,

These are the books that we've all either HAD to read, or chose to read to see if we could. Some of these selections are re-reads; a new perspective gained with each page. These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult. Feel free to add your personal "nightmare" reading material!
1

by
3.76 avg rating — 138,739 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.43 avg rating — 562,440 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,061,303 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.44 avg rating — 925,256 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,165,708 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.17 avg rating — 368,537 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.53 avg rating — 238,879 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.93 avg rating — 7,045 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,679 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.03 avg rating — 207,867 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.93 avg rating — 514,482 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.91 avg rating — 238,951 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.10 avg rating — 940,044 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.86 avg rating — 183,845 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.84 avg rating — 304,131 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.86 avg rating — 197,234 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.99 avg rating — 48,275 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.50 avg rating — 349,938 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.46 avg rating — 99,121 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.89 avg rating — 338,372 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.05 avg rating — 30,274 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.96 avg rating — 280,331 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.84 avg rating — 223,907 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.02 avg rating — 48,713 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.04 avg rating — 339,104 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.39 avg rating — 392,636 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.98 avg rating — 2,094,829 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.44 avg rating — 652,238 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.38 avg rating — 181,998 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.21 avg rating — 220,696 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.10 avg rating — 549,593 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.45 avg rating — 320,863 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.09 avg rating — 203,258 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.57 avg rating — 619,941 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,001,377 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,493,007 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.98 avg rating — 126,041 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,920,555 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.96 avg rating — 21,994 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.98 avg rating — 132,859 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.69 avg rating — 408,212 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,534,579 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.07 avg rating — 367,535 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.94 avg rating — 67,044 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.77 avg rating — 99,477 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.89 avg rating — 367,418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.19 avg rating — 19,763 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.14 avg rating — 462,451 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.10 avg rating — 53,843 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.17 avg rating — 28,755 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,863,432 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.84 avg rating — 11,326 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.15 avg rating — 439,831 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.87 avg rating — 256,771 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.98 avg rating — 106,615 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
4.28 avg rating — 427,117 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.86 avg rating — 11,915 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.47 avg rating — 158 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.52 avg rating — 8,079 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.28 avg rating — 356,558 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.42 avg rating — 8,401 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.73 avg rating — 23,018 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.02 avg rating — 8,733 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.13 avg rating — 64,863 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.83 avg rating — 111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.46 avg rating — 2,857 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.17 avg rating — 94,745 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.87 avg rating — 953,611 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.77 avg rating — 12,574 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.77 avg rating — 150,555 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.84 avg rating — 36,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.15 avg rating — 1,838 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.77 avg rating — 9,351 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.85 avg rating — 3,391 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.84 avg rating — 505 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.25 avg rating — 2,260 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.09 avg rating — 31,573 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.02 avg rating — 968 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.95 avg rating — 736 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.27 avg rating — 706 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.11 avg rating — 574 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.58 avg rating — 344 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.79 avg rating — 24,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.88 avg rating — 2,778 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.39 avg rating — 264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.94 avg rating — 34,458 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.83 avg rating — 3,431 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.63 avg rating — 6,400 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.18 avg rating — 225 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.05 avg rating — 18,184 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
3.85 avg rating — 1,659 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.98 avg rating — 13,211 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.97 avg rating — 13,959 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.60 avg rating — 30 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.02 avg rating — 6,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,472 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.75 avg rating — 7,265 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,246 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
106 books · 100 voters · list created June 18th, 2009 by Tara Lynn (votes) .
36 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tara 2365 books
192 friends
Cristen 234 books
45 friends
A.M. 1422 books
309 friends
Leslie 2886 books
181 friends
Charlie 154 books
3 friends
Bradley 2371 books
4989 friends
Tamar 760 books
23 friends
Elise 5094 books
240 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Great list; I always feel so guilty when I don't finish a book, but sometimes it is just impossible!


message 2: by Whitney FI (new)

Whitney FI I finished all the books for which I voted, but all took ample research, contemplation and discussion. It's those books that challenge, which are more rewarding, at least for me, in the end.


message 3: by Andrew (last edited Apr 22, 2014 11:40PM) (new)

Andrew Obrigewitsch Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of the Torturer (not hard but it is weird), Fahrenheit 451 (this book is super easy to read actually) and I'm sure at least half the books I haven't read on this list are not that hard.

I would say that, "Heart of Darkness and the Congo Diary" is medium difficulty, above those listed above, but I didn't find it difficult either. The only book on hear I didn't finish was The Silmarillion, because it was just boring and felt like reading a really dry history book taken from the Bible.


message 4: by Milo (new)

Milo I agree with The Silmarillion, Andrews, but am surprised anyone found Fahrenheit 451 hard to read. Perhaps the list also includes books people were forced to read in class, when they weren't in the mood.


message 5: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature."

I think the list has changed since I last looked at it - just reviewed it all now and there's quite a few titles on there that I've read and not found difficult. But I suppose each person has their own standards of what they find difficult...


message 6: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 30, 2019 05:50AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of t..."


I'm sorry to disagree but Nineteen Eighty-Four (#48) was not exactly an 'easy' read for me either. I read books which others found difficult and vice versa. I agree with A.M. on this, what's easy for some isn't easy for another.

Beowulf (#20), for instance, is a great read, but to say it is easy? Not in my opinion....

Besides, the description clearly says These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult.


back to top