,

Based on listed USA release dates

NOTE: I am including only titles already associated with book covers since it will be no fun to use this list in future years with no pictures, or conversely to have to change votes later to any new editions showing the image.

2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
1

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4.10 avg rating — 438,496 ratings
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2

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4.37 avg rating — 704,613 ratings
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3

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4.12 avg rating — 869,836 ratings
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4

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3.69 avg rating — 198,850 ratings
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5

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3.77 avg rating — 582,681 ratings
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6

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3.66 avg rating — 452,421 ratings
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7

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4.07 avg rating — 222,579 ratings
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8

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4.04 avg rating — 202,951 ratings
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9

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3.23 avg rating — 57,051 ratings
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10

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4.16 avg rating — 841,316 ratings
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11

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4.06 avg rating — 116,011 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 165,290 ratings
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13

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3.99 avg rating — 196,404 ratings
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14

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4.08 avg rating — 96,743 ratings
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15

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3.98 avg rating — 202,770 ratings
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16

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3.99 avg rating — 1,236,195 ratings
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17

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4.41 avg rating — 47,940 ratings
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18

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4.42 avg rating — 177,007 ratings
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19

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3.69 avg rating — 25,676 ratings
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20

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3.59 avg rating — 2,866 ratings
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21

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4.16 avg rating — 81,963 ratings
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22

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4.01 avg rating — 54,538 ratings
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23

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4.30 avg rating — 196,825 ratings
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24

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4.21 avg rating — 457,486 ratings
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25

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3.78 avg rating — 37,781 ratings
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26

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3.53 avg rating — 40,141 ratings
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27

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4.23 avg rating — 145,706 ratings
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28

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4.32 avg rating — 310 ratings
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29

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3.62 avg rating — 19,045 ratings
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30

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3.78 avg rating — 663,372 ratings
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31

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3.66 avg rating — 7,759 ratings
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32

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4.11 avg rating — 109,321 ratings
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33

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3.97 avg rating — 2,548,182 ratings
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34

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3.78 avg rating — 26,782 ratings
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35

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3.73 avg rating — 59,182 ratings
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36

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3.76 avg rating — 46,137 ratings
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37

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4.16 avg rating — 1,564,418 ratings
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38

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3.89 avg rating — 567 ratings
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39

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3.68 avg rating — 119,446 ratings
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40

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3.80 avg rating — 10,201 ratings
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41

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3.82 avg rating — 21,801 ratings
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42

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3.31 avg rating — 12,279 ratings
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43

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4.25 avg rating — 27,489 ratings
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44

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3.61 avg rating — 14,355 ratings
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45

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3.80 avg rating — 12,104 ratings
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46

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3.68 avg rating — 10,471 ratings
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47

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3.73 avg rating — 53,131 ratings
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48

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4.12 avg rating — 69,257 ratings
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49

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3.30 avg rating — 6,479 ratings
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50

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4.39 avg rating — 1,014 ratings
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51

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3.81 avg rating — 59,027 ratings
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52

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3.70 avg rating — 41,647 ratings
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53

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3.47 avg rating — 17,026 ratings
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54

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3.70 avg rating — 41,087 ratings
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55

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3.61 avg rating — 51,599 ratings
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56

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3.99 avg rating — 27,503 ratings
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57

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3.78 avg rating — 11,253 ratings
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58

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3.67 avg rating — 87,607 ratings
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59

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3.76 avg rating — 4,179 ratings
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60

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3.55 avg rating — 6,613 ratings
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61

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3.25 avg rating — 5,302 ratings
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62

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3.69 avg rating — 1,851 ratings
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63

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3.79 avg rating — 1,318,937 ratings
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64

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4.39 avg rating — 62,497 ratings
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65

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3.34 avg rating — 5,251 ratings
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66

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2.81 avg rating — 9,858 ratings
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67

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3.42 avg rating — 4,678 ratings
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68

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3.65 avg rating — 2,997 ratings
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69

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3.81 avg rating — 4,510 ratings
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70

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3.77 avg rating — 2,900 ratings
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71

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3.86 avg rating — 101,623 ratings
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72

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3.42 avg rating — 6,032 ratings
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72

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4.21 avg rating — 514,439 ratings
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74

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3.27 avg rating — 3,060 ratings
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75

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3.79 avg rating — 11,491 ratings
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76

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3.75 avg rating — 6,853 ratings
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77

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3.90 avg rating — 7,009 ratings
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78

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3.85 avg rating — 2,784 ratings
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79

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4.25 avg rating — 82,151 ratings
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80

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3.63 avg rating — 2,180 ratings
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81

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3.48 avg rating — 6,174 ratings
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82

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3.50 avg rating — 112,245 ratings
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83

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3.98 avg rating — 959 ratings
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84

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3.46 avg rating — 14,361 ratings
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85

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3.68 avg rating — 3,657 ratings
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86

