,

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 — 5,862,007 ratings
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2

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4.29 avg rating — 4,756,903 ratings
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3

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4.16 avg rating — 2,306,953 ratings
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4

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4.30 avg rating — 4,427,561 ratings
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5

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4.03 avg rating — 1,043,147 ratings
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6

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4.20 avg rating — 5,399,091 ratings
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7

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3.89 avg rating — 1,013,348 ratings
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8

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3.83 avg rating — 1,182,927 ratings
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9

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4.13 avg rating — 1,855,155 ratings
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10

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3.83 avg rating — 1,333,859 ratings
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11

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3.53 avg rating — 237,218 ratings
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12

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4.31 avg rating — 1,253,881 ratings
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13

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4.20 avg rating — 4,158,154 ratings
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14

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4.02 avg rating — 4,498,285 ratings
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15

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4.13 avg rating — 213,600 ratings
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16

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4.09 avg rating — 1,288,704 ratings
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17

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4.21 avg rating — 840,226 ratings
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18

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4.17 avg rating — 1,287,582 ratings
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18

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4.03 avg rating — 988,907 ratings
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20

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4.29 avg rating — 1,067,219 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,008,545 ratings
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22

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3.91 avg rating — 236,510 ratings
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23

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4.51 avg rating — 216,292 ratings
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24

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3.76 avg rating — 299,994 ratings
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25

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3.99 avg rating — 2,062,109 ratings
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26

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4.08 avg rating — 870,142 ratings
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27

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3.91 avg rating — 303,570 ratings
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28

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4.39 avg rating — 382,524 ratings
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29

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4.24 avg rating — 72,871 ratings
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30

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4.32 avg rating — 1,015,864 ratings
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31

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3.90 avg rating — 2,023,082 ratings
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32

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4.17 avg rating — 403,958 ratings
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33

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3.80 avg rating — 869,837 ratings
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34

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4.06 avg rating — 606,566 ratings
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35

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4.19 avg rating — 7,360 ratings
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36

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3.44 avg rating — 914,781 ratings
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37

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4.15 avg rating — 771,167 ratings
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38

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3.50 avg rating — 344,687 ratings
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39

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3.93 avg rating — 506,394 ratings
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40

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3.94 avg rating — 576,243 ratings
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41

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4.17 avg rating — 2,440,625 ratings
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42

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3.89 avg rating — 434,823 ratings
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43

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4.44 avg rating — 629,873 ratings
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44

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4.33 avg rating — 1,105,205 ratings
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45

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3.74 avg rating — 2,807,644 ratings
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46

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4.27 avg rating — 1,596,925 ratings
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47

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3.84 avg rating — 301,652 ratings
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48

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4.03 avg rating — 1,380,024 ratings
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49

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4.11 avg rating — 516,966 ratings
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50

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3.56 avg rating — 613,108 ratings
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51

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4.02 avg rating — 113,779 ratings
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52

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3.92 avg rating — 9,903 ratings
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53

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4.19 avg rating — 78,417 ratings
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54

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4.20 avg rating — 724,512 ratings
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55

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4.45 avg rating — 315,279 ratings
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56

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4.10 avg rating — 925,110 ratings
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57

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3.71 avg rating — 218,480 ratings
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57

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4.17 avg rating — 363,766 ratings
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59

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3.81 avg rating — 132,920 ratings
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60

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3.91 avg rating — 143,886 ratings
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61

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3.78 avg rating — 226,343 ratings
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62

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3.95 avg rating — 566,166 ratings
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63

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4.28 avg rating — 340,120 ratings
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64

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4.05 avg rating — 975,403 ratings
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65

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3.76 avg rating — 137,376 ratings
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66

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4.06 avg rating — 257,742 ratings
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67

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4.07 avg rating — 157,808 ratings
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68

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4.12 avg rating — 45,782 ratings
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69

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4.10 avg rating — 345,699 ratings
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70

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4.13 avg rating — 385,606 ratings
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71

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4.03 avg rating — 204,982 ratings
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72

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4.29 avg rating — 181,319 ratings
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73

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4.01 avg rating — 260,066 ratings
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74

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4.03 avg rating — 81,093 ratings
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75

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3.99 avg rating — 316,739 ratings
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75

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3.87 avg rating — 114,041 ratings
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77

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4.27 avg rating — 3,652 ratings
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78

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4.15 avg rating — 182,494 ratings
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79

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4.04 avg rating — 178,410 ratings
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80

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4.02 avg rating — 217,223 ratings
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81

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3.70 avg rating — 102,004 ratings
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82

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4.31 avg rating — 14,366 ratings
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83

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3.81 avg rating — 88,661 ratings
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84

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3.89 avg rating — 200,926 ratings
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85

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3.68 avg rating — 175,537 ratings
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86

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3.94 avg rating — 391,162 ratings
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87

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3.89 avg rating — 2,811,890 ratings
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87

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3.92 avg rating — 39,378 ratings
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89

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4.03 avg rating — 396,620 ratings
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90

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 508,788 ratings
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91

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3.75 avg rating — 118,346 ratings
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92

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3.86 avg rating — 195,282 ratings
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93

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4.01 avg rating — 55,384 ratings
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94

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3.59 avg rating — 17,726 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 351,776 ratings
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96

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3.92 avg rating — 1,013,205 ratings
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97

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3.81 avg rating — 213,300 ratings
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98

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4.19 avg rating — 31,979 ratings
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98

by
3.96 avg rating — 94,562 ratings
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100

by
4.04 avg rating — 257,409 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 3597 books
405 friends
Bettie 15674 books
20 friends
Denise 4560 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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