,

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

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4.26 avg rating — 6,982,376 ratings
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2

by
4.41 avg rating — 3,191,789 ratings
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3

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,891,575 ratings
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4

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,851,031 ratings
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5

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4.47 avg rating — 11,576,339 ratings
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6

by
3.80 avg rating — 3,942,631 ratings
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7

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,587,824 ratings
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8

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,361,154 ratings
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9

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,069,108 ratings
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10

by
3.98 avg rating — 2,108,625 ratings
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11

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,900,476 ratings
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12

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,524,131 ratings
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13

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,345,204 ratings
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14

by
4.24 avg rating — 3,183,957 ratings
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15

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,213,384 ratings
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16

by
4.32 avg rating — 854,685 ratings
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17

by
3.93 avg rating — 6,008,833 ratings
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18

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,480,738 ratings
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19

by
3.70 avg rating — 3,245,642 ratings
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20

by
4.17 avg rating — 2,495,498 ratings
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21

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,313,508 ratings
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22

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,881,869 ratings
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23

by
4.03 avg rating — 397,326 ratings
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24

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,262,999 ratings
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25

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,481,275 ratings
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26

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,040,616 ratings
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27

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,298,078 ratings
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28

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,659,496 ratings
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29

by
4.17 avg rating — 939,881 ratings
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30

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,942,029 ratings
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31

by
4.35 avg rating — 1,522,369 ratings
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32

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,500,774 ratings
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33

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,548,604 ratings
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34

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,131,075 ratings
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35

by
4.33 avg rating — 2,529,952 ratings
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36

by
4.27 avg rating — 954,746 ratings
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37

by
4.09 avg rating — 1,312,877 ratings
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38

by
4.33 avg rating — 1,045,515 ratings
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39

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,629,531 ratings
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40

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,215,096 ratings
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41

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,504,018 ratings
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42

by
4.20 avg rating — 786,773 ratings
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43

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,929,167 ratings
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44

by
3.68 avg rating — 7,395,179 ratings
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45

by
4.30 avg rating — 329,679 ratings
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46

by
4.16 avg rating — 2,124,392 ratings
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47

by
4.36 avg rating — 3,540,252 ratings
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48

by
4.12 avg rating — 1,123,080 ratings
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49

by
4.35 avg rating — 10,063,137 ratings
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50

by
4.11 avg rating — 946,367 ratings
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51

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,111,730 ratings
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52

by
3.94 avg rating — 1,767,221 ratings
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53

by
3.88 avg rating — 1,021,631 ratings
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54

by
4.28 avg rating — 761,253 ratings
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55

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,486,188 ratings
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56

by
3.99 avg rating — 894,024 ratings
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57

by
4.12 avg rating — 2,846,694 ratings
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58

by
4.21 avg rating — 303,611 ratings
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59

by
4.39 avg rating — 2,921,020 ratings
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60

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,654,408 ratings
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61

by
4.44 avg rating — 664,114 ratings
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62

by
4.21 avg rating — 851,627 ratings
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63

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,449,700 ratings
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64

by
4.25 avg rating — 738,861 ratings
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65

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,057,990 ratings
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66

by
3.87 avg rating — 959,864 ratings
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67

by
4.02 avg rating — 657,906 ratings
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68

by
3.97 avg rating — 713,371 ratings
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69

by
4.24 avg rating — 340,132 ratings
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70

by
4.47 avg rating — 3,050,937 ratings
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71

by
4.35 avg rating — 841,968 ratings
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72

by
4.35 avg rating — 846,392 ratings
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73

by
4.10 avg rating — 553,905 ratings
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74

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,259,292 ratings
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75

by
3.79 avg rating — 500,735 ratings
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76

by
4.39 avg rating — 599,463 ratings
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76

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,867,388 ratings
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78

by
4.28 avg rating — 432,316 ratings
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79

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,712,300 ratings
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80

by
4.11 avg rating — 1,282,865 ratings
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81

by
4.01 avg rating — 262,415 ratings
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82

by
4.27 avg rating — 1,166,568 ratings
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83

by
4.59 avg rating — 256,461 ratings
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84

by
4.10 avg rating — 996,394 ratings
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85

by
4.11 avg rating — 800,963 ratings
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86

by
4.39 avg rating — 398,157 ratings
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87

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,854,801 ratings
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88

by
4.14 avg rating — 319,098 ratings
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89

by
3.99 avg rating — 392,807 ratings
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90

by
3.92 avg rating — 204,111 ratings
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91

by
3.98 avg rating — 499,809 ratings
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92

by
4.45 avg rating — 2,767,930 ratings
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93

by
3.76 avg rating — 139,499 ratings
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94

by
3.95 avg rating — 399,755 ratings
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95

by
3.89 avg rating — 339,153 ratings
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96

by
4.30 avg rating — 328,915 ratings
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97

by
4.18 avg rating — 651,888 ratings
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98

by
4.04 avg rating — 667,360 ratings
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99

by
4.18 avg rating — 208,157 ratings
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100

by
3.89 avg rating — 280,705 ratings
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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 5255 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.


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