Big Books of 2026

Listopia > Book Lists Voted on by Semiticus (19 Lists)



When Genius Failed by Roger LowensteinLiar's Poker by Michael LewisTitan by Ron ChernowAgainst the Gods by Peter L. BernsteinBusiness adventures by John Brooks
Business History
440 books — 190 voters
Development as Freedom by Amartya SenThe Bottom Billion by Paul CollierThe White Man's Burden by William Easterly
International development
228 books — 210 voters

Crashed by Adam ToozeThe Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul KrugmanAll the Devils are Here by Bethany McLeanToo Big to Fail by Andrew Ross SorkinFooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Understanding the Financial Crisis 2008
164 books — 250 voters
Animal Farm by George Orwell1984 by George OrwellThe Conservative Mind by Russell KirkBasic Economics by Thomas SowellThe Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Best Conservative Books
525 books — 320 voters

The Law by Frédéric BastiatHuman Action by Ludwig von MisesAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam SmithOn Liberty by John Stuart MillThe Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Best Books For Freedom Lovers
805 books — 489 voters
1984 by George OrwellUnderstanding Power by Noam ChomskyAnimal Farm by George OrwellCulture and Imperialism by Edward W. SaidThe Politics of Dispossession by Edward W. Said
Best Left-Texts
669 books — 359 voters

General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard KeynesAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam SmithThe Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas TalebThe Commanding Heights by Daniel YerginHuman Action by Ludwig von Mises
Best Economics Books
450 books — 519 voters
Sculpting in Time by Andrei TarkovskyRoger Ebert's Book of Film by Roger EbertThe Oxford History of World Cinema by Geoffrey Nowell-SmithWhat is Cinema? Volume I by André Bazin
Best Books about The History of World Cinema
259 books — 111 voters

On Late Style by Edward W. SaidMusic at the Limits by Edward W. SaidWhat to Listen for in Music by Aaron CoplandOn the Musically Beautiful by Eduard Hanslick
Classical Music: Nonfiction
300 books — 73 voters
Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan KanafaniGate of the Sun by Elias Khoury
Arabic Literature in English Translation
202 books — 54 voters

Persepolis by Marjane SatrapiThe Soul of Iran by Afshin Molavi
Books about Iran
160 books — 50 voters
The Divan by Hafezرباعيات خيام by Omar KhayyámThe Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
Medieval Persian Philosopher-Poets: Rumi, Hāfez, Omar Khayyám and ‘Attār of Nishapur
111 books — 103 voters

The Epic of Gilgamesh by AnonymousPersepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Iran and Iraq, Ancient and Modern
481 books — 195 voters
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Best Books About Ancient History
455 books — 135 voters

Samarkand by Amin MaaloufGate of the Sun by Elias KhauryThe Book of Khalid by Ameen RihaniThe Arabian Nights by AnonymousSnow by Orhan Pamuk
Best Middle East Fiction
431 books — 472 voters
The Histories by HerodotusThe Cairo Trilogy by Naguib MahfouzThe Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby WilkinsonThe Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by Ian ShawCaesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
Best Books About Egypt
491 books — 574 voters

White Fang by Jack LondonMidaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Around the World One Book from Each Country
1,068 books — 971 voters
The Innocents Abroad, Or, the New Pilgrims' Progress by Mark TwainBible and Sword by Barbara W. TuchmanRighteous Victims by Benny MorrisImage and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict by Norman G. Finkelstein
Best Books about Palestine (fiction and nonfiction)
251 books — 172 voters

Stalin by Stephen KotkinRussian Thinkers by Isaiah BerlinAugust 1914 by Aleksandr SolzhenitsynRussia by Gregory L. FreezeThe Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Best Russian History Books
548 books — 383 voters