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3.67 avg rating — 24,800 ratings
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87

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3.27 avg rating — 1,717 ratings
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88

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3.62 avg rating — 4,294 ratings
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89

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3.70 avg rating — 18,526 ratings
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90

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3.35 avg rating — 32,883 ratings
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91

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4.08 avg rating — 15,959 ratings
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92

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3.58 avg rating — 24,832 ratings
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93

by
3.81 avg rating — 373 ratings
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94

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3.77 avg rating — 142 ratings
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95

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3.41 avg rating — 4,084 ratings
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96

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3.76 avg rating — 1,149 ratings
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97

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3.42 avg rating — 6,280 ratings
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97

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,283 ratings
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99

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4.07 avg rating — 26,130 ratings
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99

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3.89 avg rating — 59,244 ratings
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398 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


ART 4187 books
5 friends
Karl 36 books
3 friends
JMWilliams 415 books
92 friends
Peter 246 books
12 friends
Cynthia 1950 books
2238 friends
Dale 1952 books
97 friends
St. Martin's Press 1985 books
3186 friends
George 299 books
159 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-21 of 21 (21 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I removed Thorn's Redemption and Traceless. These are neither literary fiction nor 2020 releases.


message 2: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart I don't believe Someday in Paris is literary fiction. It appears to be a digital-only romance title. I can't tell whether it's self published, but it has only been added by the same 9 voters.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude Rainbowheart wrote: "I don't believe Someday in Paris is literary fiction. It appears to be a digital-only romance title. I can't tell whether it's self published, but it has only been added by the same 9 voters."

Not that I know what book you are talking about, but neither being digital only or self published excludes it from being literary, although it is certainly unlikely.

However, like most lists here, once other people get a gist of it they ignore the reason/instructions given by the original poster and so, unsurprisingly, there are a number of titles added here that are not lit fic.


message 4: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart It looks like someone else already removed the book in question.

You're right that a lot of people tend to ignore list instructions. I have noticed some YA titles being added as well. The newest Hunger Games and Miss Peregrine titles are certainly not adult literary fiction.


kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude Rainbowheart wrote: "It looks like someone else already removed the book in question.

You're right that a lot of people tend to ignore list instructions. ..."


It's always incredibly frustrating with these lists and ironic that on a site for readers, some show that they don't actually seem to read very well at all.


message 6: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Removed Conjunction and So All Is Peace, which do not have editions scheduled for release in 2020. Also removed Uncanny Valley, which is a memoir, not fiction.


message 7: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Removed Through Love and Sorrow, not literary fiction, also does not have a 2020 edition. Ditto A Detective Named Abby, self-published short story, and The Life and Times of Fuzzy Wuzzy, looks to be a self-published picture book.


message 8: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Did some cleanup on this list and removed Big Money, Secret Legacy, VanWest the Past, and Not All You Need is Love. Promotional author spam, self-published, not literary fiction. Also deleted Magnetized, which is a non-fiction book.


message 9: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Author spam currently in the 4th spot, The Boy Who Saw Colours. It's self pubbed. Kara, do you want that removed?


message 10: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Author spam has now taken over the top spot. :(


message 11: by Kara (new)

Kara Please remove, and follow all manner of removal policies on this and any other list I've posted. I am afraid I cannot consistently monitor this account. Thanks so much for the work you do, Rainbowheart!


message 12: by Stephanie (new)

Stephanie How do you define literary fiction?


message 13: by Jodi (new)

Jodi After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry was written in 2014, not 2020.


message 14: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart It seems like the first U.S. edition is 2020.


message 16: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart The book you linked is from 2014, Bill.


message 17: by Stephanie (new)

Stephanie Rainbowheart wrote: "It looks like someone else already removed the book in question.

You're right that a lot of people tend to ignore list instructions. I have noticed some YA titles being added as well. The newest H..."


Where are the list instructions?


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Stephanie wrote: "How do you define literary fiction?"

I haven't voted for any because the books I pre-ordered aren't exactly literary fiction 😊


message 19: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Removed self-published spam titles by Lynessa Layne, which are decidedly not literary fiction.


message 20: by Michele (new)

Michele Merens Hi Rainbow Heart. I am a new author to Goodreads, my novel "Inside Our Days" published in Oct 2020 by Muriel Press, Marian University is in the adult literary fiction genre. Someone did put my book onto Goodreads and rated it a few months ago; tonight, I added my book to this list only because it said anyone could add? When it didn't seem to work without a vote, I put my vote in to do so; then it listed. If I have acted in error or against the posting rules, I wanted to apologize, and I will understand if the title has to be withdrawn or put up by others. But I hope it might stand? Again please forgive if I misread the rules here, I am still a bit confused on the particulars of using this site. Thank you.


message 21: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Hope no one minds, but since it's already January 1 and no 2022 list had appeared, I took the liberty of creating one.

Anticipated 2022 Literary Fiction


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