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In an effort to avoid the usual "Flavor of the Month" feel that "Best Ever" lists take on, this list may only include books that were originally published prior to 1950.
1

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3.93 avg rating — 5,982,497 ratings
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2

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4.30 avg rating — 4,867,182 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,349,726 ratings
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4

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4.30 avg rating — 4,501,679 ratings
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5

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4.03 avg rating — 1,063,981 ratings
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6

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4.20 avg rating — 5,552,328 ratings
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7

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3.89 avg rating — 1,031,407 ratings
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8

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3.84 avg rating — 1,208,133 ratings
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9

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4.14 avg rating — 1,914,471 ratings
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10

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3.83 avg rating — 1,343,019 ratings
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11

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3.53 avg rating — 239,093 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,261,138 ratings
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13

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4.20 avg rating — 4,231,750 ratings
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14

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4.02 avg rating — 4,626,569 ratings
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15

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4.13 avg rating — 218,518 ratings
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16

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4.09 avg rating — 1,308,057 ratings
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17

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4.21 avg rating — 849,032 ratings
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18

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4.17 avg rating — 1,308,089 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 1,003,146 ratings
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20

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4.29 avg rating — 1,102,352 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,018,999 ratings
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22

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3.91 avg rating — 239,351 ratings
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23

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4.51 avg rating — 217,910 ratings
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24

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3.76 avg rating — 304,232 ratings
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25

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3.98 avg rating — 2,099,167 ratings
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26

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4.08 avg rating — 887,645 ratings
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27

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3.91 avg rating — 308,282 ratings
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28

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4.39 avg rating — 394,414 ratings
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29

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4.24 avg rating — 73,719 ratings
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30

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4.33 avg rating — 1,038,389 ratings
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31

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3.90 avg rating — 2,186,505 ratings
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32

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4.17 avg rating — 408,951 ratings
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33

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3.80 avg rating — 880,367 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 613,644 ratings
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35

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4.19 avg rating — 7,476 ratings
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36

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3.44 avg rating — 926,484 ratings
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37

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4.15 avg rating — 786,966 ratings
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38

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3.50 avg rating — 349,526 ratings
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39

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3.93 avg rating — 515,681 ratings
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40

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3.94 avg rating — 582,708 ratings
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41

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4.17 avg rating — 2,485,845 ratings
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42

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3.89 avg rating — 440,262 ratings
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43

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4.44 avg rating — 655,914 ratings
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44

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4.33 avg rating — 1,125,575 ratings
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45

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3.74 avg rating — 2,842,692 ratings
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46

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4.27 avg rating — 1,642,977 ratings
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47

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3.84 avg rating — 304,548 ratings
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48

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4.03 avg rating — 1,435,033 ratings
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49

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4.11 avg rating — 525,428 ratings
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50

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3.57 avg rating — 620,992 ratings
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51

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4.02 avg rating — 115,010 ratings
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52

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3.92 avg rating — 10,066 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 78,674 ratings
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54

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4.20 avg rating — 743,490 ratings
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55

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4.45 avg rating — 321,429 ratings
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56

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4.10 avg rating — 942,059 ratings
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57

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3.71 avg rating — 221,292 ratings
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57

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4.17 avg rating — 369,197 ratings
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59

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3.81 avg rating — 133,649 ratings
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60

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3.91 avg rating — 147,034 ratings
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61

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3.78 avg rating — 229,385 ratings
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62

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3.94 avg rating — 579,158 ratings
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63

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4.28 avg rating — 358,522 ratings
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64

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4.05 avg rating — 994,941 ratings
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65

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3.76 avg rating — 138,997 ratings
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66

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4.06 avg rating — 260,091 ratings
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67

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4.08 avg rating — 161,002 ratings
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68

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4.12 avg rating — 46,468 ratings
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69

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4.10 avg rating — 348,711 ratings
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70

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4.14 avg rating — 392,599 ratings
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71

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4.03 avg rating — 208,306 ratings
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72

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4.29 avg rating — 184,183 ratings
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73

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4.01 avg rating — 261,908 ratings
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74

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4.03 avg rating — 82,261 ratings
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75

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3.99 avg rating — 320,889 ratings
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75

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3.87 avg rating — 117,353 ratings
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77

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4.27 avg rating — 3,681 ratings
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78

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4.15 avg rating — 184,937 ratings
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79

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4.04 avg rating — 181,043 ratings
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80

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4.02 avg rating — 220,859 ratings
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81

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3.70 avg rating — 102,725 ratings
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82

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4.31 avg rating — 14,779 ratings
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83

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3.81 avg rating — 89,730 ratings
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84

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3.89 avg rating — 203,415 ratings
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85

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3.69 avg rating — 179,095 ratings
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86

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3.94 avg rating — 402,871 ratings
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87

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3.90 avg rating — 2,868,518 ratings
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87

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3.92 avg rating — 39,648 ratings
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89

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4.03 avg rating — 397,158 ratings
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90

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 516,353 ratings
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91

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3.76 avg rating — 120,493 ratings
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92

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3.86 avg rating — 197,531 ratings
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93

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4.01 avg rating — 56,053 ratings
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94

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3.59 avg rating — 18,018 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 357,229 ratings
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96

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3.92 avg rating — 1,026,736 ratings
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97

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3.81 avg rating — 217,814 ratings
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98

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4.19 avg rating — 32,454 ratings
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98

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3.96 avg rating — 95,406 ratings
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100

by
4.05 avg rating — 261,130 ratings
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45 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Ben 1082 books
70 friends
Alessandra 2196 books
62 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends
Thom 6022 books
293 friends
Autumn 1804 books
201 friends
Lazarus 3594 books
406 friends
Bettie 15683 books
19 friends
Denise 4612 books
97 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Do you want me to remove "The Death of Ivan Ilych," Ben? It's reading -1 voters.


message 2: by Ben (new)

Ben Susanna wrote: "Do you want me to remove "The Death of Ivan Ilych," Ben? It's reading -1 voters."

Very strange. I removed it. Thanks for letting me know.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Don't know why that happened, but it does happen occasionally.


message 4: by Capsguy (new)

Capsguy Whoa, I pretty much exclusively read books written prior to 1950.


message 5: by [deleted user] (new)

The Watchmen and The 13 Clocks removed. Both excellent, neither published prior to 1950.


message 6: by Susan (new)

Susan Sutton Editing problems- 214 is a contemporary YA sci-fi book. Monster Men is at 287 and 369 (we all love Edgar, but really,,,). Lists Swann's Way and In Search of lost Time separately. Is the German translation of 20,000 Leagues appreciably better than an English one? Perhaps a list of best 200 books from 1900-1950 would be more useful and manageable. We all know about Dickens already.


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