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Apocalypse, Armageddon, the end of the world as we know it—that’s the theme of this list. These are breakthrough books that shattered the way we saw entities/corporations and changed the way we perceived the world we live in today. Survival tactics—learn from their mistakes or check out some real how-to guides. Fiction and non-fiction included.
1

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4.35 avg rating — 869,468 ratings
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2

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4.21 avg rating — 5,824,362 ratings
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3

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,099,919 ratings
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4

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4.36 avg rating — 10,355,817 ratings
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5

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3.98 avg rating — 2,169,207 ratings
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6

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4.02 avg rating — 584,886 ratings
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7

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3.97 avg rating — 3,021,262 ratings
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8

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4.16 avg rating — 2,587,451 ratings
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9

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 138,568 ratings
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10

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3.71 avg rating — 3,338,398 ratings
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11

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4.30 avg rating — 79,636 ratings
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12

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4.37 avg rating — 4,374,260 ratings
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13

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4.03 avg rating — 4,860,576 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 610,978 ratings
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15

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4.12 avg rating — 2,920,662 ratings
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16

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4.22 avg rating — 2,088,919 ratings
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17

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 296,794 ratings
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18

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3.65 avg rating — 242,699 ratings
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19

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4.05 avg rating — 227,975 ratings
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20

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3.99 avg rating — 52,050 ratings
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21

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3.83 avg rating — 364,584 ratings
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22

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3.89 avg rating — 584,306 ratings
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23

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3.87 avg rating — 1,060,690 ratings
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24

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4.13 avg rating — 3,911,786 ratings
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25

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3.99 avg rating — 124,942 ratings
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26

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3.94 avg rating — 35,791 ratings
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27

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 796,820 ratings
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28

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4.19 avg rating — 368,871 ratings
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29

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3.89 avg rating — 38,237 ratings
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30

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4.09 avg rating — 49,763 ratings
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31

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3.98 avg rating — 79,743 ratings
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32

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3.90 avg rating — 685,763 ratings
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33

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4.08 avg rating — 120,490 ratings
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33

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4.09 avg rating — 539,532 ratings
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35

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4.10 avg rating — 517,344 ratings
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36

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3.93 avg rating — 333,626 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 135,340 ratings
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38

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4.25 avg rating — 851,035 ratings
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39

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 46,082 ratings
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40

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4.13 avg rating — 4,509,033 ratings
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41

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4.38 avg rating — 345,089 ratings
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42

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4.07 avg rating — 136,573 ratings
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43

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4.27 avg rating — 247,892 ratings
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44

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3.66 avg rating — 54,343 ratings
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45

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3.84 avg rating — 717,415 ratings
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46

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3.97 avg rating — 318,222 ratings
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47

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3.93 avg rating — 18,223 ratings
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48

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3.93 avg rating — 2,036,624 ratings
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49

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3.69 avg rating — 413,283 ratings
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50

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4.22 avg rating — 298,241 ratings
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51

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3.87 avg rating — 251,661 ratings
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52

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3.60 avg rating — 87,936 ratings
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53

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3.90 avg rating — 305,195 ratings
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54

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4.01 avg rating — 277,011 ratings
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55

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4.16 avg rating — 126,187 ratings
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56

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3.91 avg rating — 94,690 ratings
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57

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4.18 avg rating — 303,765 ratings
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58

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4.15 avg rating — 451,792 ratings
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59

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3.85 avg rating — 106,600 ratings
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60

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3.87 avg rating — 121,138 ratings
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61

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4.01 avg rating — 121,355 ratings
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62

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3.81 avg rating — 44,041 ratings
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63

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3.80 avg rating — 91,736 ratings
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64

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3.81 avg rating — 18,568 ratings
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65

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3.76 avg rating — 10,811 ratings
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66

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3.62 avg rating — 822,866 ratings
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67

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4.03 avg rating — 81,197 ratings
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68

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4.01 avg rating — 18,831 ratings
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69

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4.06 avg rating — 1,759,429 ratings
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70

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4.24 avg rating — 302,698 ratings
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71

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3.68 avg rating — 18,427 ratings
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72

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3.93 avg rating — 428,608 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 383,916 ratings
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74

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4.01 avg rating — 304,761 ratings
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75

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4.16 avg rating — 257,596 ratings
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76

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4.17 avg rating — 256,627 ratings
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77

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4.26 avg rating — 333,729 ratings
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78

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3.57 avg rating — 47,644 ratings
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79

