,

There are so many of us here on Goodreads sick of seeing "best books ever" lists with Twilight and The Hunger Games. Well, how about all of us with a mental age over 13 make a "greatest books list"?

The rules are simple; books must not be shit you read in high school. I'm talking about Joyce, Proust, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, etc., or maybe some lesser known literary masters that time has forgot.
1

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4.10 avg rating — 923,329 ratings
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17

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4.17 avg rating — 403,310 ratings
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18

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3.86 avg rating — 195,015 ratings
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19

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4.14 avg rating — 72,059 ratings
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20

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4.30 avg rating — 508,671 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,007,322 ratings
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22

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3.90 avg rating — 2,015,649 ratings
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23

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3.82 avg rating — 178,165 ratings
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24

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4.18 avg rating — 3,423,820 ratings
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25

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3.92 avg rating — 86,571 ratings
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25

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4.11 avg rating — 515,861 ratings
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27

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4.31 avg rating — 713,108 ratings
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28

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4.12 avg rating — 824,550 ratings
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29

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4.07 avg rating — 117,406 ratings
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30

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4.26 avg rating — 215,743 ratings
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31

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3.97 avg rating — 105,308 ratings
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32

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3.76 avg rating — 137,200 ratings
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33

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4.21 avg rating — 839,971 ratings
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34

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3.92 avg rating — 1,011,768 ratings
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35

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3.93 avg rating — 505,314 ratings
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36

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4.11 avg rating — 237,985 ratings
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37

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4.09 avg rating — 912,535 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 799,053 ratings
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39

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3.94 avg rating — 389,747 ratings
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40

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4.29 avg rating — 1,063,173 ratings
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41

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3.89 avg rating — 336,377 ratings
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42

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4.47 avg rating — 2,998,254 ratings
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43

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3.83 avg rating — 174,299 ratings
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44

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4.28 avg rating — 115 ratings
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45

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4.39 avg rating — 381,711 ratings
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46

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4.36 avg rating — 220,161 ratings
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47

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4.20 avg rating — 120,169 ratings
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48

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4.04 avg rating — 661,699 ratings
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49

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3.89 avg rating — 1,587,519 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 820,325 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 60,744 ratings
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52

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53

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54

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55

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56

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57

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57

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4.41 avg rating — 210,654 ratings
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59

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3.88 avg rating — 40,333 ratings
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60

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4.19 avg rating — 7,342 ratings
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61

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62

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3.80 avg rating — 868,584 ratings
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63

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4.49 avg rating — 106 ratings
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64

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4.77 avg rating — 39 ratings
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65

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4.07 avg rating — 141,238 ratings
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66

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4.36 avg rating — 6,770 ratings
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67

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3.89 avg rating — 274,903 ratings
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68

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3.69 avg rating — 93,195 ratings
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69

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4.08 avg rating — 170,775 ratings
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70

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4.23 avg rating — 29,748 ratings
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71

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4.15 avg rating — 769,420 ratings
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73

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74

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75

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80

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3.74 avg rating — 179,924 ratings
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81

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4.45 avg rating — 164,474 ratings
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82

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4.16 avg rating — 67,825 ratings
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83

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3.91 avg rating — 303,070 ratings
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84

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3.94 avg rating — 178,379 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 102,416 ratings
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86

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4.21 avg rating — 35,613 ratings
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86

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4.22 avg rating — 116 ratings
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88

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3.88 avg rating — 54,714 ratings
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88

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3.53 avg rating — 236,953 ratings
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90

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3.83 avg rating — 659,195 ratings
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91

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3.90 avg rating — 1,854,832 ratings
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92

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4.19 avg rating — 2,862 ratings
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93

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4.30 avg rating — 337,318 ratings
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94

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4.57 avg rating — 234,766 ratings
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95

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3.59 avg rating — 297,477 ratings
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96

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4.15 avg rating — 23,011 ratings
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97

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3.97 avg rating — 36,960 ratings
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98

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3.89 avg rating — 122,289 ratings
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99

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3.85 avg rating — 537,011 ratings
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100

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4.01 avg rating — 296,673 ratings
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716 books · 143 voters · list created October 28th, 2012 by deleted user.
94 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Ruchi 633 books
9 friends
Dustin 9336 books
1372 friends
Brian 297 books
230 friends
ღ Carol jinx~☆~☔ʚϊɞ 4162 books
463 friends
volkhova 532 books
32 friends
Debbie 2818 books
2 friends
Albert 15 books
129 friends
Sarah 14900 books
227 friends

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Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

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message 1: by William (new)

William Wallace Why all the Grisham? A Time to Kill was excellent and so I read more. A slope appeared: it was all downhill from his first book. About number six started books that were poorly if at all edited. It is as if he said that he sold millions so just publish it like he wrote it. I don't read him any more and don't see why he is on any list for intelligent people at all, despite the excellence of the first book.


message 2: by Grigoriy (new)

Grigoriy Great books, thank you so much!Here is a web-site with a lot of book recommendations from outstanding entrepreneurs, great politicians and other celebrities - http://www.favobooks.com/


message 3: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Sep 06, 2015 07:47AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) William wrote: "Why all the Grisham? ..."

John Grisham (#23, 43, 109, 251, 253, 256, 259, 261, 263, 265, 271) shouldn't be on this list, judging from the desciption ("I'm talking about Joyce, Proust, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, etc, or maybe some lesser known literary masters that time has forgot").

Same goes for Stephen King (#39, 54, 56), in my humble opinion. Nor should Georgette Heyer (#125, 307) be on it (even though I love her books). And that's not even mentioning some of the others I came across.

All in all, this list isn't what it set out to be anymore, unfortunately. Such a pity...


message 4: by Lori (new)

Lori Agreed. Some of this list is ridiculous. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo shouldn't be on here either. To Kill a Mockingbird is a good book but it's also standard middle school assigned reading.


message 5: by Lmarie (new)

Lmarie P I just added several books. I might have misunderstood the intent of the list. I took it to be a list books a smart (well-read and/or well educated) people would be likely to enjoy. I didn't just select books by the masters because everyone knows about them. I picked some I thought others may not have enjoyed yet.

My tastes are broad. I hope you like these suggestions.


message 6: by Vicki (new)

Vicki Booklovinglady wrote: "William wrote: "Why all the Grisham? ..."

John Grisham (#23, 43, 109, 251, 253, 256, 259, 261, 263, 265, 271) shouldn't be on this list, judging from the desciption ("I'm talking about Joyce, Prou..."


An Infamous Army, by Georgette Heyer, is widely considered the best fictional account of the Battle of Waterloo; it is my understanding that it has even been on a course reading list at West Point.


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