,

The only reading list with both Ulysses and Twilight! The Goodreads staff pored over the most-read and most highly rated books added by our membership to create the Goodreads 100 for Fiction. Reflecting the amazing diversity of the Goodreads community, this list blends highbrow literature and mainstream fiction, stretching from historic greats like Homer and Shakespeare to modern favorites like Cormac McCarthy and J.K. Rowling. You'll find classics, contemporary novels, and plenty of genre representation, including historical fiction, science fiction, romance, and fantasy. Any reader who has read all 100 can claim mastery of the Western canon as well as 21st century pop culture.
How many have you read?

List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 26 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?
1

by
4.26 avg rating — 6,981,561 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.41 avg rating — 3,191,466 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,890,830 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,850,804 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.47 avg rating — 11,574,953 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.80 avg rating — 3,942,245 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,586,744 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,360,804 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,068,959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
3.98 avg rating — 2,108,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,899,958 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,523,489 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,345,139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.24 avg rating — 3,183,668 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,212,758 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.32 avg rating — 854,614 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.93 avg rating — 6,008,079 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,480,286 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.70 avg rating — 3,245,240 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.17 avg rating — 2,495,226 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,313,334 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,881,464 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.03 avg rating — 397,319 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,262,944 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,480,970 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,040,400 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,297,964 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,659,164 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.17 avg rating — 939,815 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,941,642 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.35 avg rating — 1,522,241 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,500,626 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,548,418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,130,929 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.33 avg rating — 2,529,527 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.27 avg rating — 954,671 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.09 avg rating — 1,312,735 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,045,283 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,629,425 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,214,887 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,503,795 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.20 avg rating — 786,710 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,928,726 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.68 avg rating — 7,394,491 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.30 avg rating — 329,637 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,124,285 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.36 avg rating — 3,539,795 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,122,904 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.35 avg rating — 10,061,797 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.11 avg rating — 946,249 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,111,458 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,767,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,021,546 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.28 avg rating — 761,178 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,486,086 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.99 avg rating — 893,939 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.12 avg rating — 2,846,370 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.21 avg rating — 303,592 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,920,663 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,654,092 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.44 avg rating — 663,853 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.21 avg rating — 851,545 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,449,300 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.25 avg rating — 738,685 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,057,813 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.87 avg rating — 959,735 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.02 avg rating — 657,830 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.97 avg rating — 713,340 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.24 avg rating — 340,106 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.47 avg rating — 3,050,676 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.35 avg rating — 841,872 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.35 avg rating — 846,269 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.10 avg rating — 553,812 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,258,955 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.79 avg rating — 500,663 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.39 avg rating — 599,408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,867,306 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.28 avg rating — 432,193 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,712,179 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,282,810 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.01 avg rating — 262,408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,166,444 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.59 avg rating — 256,277 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.10 avg rating — 996,329 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.11 avg rating — 800,901 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.39 avg rating — 398,041 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,854,702 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.14 avg rating — 319,058 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.99 avg rating — 392,748 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.92 avg rating — 204,092 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.98 avg rating — 499,722 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.45 avg rating — 2,767,651 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.76 avg rating — 139,485 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.95 avg rating — 399,697 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.89 avg rating — 339,136 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.30 avg rating — 328,839 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.18 avg rating — 651,810 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.04 avg rating — 667,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.18 avg rating — 208,144 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.89 avg rating — 280,680 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating

Get Results & Compare With Friends »




Jessica 1358 books
352 friends
Benjamin 8730 books
415 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends
Bettie 15685 books
19 friends
Angela 1484 books
34 friends
Phillip 5254 books
138 friends
Ben 1082 books
70 friends
Rob 1140 books
128 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-32 of 32 (32 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn @ Jessica: Who is "We" ? BTW, Good list, great idea.


message 2: by Janet (new)

Janet pout-The Thorn Birds isn't on the list.


message 3: by Will (new)

Will Byrnes 64 for sure, with another 8 I may or may not have in some distant past. And it is missing a bunch of my all time faves. Really? no Moby Dick? No Hammett or Chandler. Ah well, there cannot possibly be agreement on such a list. My votes are not in any particular order.

