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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 — 5,938,981 ratings
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2

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4.30 avg rating — 4,824,693 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,331,852 ratings
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4

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4.30 avg rating — 4,469,118 ratings
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5

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4.03 avg rating — 1,055,082 ratings
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6

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4.20 avg rating — 5,492,383 ratings
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7

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3.89 avg rating — 1,023,924 ratings
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8

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3.83 avg rating — 1,197,594 ratings
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9

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4.14 avg rating — 1,890,733 ratings
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10

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3.83 avg rating — 1,338,952 ratings
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11

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3.53 avg rating — 238,303 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,258,216 ratings
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13

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4.20 avg rating — 4,205,243 ratings
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14

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4.02 avg rating — 4,577,054 ratings
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15

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4.13 avg rating — 216,428 ratings
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16

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4.09 avg rating — 1,300,097 ratings
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17

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4.21 avg rating — 845,514 ratings
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18

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4.17 avg rating — 1,300,314 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 997,196 ratings
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20

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4.29 avg rating — 1,087,835 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,014,696 ratings
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22

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3.91 avg rating — 238,016 ratings
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23

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4.51 avg rating — 217,250 ratings
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24

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3.76 avg rating — 302,410 ratings
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25

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3.99 avg rating — 2,084,607 ratings
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26

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4.08 avg rating — 880,621 ratings
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27

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3.91 avg rating — 306,297 ratings
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28

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4.39 avg rating — 388,780 ratings
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29

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4.24 avg rating — 73,326 ratings
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30

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4.33 avg rating — 1,028,171 ratings
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31

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3.90 avg rating — 2,082,940 ratings
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32

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4.17 avg rating — 406,705 ratings
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33

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3.80 avg rating — 876,190 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 610,705 ratings
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35

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4.19 avg rating — 7,421 ratings
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36

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3.44 avg rating — 922,082 ratings
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37

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4.15 avg rating — 780,158 ratings
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38

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3.50 avg rating — 348,551 ratings
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39

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3.93 avg rating — 511,596 ratings
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40

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3.94 avg rating — 579,873 ratings
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41

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4.17 avg rating — 2,469,538 ratings
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42

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3.89 avg rating — 437,833 ratings
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43

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4.44 avg rating — 643,899 ratings
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44

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4.33 avg rating — 1,117,341 ratings
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45

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3.74 avg rating — 2,829,082 ratings
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46

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4.27 avg rating — 1,624,612 ratings
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47

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3.84 avg rating — 303,241 ratings
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48

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4.03 avg rating — 1,412,081 ratings
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49

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4.11 avg rating — 521,946 ratings
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50

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3.57 avg rating — 617,524 ratings
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51

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4.02 avg rating — 114,422 ratings
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52

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3.92 avg rating — 9,983 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 78,567 ratings
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54

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4.20 avg rating — 735,747 ratings
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55

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4.45 avg rating — 319,416 ratings
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56

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4.10 avg rating — 935,023 ratings
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57

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3.71 avg rating — 219,902 ratings
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57

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4.17 avg rating — 366,962 ratings
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59

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3.81 avg rating — 133,312 ratings
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60

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3.91 avg rating — 145,787 ratings
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61

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3.78 avg rating — 227,964 ratings
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62

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3.94 avg rating — 574,028 ratings
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63

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4.28 avg rating — 351,968 ratings
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64

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4.05 avg rating — 987,024 ratings
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65

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3.76 avg rating — 138,198 ratings
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66

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4.06 avg rating — 259,000 ratings
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67

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4.08 avg rating — 159,856 ratings
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68

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4.12 avg rating — 46,159 ratings
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69

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4.10 avg rating — 347,495 ratings
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70

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4.14 avg rating — 389,591 ratings
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71

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4.03 avg rating — 206,867 ratings
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72

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4.29 avg rating — 183,008 ratings
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73

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4.01 avg rating — 261,107 ratings
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74

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4.03 avg rating — 82,030 ratings
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75

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3.99 avg rating — 319,043 ratings
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75

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3.87 avg rating — 115,808 ratings
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77

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4.27 avg rating — 3,667 ratings
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78

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4.15 avg rating — 183,820 ratings
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79

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4.04 avg rating — 179,732 ratings
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80

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4.02 avg rating — 219,567 ratings
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81

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3.70 avg rating — 102,399 ratings
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82

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4.31 avg rating — 14,594 ratings
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83

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3.81 avg rating — 89,224 ratings
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84

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3.89 avg rating — 202,187 ratings
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85

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3.68 avg rating — 177,554 ratings
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86

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3.94 avg rating — 397,672 ratings
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87

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3.90 avg rating — 2,846,947 ratings
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87

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3.92 avg rating — 39,534 ratings
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89

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4.03 avg rating — 396,930 ratings
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90

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 513,545 ratings
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91

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3.75 avg rating — 119,516 ratings
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92

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3.86 avg rating — 196,492 ratings
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93

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4.01 avg rating — 55,766 ratings
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94

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3.59 avg rating — 17,866 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 354,855 ratings
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96

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3.92 avg rating — 1,021,501 ratings
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97

by
3.81 avg rating — 215,690 ratings
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98

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4.19 avg rating — 32,209 ratings
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98

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3.96 avg rating — 95,033 ratings
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100

by
4.04 avg rating — 259,365 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 3386 books
851 friends
Thom 6022 books
294 friends
Autumn 1804 books
202 friends
Lazarus 3594 books
406 friends
Bettie 15679 books
19 friends
Denise 4590 books
97 friends

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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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