbon bookmark. A gift to be treasured by Harry Potter fans and book lovers of all...
Me talk pretty one day
Sedaris, David.
Paper Book
A hilarious collection of essays from David Sedaris, 'the premier observer of our world and its weirdnesses' (Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt) Anyone who has heard David Sedaris speaking live or on the radio will tell you that a collection from him is cause...
Kitchen confidential : adventures in the culinary underbelly
Bourdain, Anthony
Paper Book
After twenty-five years of 'sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine', chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain decided to tell all. From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky-tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown; from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the...
Life of Pi
Martel, Yann
Paper Book
Atonement
McEwan, Ian
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness that provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from the acclaimed Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author. ...
The secret life of bees
Kidd, Sue Monk
Paper Book
· A QUEEN'S READING ROOM PICK 2023 · OVER 125 WEEKS ON THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST · MADE INTO AN AWARD-WINNING MOVE STARRING QUEEN LATIFAH, DAKOTA FANNING, ALICIA KEYS, SOPHIE OKONEDO AND JENNIFER HUDSON · AN ACCLAIMED...
Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
As the Order of the Phoenix keeps watch over Harry Potter, troubled times have come to Hogwarts in a year filled with secrets, subterfuge and suspicion. The deliciously dark fifth instalment of Jim Kay's inspired reimagining of J.K. Rowling's classic series is an epic artistic achievement,...
The kite runner
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over. New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century "A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been struggling to...
The Da Vinci code : a novel
Brown, Dan
Paper Book
DISCOVER THE #1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON, WITH MORE THAN 85 MILLION COPIES SOLD--AND DON'T MISS DAN BROWN'S NEW THRILLER, THE SECRET OF SECRETS! "Blockbuster perfection . . . a gleefully erudite suspense novel." --The New York Times "A pulse...
Harry Potter and the half-blood prince
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
*Join Harry Potter on the magical journey of a lifetime in the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's multi-award-winning series. When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is blackened and shrivelled, but he does not reveal why....
The glass castle : a memoir
Walls, Jeannette
Paper Book
THE BELOVED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER--FROM THE AUTHOR OF HANG THE MOON The extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly) memoir from one of the world's most gifted storytellers. The Glass Castle...
The road
McCarthy, Cormac
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A searing, post-apocalyptic novel about a father and son's fight to survive that "only adds to McCarthy's stature as a living master. It's gripping, frightening and, ultimately, beautiful" (San Francisco Chronicle). One of...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rowling, J. K.
Paper Book
'His hand closed automatically around the fake Horcrux, but in spite of everything, in spite of the dark and twisting path he saw stretching ahead for himself, in spite of the final meeting with Voldemort he knew must come, whether in a month, in a year, or in ten, he felt his heart lift at the...
A thousand splendid suns
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family,...
The Girl with the dragon tattoo
Larsson, Stieg
Paper Book
A sensation across Europe--millions of copies sold A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue. It's about the disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden . . . and...
The help
Stockett, Kathryn.
Paper Book
A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club -- Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. Aibileen is a wise, regal black maid raising her seventeenth white child. Minny, Aibileen's best friend, can cook like nobody's business but can't mind her tongue. It...
Room
Donoghue, Emma
Paper Book
Jack is five and, like any little boy, excited at the prospect of presents and cake. But although Jack is a normal child in many ways - loving, funny, and bright - his upbringing is far from ordinary: Jack's entire life has been spent in a single room that measures just 12 feet by 12 feet; as far as...
My brilliant friend
Ferrante, Elena
Paper Book
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy¿s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante¿s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and...
Gone girl : a novel
Flynn, Gillian
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The "mercilessly entertaining" (Vanity Fair) instant classic "about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships" (Lev Grossman, Time "One of the Best Books of the...
Americanah
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Paper Book
10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A modern classic about star-crossed lovers that explores questions of race and being Black in America--and the search for what it means to call a place home. * From the award-winning author of We Should All Be Feminists and Half of a...
A little life
Yanagihara, Hanya.
Paper Book
Over one million copies sold Too many broken hearts to count 'A book unlike any other' - The Guardian 'This novel challenged everything I thought I knew about love and friendship' - Dua Lipa The million-copy bestseller, Hanya Yanagihara's...
The girl on the train
Hawkins, Paula
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt.   The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives, from the author of Into...
Little fires everywhere
Ng, Celeste
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller * Named a Best Book of the Year by People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month,...
Where the crawdads sing
Owens, Delia
Paper Book
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a heartbreaking coming of age story and a surprising murder investigation. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens's debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were,...
The silent patient
Michaelides, Alex
Paper Book
**THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** "An unforgettable--and Hollywood-bound--new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy." --Entertainment Weekly The Silent Patient is a...

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