,

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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3.89 avg rating — 2,806,425 ratings
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16

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4.10 avg rating — 923,484 ratings
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17

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4.17 avg rating — 403,380 ratings
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18

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3.86 avg rating — 195,036 ratings
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19

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4.14 avg rating — 72,066 ratings
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20

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4.30 avg rating — 508,772 ratings
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21

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3.88 avg rating — 1,007,442 ratings
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22

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3.90 avg rating — 2,016,467 ratings
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23

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3.82 avg rating — 178,179 ratings
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24

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4.18 avg rating — 3,424,250 ratings
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25

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3.92 avg rating — 86,591 ratings
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25

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4.11 avg rating — 515,961 ratings
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27

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4.31 avg rating — 713,234 ratings
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28

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4.12 avg rating — 824,584 ratings
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29

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4.07 avg rating — 117,416 ratings
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30

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4.26 avg rating — 215,768 ratings
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31

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3.97 avg rating — 105,336 ratings
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32

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3.76 avg rating — 137,220 ratings
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33

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4.21 avg rating — 839,210 ratings
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34

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3.92 avg rating — 1,011,885 ratings
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35

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3.93 avg rating — 505,412 ratings
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36

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4.11 avg rating — 238,014 ratings
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37

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38

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4.13 avg rating — 799,179 ratings
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39

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3.94 avg rating — 389,892 ratings
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40

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4.29 avg rating — 1,063,506 ratings
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41

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3.89 avg rating — 336,407 ratings
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42

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4.47 avg rating — 2,998,633 ratings
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43

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3.83 avg rating — 174,349 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 — 381,305 ratings
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46

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4.36 avg rating — 220,177 ratings
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47

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4.20 avg rating — 120,179 ratings
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48

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4.04 avg rating — 661,751 ratings
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49

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3.89 avg rating — 1,587,714 ratings
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50

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4.25 avg rating — 820,430 ratings
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50

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4.13 avg rating — 60,777 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 — 210,716 ratings
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59

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3.88 avg rating — 40,336 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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3.84 avg rating — 301,320 ratings
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62

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3.80 avg rating — 868,707 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 — 141,249 ratings
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66

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4.36 avg rating — 6,771 ratings
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67

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3.89 avg rating — 274,939 ratings
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68

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3.69 avg rating — 93,206 ratings
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69

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4.08 avg rating — 170,816 ratings
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70

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71

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4.15 avg rating — 769,583 ratings
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72

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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 — 179,937 ratings
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81

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82

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83

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3.91 avg rating — 303,131 ratings
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86

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4.21 avg rating — 35,624 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 — 54,719 ratings
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88

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3.53 avg rating — 236,981 ratings
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90

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3.83 avg rating — 659,345 ratings
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91

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3.90 avg rating — 1,855,882 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 — 337,418 ratings
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94

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4.57 avg rating — 234,923 ratings
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95

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3.59 avg rating — 297,511 ratings
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96

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4.15 avg rating — 23,015 ratings
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97

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3.97 avg rating — 36,962 ratings
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98

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3.89 avg rating — 122,306 ratings
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99

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3.85 avg rating — 537,086 ratings
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100

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4.01 avg rating — 296,708 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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