Greater Books

*Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Powys* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Rexroth* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Oriental* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Kanigel* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Utne* *Campbell* *Norway* *Dirda* *Great* *Guardian* *O'Hear* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Reynolds* *World* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

The Guardian, Books You Can't Live Without: The Top 100 [2007]

114 ventries: 113 monographical, one otherwise

Ranked

The Guardian's list stands apart as the first of several lists published from 2007 onward, but otherwise is easily one of the least important, barely meeting the Greater Books criteria, with only one book from ancient times, the Bible. This list includes a significant number of modern-day popular favorites.

  1. Jane Austen

  2. Pride and Prejudice_30
    originally anonymously published 1813—English
    *Eliot* *Powys* *Hundred* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Reynolds* *World* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  3. J R R Tolkien

  4. The Lord of the Rings_6
    published in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King, 1954-5—English
    *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  5. Charlotte Brontë

  6. Jane Eyre: An Autobiography_16
    originally published under the pseudonym, Currer Bell, 1847—English
    *Zulli* *Ward* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

    J K Rowling
  7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_4

  8. 1997—English
    *Guardian* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_3

  10. 1998—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_3

  12. 1999—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_3

  14. 2000—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  15. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_3

  16. 2003—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  17. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_3

  18. 2005—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_3

  20. 2007—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  21. Harper Lee

  22. To Kill a Mockingbird_5
    1960—English
    *Recommended* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Harvard*

    --
  23. The Bible_17

  24. Downs also lists John Wycliffe's 1382 English translation of the Vulgate; Bloom, Dirda, and the Globe and Mail specify the King James Version, translated 1604-11 to English from the Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament) and the Greek (New Testament), revised 1769 by Benjamin Blayney—Hebrew; Aramaic; Greek
    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Read* *Ward* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *SeymourSmith* *Dirda* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *World*

  25. Emily Brontë

  26. Wuthering Heights_17
    originally published 1847 under the pseudonym, Ellis Bell; revised 1850—English
    *Powys* *Hundred* *France* *Zulli* *Ward* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *Norway* *Guardian* *Zane* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic*

  27. George Orwell

  28. Nineteen Eighty-Four_17
    1949—English
    *Van Doren* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Graphic* *Educated*

  29. Phillip Pullman

  30. His Dark Materials_4
    originally published in three volumes: Northern Lights, 1995 (U S title: The Golden Compass); The Subtle Knife, 1997; The Amber Spyglass, 2000—English
    *Guardian* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  31. Charles Dickens

  32. Great Expectations_15
    originally published serially Dec. 1860-Aug. 1861 in All the Year Round—English
    *Classics* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Harvard* *Newman*

  33. Louisa M Alcott

  34. Little Women_6
    originally published in two volumes: Little Women, 1868; and Good Wives, 1869—English
    *Bloom* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Smart* *Harvard* *Graphic*

  35. Thomas Hardy

  36. Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented_14
    published in part serially Jul.-Dec. 1891 in the Graphic—English
    *Powys* *Hundred* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Newman* *Deposit*

  37. Joseph Heller
    Catch-22_10
    1961—English
    *List* *Learning* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Harvard* *Deposit*

    • William Shakespeare

  38. Complete works_4
    late Sixteenth-early Seventeenth centuries—English
    *Zulli* *List* *Fadiman* *Guardian*

  39. Daphne du Maurier

  40. Rebecca_5
    1938—English
    *Recommended* *Dirda* *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Deposit*

  41. J R R Tolkien

  42. The Hobbit, or There and Back Again_2
    1937—English
    *Fadiman* *Guardian*

  43. Sebastian Faulks

  44. Birdsong_1
    1993—English
    *Guardian*

  45. J D Salinger

  46. Catcher in the Rye_8
    1951—English
    *Van Doren* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Guardian* *Zane* *Taylor* *Graphic*

  47. Audrey Niffenegger

  48. The Time Traveler's Wife_1
    2003—English
    *Guardian*

  49. George Eliot

  50. Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life _22
    originally published serially Dec. 1871-Dec. 1872—English
    *Baldwin* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic*

  51. Margaret Mitchell

  52. Gone With the Wind_2
    1936—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph*

  53. F Scott Fitzgerald

  54. The Great Gatsby_17
    1925—English
    *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Zane* *Great* *Guardian* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Harvard* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  55. Charles Dickens