I presumed that voting was for faves among this listing, and not to identify all the book read from the list.


message 4: by Beth (new)

Beth McDonough I agree on hammett and chandler, although im happy to see agatha christie on the list. Would have also liked to see flannery oconner


message 5: by [deleted user] (new)

the lives of Christopher chant would be a good book to be on there...


message 6: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Aug 18, 2011 09:52AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Somehow this list has expanded to 104 books.

Do you want me to delete the extras, Jessica?


message 7: by Ben (new)

Ben Twilight hasn't cracked the Top 50! Is its brief candle of popularity finally flickering out... or is this just a small sample size?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Small sample size and who's voted within that, would be my guess.


message 9: by Kelly (new)

Kelly This list now has 104 books even though it is supposed to have 100.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Yes, I noticed that.

Would y'all like me to try to remove the extras not on the original list?


message 12: by Thom (new)

Thom Dunn Susanna wrote: "Yes, I noticed that.

Would y'all like me to try to remove the extras not on the original list?"


I certainly would like the list pared back to Jessica's original certified GR..... As scripture say: Add not one jot or tittle. (The gods are not mocked).


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) I second (or third?) that vote ...


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Alright, removing the ones not on the list.


message 15: by [deleted user] (new)

Themis-Athena wrote: "I second (or third?) that vote ..."

Third as I deleted my request. Glad its done, thanks Susanna for keeping up with all this.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads No problem.


message 17: by Etta (new)

Etta Mcquade Where is Willa Cather, who is one of the greats of American literature?


message 18: by [deleted user] (new)

Etta wrote: "Where is Willa Cather, who is one of the greats of American literature?"

Join the New Mexico group and you will find her there. If I remember right.



Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Etta wrote: "Where is Willa Cather, who is one of the greats of American literature?"

I guess she didn't rate with Time magazine.


message 20: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl The list is up to 103 books. Also, the voting buttons have gone away for me - what's up with that?


message 21: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Sep 04, 2011 11:18AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Same here, Lobstergirl. Will see if I can remove the outliers again.

ETA: I think the buttons are gone because someone made it a "challenge" list, and I think they are having trouble with also being able to vote on those.

And for some reason this list is not recording how many people voted for the books, thus making it harder to find the outliers.

Has anyone mentioned this problem with "challenge" lists at GR Feedback?


message 22: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Has anyone mentioned this problem with "challenge" lists at GR Feedback?

Yes, I started a thread.


Dr. W. Neal Burnette "Ulysses", the greatest English-language novel of the 20th Century only rates #94!

LOL


message 24: by Nicolas (new)

Nicolas So, timeless books like The Oddysey and Dracula are behind Twilight. I havn't read Twilight, but I'm fairly certain that people won't give a damn about it in ten years.


message 25: by Rasel (new)

Rasel Janet wrote: "pout-The Thorn Birds isn't on the list."

I'm with you Janet.


message 26: by Renae (new)

Renae Richardson I have read 15 but my goal from this classics list is 31 that I am eager to read this year.


message 27: by Andrea (new)

Andrea 33, but there's a massive difference between 'read' and 'remember anything about' or 'enjoyed'.


message 28: by Sho (last edited Jan 14, 2013 04:23PM) (new)

Sho I read 47 and surprised to find that many of the books I haven't read I have seen them as movies! I added some of them to my reading pile! (It's getting so big I might as well call it a mountain.)


message 29: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Apr 12, 2013 02:33AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I did a count: I've read 33 of them, so not too bad :-) An additional 13 are still on my 'to read' list.

I agree with Andrea, by the way: There is a massive difference between 'read' and 'remember anything about', which is why I haven't counted a few books I've already read (borrowed them years ago during my secondary school days), as these are now on my 'to read' list because I bought a copy recently and intend to read them again.


message 30: by Ramesh (new)

Ramesh Great list. BTW - i count books as read even if i don't remember anything about. By that strict measure, I didn't go to high school or college, even though the classes are part of me!


message 31: by Jack (new)

Jack Hansen Just discovered the list and I went from 25 to 31 by discovering that I have read some the choices listed but I never listed them in my personal list.


message 32: by Lilia (new)

Lilia Ford I've read 52, though almost none are rated since I haven't read them since I joined Goodreads.


back to top



Related News

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We’ve got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

This is a static list.