,

The intent of this list is to provide a list of works of fiction or poetry written in the romantic literary style.

Romanticism is the conceptual school of art. It deals, not with the random trivia of the day, but with the timeless, fundamental, universal problems and values of human existence. It does not record or photograph; it creates and projects. It is concerned—in the words of Aristotle—not with things as they are, but with things as they might be and ought to be.
—Ayn Rand, "Introduction to The Fountainhead,”
The Objectivist, March 1968


(The list isn’t for the genre of romance novels or works on the philosophy of Romanticism. There are lists for those elsewhere.)
1

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2

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3.69 avg rating — 409,809 ratings
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3

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4.21 avg rating — 854,047 ratings
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4

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4.02 avg rating — 221,986 ratings
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5

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4.16 avg rating — 2,372,142 ratings
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6

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4.29 avg rating — 1,119,970 ratings
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7

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3.96 avg rating — 31,038 ratings
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8

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4.06 avg rating — 92,061 ratings
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9

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4.30 avg rating — 4,915,528 ratings
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10

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4.08 avg rating — 6,633 ratings
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11

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3.61 avg rating — 168,969 ratings
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12

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4.39 avg rating — 401,615 ratings
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13

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3.89 avg rating — 2,233,402 ratings
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14

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3.44 avg rating — 931,977 ratings
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15

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3.80 avg rating — 885,570 ratings
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16

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4.05 avg rating — 5,208 ratings
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17

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3.70 avg rating — 159,686 ratings
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18

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3.99 avg rating — 97 ratings
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19

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3.77 avg rating — 99,950 ratings
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20

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3.43 avg rating — 3,800 ratings
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21

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4.01 avg rating — 42,811 ratings
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22

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3.95 avg rating — 42,419 ratings
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23

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3.57 avg rating — 626,075 ratings
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24

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3.89 avg rating — 52,094 ratings
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24

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4.63 avg rating — 139 ratings
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26

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4.25 avg rating — 15,327 ratings
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26

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3.89 avg rating — 8,030 ratings
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28

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3.77 avg rating — 3,552 ratings
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28

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3.92 avg rating — 1,954,639 ratings
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30

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4.09 avg rating — 896,854 ratings
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31

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4.22 avg rating — 74,597 ratings
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32

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4.02 avg rating — 115,762 ratings
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32

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4.10 avg rating — 43,194 ratings
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34

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3.85 avg rating — 68,439 ratings
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34

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4.14 avg rating — 140,082 ratings
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36

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3.98 avg rating — 98,593 ratings
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36

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3.68 avg rating — 16,881 ratings
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38

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4.03 avg rating — 113 ratings
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38

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4.11 avg rating — 117,882 ratings
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40

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3.86 avg rating — 85,675 ratings
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40

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3.83 avg rating — 1,345,943 ratings
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42

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4.12 avg rating — 1,128,251 ratings
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43

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3.89 avg rating — 18,213 ratings
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43

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3.84 avg rating — 1,222,678 ratings
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45

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4.19 avg rating — 9,929 ratings
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46

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3.86 avg rating — 24,292 ratings
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47

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4.09 avg rating — 26,209 ratings
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48

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 66,555 ratings
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48

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3.85 avg rating — 10,830 ratings
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50

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4.33 avg rating — 1,053,112 ratings
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50

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4.05 avg rating — 263,119 ratings
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52

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4.01 avg rating — 71 ratings
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53

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 36 ratings
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53

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 50,243 ratings
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55

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3.78 avg rating — 20,387 ratings
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56

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4.05 avg rating — 63,716 ratings
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57

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3.97 avg rating — 19,346 ratings
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57

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3.86 avg rating — 385,283 ratings
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59

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4.13 avg rating — 498 ratings
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59

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3.67 avg rating — 12,318 ratings
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61

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3.51 avg rating — 136 ratings
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61

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3.68 avg rating — 14,129 ratings
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63

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 8 ratings
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64

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4.17 avg rating — 29 ratings
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65

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4.47 avg rating — 19 ratings
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66

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3.57 avg rating — 167 ratings
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67

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3.58 avg rating — 36 ratings
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68

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3.78 avg rating — 3,737 ratings
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69

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3.48 avg rating — 757 ratings
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70

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4.15 avg rating — 2,797 ratings
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71

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4.12 avg rating — 3,666 ratings
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72

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3.92 avg rating — 11,165 ratings
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73

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4.21 avg rating — 225,059 ratings
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74

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3.77 avg rating — 41,469 ratings
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75

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4.16 avg rating — 244,681 ratings
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76

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4.07 avg rating — 394,030 ratings
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77

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4.05 avg rating — 37,371 ratings
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78

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4.30 avg rating — 65,234 ratings
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79

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4.03 avg rating — 144 ratings
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80

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3.90 avg rating — 4,698 ratings
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81

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,803 ratings
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82

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4.10 avg rating — 350,957 ratings
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83

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3.75 avg rating — 707 ratings
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84

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3.87 avg rating — 415 ratings
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85

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3.82 avg rating — 2,800 ratings
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86

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3.86 avg rating — 1,571 ratings
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87

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3.69 avg rating — 406 ratings
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88

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3.44 avg rating — 6,181 ratings
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89

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3.69 avg rating — 10,414 ratings
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90

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3.88 avg rating — 988 ratings
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91

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3.81 avg rating — 448 ratings
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92

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4.03 avg rating — 44,595 ratings
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93

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3.78 avg rating — 41 ratings
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94

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3.83 avg rating — 682,110 ratings
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95

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3.92 avg rating — 1,954,639 ratings
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96

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4.31 avg rating — 1,264,885 ratings
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97

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3.48 avg rating — 21 ratings
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98

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3.44 avg rating — 43,548 ratings
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99

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4.54 avg rating — 99 ratings
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100

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3.38 avg rating — 7,164 ratings
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103 books · 60 voters · list created December 20th, 2010 by Dean (votes) .
28 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Dean 2596 books
73 friends
tesni 2987 books
95 friends
Ashley 720 books
53 friends
Kurt 414 books
140 friends
Barbara Gem(ini) 1052 books
6 friends
Marie 2392 books
87 friends
Shadab 157 books
43 friends
alishope 553 books
61 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)

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message 1: by Nikos (new)

Nikos Gouliaros I respectfully disagree with the title, introduction, and much of the top content of this list. The featured definition refers to the idiosyncratic use of the term by Ayn Rand in the mid-20th century, which bears little connection to the much earlier literary and cultural movement, and of course is nowhere mentioned in the linked Wikipedia article or major literary histories.


message 2: by Dean (last edited Mar 19, 2024 04:51AM) (new)

Dean You are welcome to propose a better title, introduction, definition, and even your own list. I’d be interested to read these. As for the books in the list and their ranking, Goodreads has set this up to be democratic in that as the number of votes there are for a book increases, the ranking increases. In other words, the books listed at the top have the most votes.


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