  56. Bleak House_7
    originally published serially Mar. 1852-Sep. 1853—English
    *Classics* *Van Doren* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Zane* *Newman*

  57. Leo Tolstoy

  58. Voyna i Mir"_25
    War and Peace
    originally entitled 1805, published in part, 1865 and 1867; retitled and published in its entirety, 1869—Russian

    *Durant* *Invitation* *Hundred* *France* *Rexroth* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Norway* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *World* *Newman*

  59. Douglas Adams

  60. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_3
    1979 novel based on 1978 radio play—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  61. Evelyn Waugh

  62. Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder_3
    1945—English
    *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Guardian*

  63. Fyodor Dostoevsky

  64. Prestuplénie i Nakazániye_23
    Crime and Punishment
    originally published serially Jan.-Dec. 1866 in Rússkij Véstnik; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's English translation—Russian

    *Eliot* *Powys* *Classics* *France* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Harvard* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  65. John Steinbeck

  66. The Grapes of Wrath_11
    1939—English
    *Hundred* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Zane* *Deposit* *Graphic*

  67. Lewis Carroll

  68. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_17
    1865—English
    *Powys* *Invitation* *France* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Harvard* *Deposit* *Graphic*

  69. Kenneth Grahame

  70. The Wind in the Willows_3
    1908—English
    *Recommended* *Guardian* *Telegraph*

  71. Leo Tolstoy

  72. Anna Karenina_20
    published in part serially 1873-7 in Rússkij Véstnik; in its entirety, 1877; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's English translation—Russian
    *Eliot* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Utne* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Harvard* *Reynolds* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  73. Charles Dickens

  74. The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_15
    originally published serially May 1849-Nov. 1850—English
    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Classics* *Magill* *Read* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Zane* *Telegraph* *Newman*

    C S Lewis
  75. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_3

  76. 1950—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph* *Harvard*

  77. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia_2

  78. 1951—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  79. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_2

  80. 1952—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  81. The Silver Chair_2

  82. 1953—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  83. The Horse and His Boy_2

  84. 1954—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  85. The Magician's Nephew2

  86. 1955—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  87. The Last Battle_2

  88. 1956—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

    Jane Austen
  89. Emma_11

  90. originally anonymously published 1815—English
    *Read* *List* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Guardian* *Zane* *Newman*

  91. Persuasion_6

  92. originally anonymously published 1817—English
    *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Utne* *Guardian* *Zane* *Newman*

  93. Khaled Hosseini

  94. The Kite Runner_1
    2003—English
    *Guardian*

  95. Louis de Bernières

  96. Captain Corelli's Mandolin_1
    1994—English
    *Guardian*

  97. Arthur Golden

  98. Memoirs of a Geisha_1
    1997—English
    *Guardian*

  99. A A Milne

  100. Winnie-the-Pooh_2
    published in part serially 1924-5; in its entirety, 1926—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph*

  101. George Orwell

  102. Animal Farm_8
    1945—English
    *Van Doren* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Smart* *Graphic*

  103. Dan Brown

  104. The Da Vinci Code_1
    2003—English
    *Guardian*

  105. Gabriel García Márquez

  106. Cien Anõs de Soledad_18
    One Hundred Years of Solitude
    1967; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Gregory Rabassa's English translation—Spanish

    *Ward* *Van Doren* *Good* *Bloom* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Utne* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Harvard* *Graphic* *Deposit* *Educated*

  107. John Irving

  108. A Prayer for Owen Meaney_3
    1989—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard* *Deposit*

  109. Wilkie Collins

  110. The Woman in White_3
    originally published serially in All the Year Round Nov. 1859-Aug. 1860—English
    *Bloom* *Guardian* *Telegraph*

  111. L M Montgomery

  112. Anne of Green Gables_1
    1908—English
    *Guardian*

  113. Thomas Hardy

  114. Far From the Madding Crowd_5
    originally anonymously published serially Jan.-Dec. 1874 in Cornhill Magazine; revised 1895 and 1901—English
    *Powys* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Newman*

