,
Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book

This collection includes the titles of the 20th century considered the most vital to a personal library, all in a beautiful, compact format.
1

by
3.92 avg rating — 6,181,870 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 796,527 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.93 avg rating — 207,725 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.76 avg rating — 154,942 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.83 avg rating — 187,665 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.58 avg rating — 246,381 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.87 avg rating — 985,826 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.89 avg rating — 210,135 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.01 avg rating — 121,324 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.85 avg rating — 258,388 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.04 avg rating — 592,670 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.89 avg rating — 39,693 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.61 avg rating — 462,532 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.87 avg rating — 57,105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.53 avg rating — 4,385 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.68 avg rating — 18,779 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.93 avg rating — 174,753 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.69 avg rating — 64,534 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.59 avg rating — 113,584 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.13 avg rating — 229,291 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 132,711 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.82 avg rating — 83,563 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.74 avg rating — 33,294 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.94 avg rating — 566,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
3.68 avg rating — 88,134 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.77 avg rating — 379,615 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.16 avg rating — 67,415 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.77 avg rating — 8,139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.15 avg rating — 451,665 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.51 avg rating — 4,026 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.88 avg rating — 30,018 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.08 avg rating — 8,671 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.01 avg rating — 35,086 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.91 avg rating — 50,005 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.43 avg rating — 579,191 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.09 avg rating — 761,661 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.89 avg rating — 185,688 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.92 avg rating — 20,798 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.07 avg rating — 35,983 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.74 avg rating — 83,855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.71 avg rating — 2,376 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.89 avg rating — 310,577 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.92 avg rating — 143,144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.01 avg rating — 61,977 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.94 avg rating — 16,264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.50 avg rating — 143,248 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.09 avg rating — 135,871 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.90 avg rating — 4,160 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.41 avg rating — 12,986 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.84 avg rating — 74,150 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 51,103 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.47 avg rating — 3,112,023 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.98 avg rating — 47,425 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.97 avg rating — 57,014 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.82 avg rating — 14,488 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.92 avg rating — 4,818 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.11 avg rating — 13,647 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.14 avg rating — 20,474 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.65 avg rating — 2,232 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59 books · 10 voters · list created May 25th, 2016 by Not Well Read (votes) .
45 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Not Well Read 3637 books
95 friends
Sue 10863 books
82 friends
Phillip 5401 books
138 friends
Maria 5728 books
394 friends
Saturday's 2318 books
65 friends
Edmund 2167 books
8 friends
Catherine 1378 books
7 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-3 of 3 (3 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Is this the same as (the later) Penguin Essentials?


message 2: by Not Well Read (new)

Not Well Read Booklovinglady wrote: "Is this the same as (the later) Penguin Essentials?"

It looks like they're the same to me, but the other one has some newer additions.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Erica wrote: "It looks like they're the same to me, but the other one has some newer additions."

Thanks! I noticed it had more books on it than this one but I wasn't sure it was the same.


back to top