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4.25 avg rating — 257,584 ratings
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80

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3.61 avg rating — 170,276 ratings
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81

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4.19 avg rating — 327,180 ratings
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82

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3.92 avg rating — 54,129 ratings
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83

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3.75 avg rating — 79,509 ratings
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84

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3.67 avg rating — 12,992 ratings
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85

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3.85 avg rating — 9,233 ratings
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86

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3.87 avg rating — 214,307 ratings
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87

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3.94 avg rating — 76,102 ratings
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88

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3.69 avg rating — 7,689 ratings
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89

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3.85 avg rating — 62,441 ratings
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90

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4.15 avg rating — 42,794 ratings
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91

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4.12 avg rating — 17,815 ratings
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92

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4.27 avg rating — 229,061 ratings
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93

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4.32 avg rating — 95,185 ratings
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94

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4.29 avg rating — 196,807 ratings
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95

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3.92 avg rating — 154,793 ratings
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96

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3.68 avg rating — 7,018 ratings
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97

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4.08 avg rating — 190,662 ratings
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98

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3.83 avg rating — 217,055 ratings
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99

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3.96 avg rating — 1,662,920 ratings
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100

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3.67 avg rating — 96,344 ratings
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1,020 books · 1,608 voters · list created July 25th, 2008 by DaNela (votes) .
256 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


DaNela 1259 books
40 friends
Leslie 330 books
24 friends
Jessica 12004 books
1457 friends
Lindsey 1681 books
85 friends
Jami 2705 books
58 friends
Lori 4528 books
874 friends
Ancient 1406 books
100 friends
Josh 300 books
59 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Bryguy9312 (new)

Bryguy9312 theres two fifteeens's >_>


message 2: by Adam (new)

Adam Um, where are The Giver and The Hunger Games? gonna add them :)


message 3: by Samantha and Kevin (last edited Apr 08, 2010 03:49AM) (new)

Samantha and Kevin Lucifer's Hammer - You gotta add this one to this list.


message 4: by [deleted user] (new)

Kevin wrote: "Lucifer's Hammer - You gotta add this one to this list."

Oh, YES! that is is the BEST one.


message 5: by Nathanimal (new)

Nathanimal Does dystopian count as apocalyptic?


message 6: by Brian (new)

Brian Nate wrote: "Does dystopian count as apocalyptic?"

My opinion is that dystopian is separate from apocalyptic, although they overlap frequently.
My examples from Stephen King:
The Stand - both dystopian and apocalyptic.
The Dark Tower - dystopian but not apocalyptic, well it may be apocalyptic depending on POV of the character. For Rowland, yes it is apocalyptic, but for Jake and Eddie (and others) it is some kind of parallel universe.

Just my opinion.


message 8: by Lisa (new)

Lisa James The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan talks about the end of days, the final battle, etc. This should be included although it also considered epic fantasy.


message 9: by Igor (new)

Igor Putina I Am Legend, Earth Abides, Day by Day Armageddon, 1984 and One Second After. These books are epic.


message 10: by Josie (new)

Josie Great List!!!


message 11: by Julia (new)

Julia Swan Song,-Robert McCannon! Most wonderful book,have read it so many times,Try it Josie,you will love it!


message 12: by Julia (new)

Julia Or Mc Cammeron..you will find it!


message 13: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer Definitely Swan Song and Lucifer's Hammer. Also, Out of the Ashes by William Johnstone and Deep Winter by Thomas Sherry.


message 14: by Katie (new)

Katie Great list... I added like 20 books to my list!

Also, 1984 is the best book I've ever read I recommend it to anyone who has a week or so and wants a great dystopian novel


message 15: by Dolly (new)

Dolly Great list. I've added some more to my "read me" list. I've always said that I'm a coward and want to be at ground zero in case of apocalypse. People look at me weird and then I explain it to them.


message 16: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Apr 07, 2018 07:07AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) It's ages ago since I've read it but I can't quite see how Foucault's Pendulum (#331) fits on this list. Nor Chronik eines angekündigten Todes (#796).


message 17: by Robert (new)

Robert Reisler 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙈𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙍𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧—𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩-𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜.

- 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘿𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙁𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚


message 18: by Lida (new)

Lida Keshvarikanzagh The Deity I Did Not Want
A unique ending and a fresh idea — it only took 20 minutes to read, but it completely changed the way I see the world around me.


message 19: by Fiona (new)

Fiona Hurley 8 duplicates found and removed


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