  115. Margaret Atwood

  116. The Handmaid's Tale_5
    1985—English
    *Fadiman* *Great* *Guardian* *Smart* *Harvard*

  117. William Golding

  118. Lord of the Flies_6
    1954—English
    *Learning* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Graphic*

  119. Ian McEwan

  120. Atonement_2
    2001—English
    *Guardian* *Smart*

  121. Yann Martel

  122. Life of Pi_1
    2001—English
    *Guardian*

  123. Frank Herbert

  124. Dune_2
    1965—English
    *Recommended* *Guardian*

  125. Stella Gibbons

  126. Cold Comfort Farm_1
    1932—English
    *Guardian*

  127. Jane Austen

  128. Sense and Sensibility_4
    originally published under the pseudonym, A Lady, 1811—English
    *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Guardian* *Newman*

  129. Vikram Seth

  130. A Suitable Boy_2
    1993—English
    *Guardian* *Deposit*

  131. Carlos Ruiz Zafón

  132. La Sombra del Viento_1
    2001—Spanish
    *Guardian*

  133. Charles Dickens

  134. A Tale of Two Cities_8
    originally published serially Apr.-Nov. 1859 in All the Year Round—English
    *Classics* *Baldwin* *Zulli* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Newman* *Graphic*

  135. Aldous Huxley

  136. Brave New World_9
    1932—English
    *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Great* *Guardian* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Graphic*

  137. Mark Haddon

  138. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time_2
    2003—English
    *Guardian* *Smart*

  139. Gabriel García Márquez

  140. El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera_6
    Love in the Time of Cholera
    1985—Spanish

    *Bloom* *Trinity* *Norway* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart*

  141. John Steinbeck

  142. Of Mice and Men_4
    1937—English
    *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Campbell* *Guardian*

  143. Vladimir Nabokov

  144. Lolita_11
    1955—English
    *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Harvard* *Deposit* *Graphic*

  145. Donna Tartt

  146. The Secret History_2
    1992—English
    *Guardian* *Deposit*

  147. Alice Sebold

  148. The Lovely Bones_1
    2002—English
    *Guardian*

  149. Alexandre Dumas

  150. Le Comte de Monte-Cristo_3
    originally published serially Aug. 1844-Jan. 1846 in Journal des Débats—French
    *Magill* *Guardian* *Newman*

  151. Jack Kerouac

  152. On the Road_5
    published in part as 'The Mexican Girl', the Paris Review; 'Jazz of the Beat Generation', New World Writing; and 'A Billowy Trip in the World', New Dimensions; in its entirety, 1957; alternate version, 2007—English
    *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Guardian* *Great* *Graphic*

  153. Thomas Hardy

  154. Jude the Obscure_8
    originally published serially Dec. 1894-Nov. 1895 in Harper's New Monthly Magazine—English
    *Ward* *Magill* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Great* *Guardian* *Smart* *Newman*

  155. Helen Fielding

  156. Bridget Jones's Diary_1
    1996—English
    *Guardian*

  157. Salman Rushdie

  158. Midnight's Children_7
    1981—English
    *Bloom* *Trinity* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Harvard* *Deposit*

  159. Herman Melville

  160. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale_26
    1851—English
    *Classics* *Hundred* *Zulli* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Guardian* *Zane* *Great* *GlobeMail* *Taylor* *Harvard* *Newman* *Graphic* *Deposit* *Educated*

  161. Charles Dickens

  162. Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress _9
    originally published under the pseudonym, Boz, serially Feb. 1837-April 1839 in Bentley's Miscellany—English
    *Classics* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Kanigel* *Campbell* *Guardian* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  163. Bram Stoker

  164. Dracula_6
    1897—English
    *Magill* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Dirda* *Guardian*

  165. Frances Hodgson Burnett

  166. The Secret Garden_2
    originally published serially 1910-11 in the American Magazine—English
    *Dirda* *Guardian*

  167. Bill Bryson

  168. Notes From a Small Island_1
    1995—English
    *Guardian*

  169. James Joyce

  170. Ulysses_20
    published in part serially Mar. 1918-Dec. 1920 in the Little Review; in its entirety, 1922—English
    *Classics* *France* *Read* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Newman* *Graphic*

  171. Sylvia Plath

  172. The Bell Jar_5
    originally published under the pseudonym, Victoria Lucas, 1963—English
    *Ward* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Harvard* *Graphic*

