Penguin Essentials Collection (59 books)

Discover new books on Goodreads

Meet your next favorite book

Listopia > Penguin Essentials Collection

This collection includes the titles of the 20th century considered the most vital to a personal library, all in a beautiful, compact format.

flag

All Votes Add Books To This List

1	The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 3.93 avg rating — 6,106,238 ratings score: 551, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 789,127 ratings score: 485, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison 3.92 avg rating — 206,124 ratings score: 483, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald 3.77 avg rating — 153,236 ratings score: 440, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	Dubliners by James Joyce 3.83 avg rating — 184,216 ratings score: 418, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick 3.59 avg rating — 243,068 ratings score: 406, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 3.87 avg rating — 973,194 ratings score: 392, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	A Room with a View by E.M. Forster 3.89 avg rating — 207,518 ratings score: 379, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 4.01 avg rating — 120,124 ratings score: 376, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 3.85 avg rating — 256,249 ratings score: 370, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind 4.04 avg rating — 580,140 ratings score: 370, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 3.89 avg rating — 39,335 ratings score: 368, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	On the Road by Jack Kerouac 3.61 avg rating — 458,132 ratings score: 349, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 3.88 avg rating — 56,397 ratings score: 346, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud 3.53 avg rating — 4,321 ratings score: 345, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith 3.68 avg rating — 18,593 ratings score: 344, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1) by Raymond Chandler 3.94 avg rating — 172,809 ratings score: 341, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark 3.69 avg rating — 63,388 ratings score: 334, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys 3.59 avg rating — 111,534 ratings score: 323, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse 4.13 avg rating — 224,654 ratings score: 319, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 130,808 ratings score: 318, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome 3.83 avg rating — 82,510 ratings score: 308, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis 3.74 avg rating — 32,920 ratings score: 303, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez 3.94 avg rating — 559,985 ratings score: 302, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	A Passage to India by E.M. Forster 3.68 avg rating — 87,473 ratings score: 277, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 3.77 avg rating — 371,944 ratings score: 264, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	My Family and Other Animals (Corfu Trilogy, #1) by Gerald Durrell 4.16 avg rating — 66,070 ratings score: 258, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar 3.77 avg rating — 7,981 ratings score: 245, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 4.15 avg rating — 447,228 ratings score: 240, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	I'm the King of the Castle by Susan Hill 3.50 avg rating — 3,919 ratings score: 238, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh 3.88 avg rating — 29,713 ratings score: 236, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines 4.08 avg rating — 8,494 ratings score: 230, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	Regeneration by Pat Barker 4.01 avg rating — 34,713 ratings score: 225, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (Pseudonym) 3.91 avg rating — 49,378 ratings score: 223, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 3.43 avg rating — 572,707 ratings score: 221, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 4.09 avg rating — 751,476 ratings score: 218, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Goodreads Author) 3.89 avg rating — 185,059 ratings score: 214, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively 3.91 avg rating — 20,352 ratings score: 184, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr 4.07 avg rating — 32,561 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan 3.74 avg rating — 80,400 ratings score: 166, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse 3.71 avg rating — 2,346 ratings score: 166, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole 3.89 avg rating — 306,587 ratings score: 162, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	The History of Love by Nicole Krauss 3.92 avg rating — 142,491 ratings score: 161, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Eva Luna by Isabel Allende (Goodreads Author) 4.01 avg rating — 61,147 ratings score: 157, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves 3.94 avg rating — 16,024 ratings score: 152, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence 3.50 avg rating — 141,534 ratings score: 149, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré 4.09 avg rating — 133,205 ratings score: 144, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	The Millstone by Margaret Drabble 3.90 avg rating — 4,094 ratings score: 129, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	Foe by J.M. Coetzee 3.41 avg rating — 12,857 ratings score: 128, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Junky by William Burroughs 3.84 avg rating — 73,312 ratings score: 123, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	Embers by Sándor Márai really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 48,837 ratings score: 113, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Goodreads Author) 4.47 avg rating — 3,084,007 ratings score: 108, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Asylum by Patrick McGrath 3.97 avg rating — 45,157 ratings score: 91, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
54	Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson 3.97 avg rating — 56,356 ratings score: 82, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux 3.81 avg rating — 14,301 ratings score: 76, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	An Ice-cream War by William Boyd 3.93 avg rating — 4,730 ratings score: 69, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe (Goodreads Author) 4.11 avg rating — 13,467 ratings score: 55, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	The Periodic Table by Primo Levi 4.14 avg rating — 20,160 ratings score: 48, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	How Many Miles to Babylon? by Jennifer Johnston 3.64 avg rating — 2,199 ratings score: 45, and 1 person voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars