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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4.26 avg rating — 6,822,061 ratings
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3

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4.17 avg rating — 363,494 ratings
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4.16 avg rating — 2,305,438 ratings
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5

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4.29 avg rating — 4,752,836 ratings
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6

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3.70 avg rating — 3,175,174 ratings
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7

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4.12 avg rating — 1,095,436 ratings
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8

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4.31 avg rating — 1,253,635 ratings
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9

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4.02 avg rating — 4,493,252 ratings
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10

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4.40 avg rating — 461,325 ratings
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11

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3.81 avg rating — 132,882 ratings
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12

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3.97 avg rating — 165,551 ratings
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13

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4.32 avg rating — 1,015,001 ratings
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14

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4.13 avg rating — 213,398 ratings
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15

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3.89 avg rating — 2,809,816 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 924,479 ratings
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17

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4.17 avg rating — 403,767 ratings
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18

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3.86 avg rating — 195,194 ratings
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19

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4.14 avg rating — 72,131 ratings
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20

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4.30 avg rating — 509,312 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,008,121 ratings
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22

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3.90 avg rating — 2,020,578 ratings
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23

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3.82 avg rating — 178,229 ratings
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24

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4.18 avg rating — 3,426,519 ratings
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25

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3.92 avg rating — 86,644 ratings
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25

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4.11 avg rating — 516,585 ratings
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27

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4.31 avg rating — 713,995 ratings
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28

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4.12 avg rating — 824,820 ratings
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29

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4.07 avg rating — 117,467 ratings
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30

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4.26 avg rating — 215,872 ratings
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31

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3.98 avg rating — 105,417 ratings
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32

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3.76 avg rating — 137,318 ratings
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33

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4.21 avg rating — 839,878 ratings
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34

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3.92 avg rating — 1,012,669 ratings
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35

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3.93 avg rating — 506,009 ratings
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36

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4.11 avg rating — 238,138 ratings
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37

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4.09 avg rating — 918,065 ratings
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38

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4.13 avg rating — 799,992 ratings
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39

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3.94 avg rating — 390,680 ratings
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40

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4.29 avg rating — 1,065,792 ratings
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41

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3.89 avg rating — 336,525 ratings
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42

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4.47 avg rating — 3,000,562 ratings
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43

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3.83 avg rating — 174,662 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 — 382,049 ratings
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46

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4.36 avg rating — 220,321 ratings
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47

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4.20 avg rating — 120,266 ratings
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48

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4.04 avg rating — 661,950 ratings
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49

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3.89 avg rating — 1,588,571 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 820,995 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 60,895 ratings
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52

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4.31 avg rating — 14,352 ratings
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53

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4.11 avg rating — 790,352 ratings
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54

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3.90 avg rating — 108,732 ratings
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55

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4.28 avg rating — 339,434 ratings
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56

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4.28 avg rating — 748,623 ratings
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57

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3.88 avg rating — 136,967 ratings
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57

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4.41 avg rating — 210,984 ratings
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59

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3.88 avg rating — 40,354 ratings
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60

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4.19 avg rating — 7,354 ratings
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61

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3.84 avg rating — 301,519 ratings
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62

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3.80 avg rating — 869,353 ratings
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63

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4.50 avg rating — 107 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 — 141,305 ratings
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66

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4.36 avg rating — 6,777 ratings
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67

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3.89 avg rating — 275,142 ratings
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68

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3.69 avg rating — 93,276 ratings
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69

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4.08 avg rating — 171,074 ratings
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70

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4.23 avg rating — 29,754 ratings
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71

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4.15 avg rating — 770,551 ratings
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72

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4.25 avg rating — 713,545 ratings
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73

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3.71 avg rating — 372,304 ratings
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74

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3.86 avg rating — 377,974 ratings
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75

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4.14 avg rating — 393,564 ratings
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76

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3.50 avg rating — 137,165 ratings
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77

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4.09 avg rating — 125,712 ratings
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78

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3.65 avg rating — 16,184 ratings
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79

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3.83 avg rating — 47,707 ratings
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80

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3.74 avg rating — 180,039 ratings
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81

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4.45 avg rating — 164,525 ratings
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82

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4.16 avg rating — 67,889 ratings
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83

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3.91 avg rating — 303,465 ratings
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84

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3.94 avg rating — 178,510 ratings
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85

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4.01 avg rating — 102,511 ratings
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86

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4.21 avg rating — 35,652 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 — 54,773 ratings
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88

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3.53 avg rating — 237,139 ratings
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90

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3.83 avg rating — 660,328 ratings
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91

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3.90 avg rating — 1,861,481 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 — 337,943 ratings
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94

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4.57 avg rating — 235,787 ratings
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95

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3.59 avg rating — 297,697 ratings
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96

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4.15 avg rating — 23,016 ratings
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97

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3.97 avg rating — 36,963 ratings
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98

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3.89 avg rating — 122,397 ratings
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99

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3.85 avg rating — 537,546 ratings
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100

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4.01 avg rating — 296,858 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 531 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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