  173. Arthur Ransome

  174. Swallows and Amazons_2
    1930—English
    *Guardian* *Telegraph*

  175. Émile Zola

  176. Germinal_10
    originally published serially Apr. 1884-Jan. 1885 in Gil Blas—French
    *Ward* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Dirda* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Newman*

  177. William Makepeace Thackeray

  178. Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero_18
    originally published serially Jan. 1847-Jul. 1848—English
    *Lubbock* *Baldwin* *Eliot* *Durant* *Classics* *Zulli* *Ward* *Magill* *Good* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Telegraph* *Newman*

  179. A S Byatt

  180. Possession_3
    1990—English
    *Guardian* *Smart* *Educated*

  181. Charles Dickens

  182. A Christmas Carol_7
    1843—English
    *Ward* *Van Doren* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Guardian* *Taylor* *Newman*

  183. David Mitchell

  184. Cloud Atlas_2
    2004—English
    *Guardian* *Harvard*

  185. Alice Walker

  186. The Color Purple_3
    1982—English
    *Recommended* *Campbell* *Guardian*

  187. Kazuo Ishiguro

  188. The Remains of the Day_4
    1989—English
    *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Deposit*

  189. Gustave Flaubert

  190. Madame Bovary_27
    originally published serially Oct. 1856-Dec. 1856 in La Revue de Paris; Mallison ("Smart") specifies Frances Steegmuller's English translation—French
    *Classics* *Durant* *Hundred* *France* *Zulli* *Read* *List* *Ward* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Kanigel* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *GlobeMail* *Smart* *Taylor* *Telegraph* *Deposit* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  191. Rohinton Mistry

  192. A Fine Balance_2
    1995—English
    *Guardian* *Smart*

  193. E B White

  194. Charlotte's Web_2
    1952—English
    *Van Doren* *Guardian*

  195. Mitch Albom

  196. The Five People You Meet in Heaven_1
    2003—English
    *Guardian*

  197. Arthur Conan Doyle

  198. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_6
    1892; stories originally published serially Jul. 1891-Jun. 1892 in the Strand—English
    *Invitation* *Hundred* *Ward* *Dirda* *Guardian* *Telegraph*

    Enid Blyton
  199. The Enchanted Wood_1

  200. 1939—English
    *Guardian*

  201. The Magic Faraway Tree_1

  202. 1943—English
    *Guardian*

  203. The Folk of the Faraway Tree_1

  204. 1946—English
    *Guardian*

  205. Up the Faraway Tree_1

  206. 1951—English
    *Guardian*

  207. Joseph Conrad

  208. Heart of Darkness_16
    originally published serially Feb.-Apr. 1899 in Blackwood's—English
    *Magill* *Adler* *Learning* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Great* *Guardian* *Zane* *Smart* *Newman* *Graphic* *Deposit* *Educated*

  209. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

  210. Le Petit Prince_4
    1943—French
    *Van Doren* *Kanigel* *Guardian* *Deposit*

  211. Iain Banks

  212. The Wasp Factory_1
    1984—English
    *Guardian*

  213. Richard Adams

  214. Watership Down_3
    1972—English
    *Fadiman* *Guardian* *Harvard*

  215. John Kennedy Toole

  216. A Confederacy of Dunces_2
    written early 1960's; published 1980—English
    *Guardian* *Deposit*

  217. Nevil Shute

  218. A Town Like Alice_1
    1950—English
    *Guardian*

  219. Alexandre Dumas

  220. Les Trois Mousquetaires_3
    The Three Musketeers
    originally published serially Mar.-Jul. 1844 in Le Siècle—French

    *France* *Guardian* *Newman*

  221. William Shakespeare

  222. Hamlet_27
    1602—English
    *Eliot* *Durant* *Invitation* *Classics* *Hundred* *Downs* *Ward* *Van Doren* *Magill* *Adler* *Recommended* *Fadiman* *Foundation* *SeymourSmith* *Trinity* *Campbell* *Norway* *Great* *Guardian* *O'Hear* *Zane* *Taylor* *Harvard* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Educated*

  223. Roald Dahl

  224. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_1
    1964—English
    *Guardian*

  225. Victor Hugo

  226. Les Misérables_18
    1862—French
    *Baldwin* *Durant* *Classics* *Hundred* *France* *Downs* *Magill* *Good* *Learning* *Bloom* *Recommended* *Trinity* *Guardian* *Harvard* *World* *Newman* *Graphic* *Deposit*