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100 Amazing Books to Read in a Lifetime

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100 Amazing Books to Read in a Lifetime



Amazon has a list of 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.  This is an extensive list of good books across several categories and these books were selected by Goodreads readers and Amazon editors.

I have had a lifelong love affair with books- especially the classics- and I think this is an excellent list.  There is definitely something for everyone and looking through this list is like seeing old friends for me.  Catcher in the Rye, The Good Earth, Gone with the Wind… all such beautiful books.  There are some current bestsellers included as well like several of the Harry Potter books and Gone Girl (which I loved).  Plus the Secret Life of Bees (another old friend of mine) and The Help.

So you might take a look at this list and see if you want to add some things to your bookshelf.  You can click the links to be taken to the main page where all 100 books are listed.  There are (4) pages in total.

I read a lot of books and I actually have a Pinterest board for books I liked or ones I want to read so that can be a great way to keep track.  I have read 55 of these books so I guess I have some work to do!

Here are the top 100 books:

What others would you add to this list? I have to say I was a little disappointed not to see The World According to Garp. That is one of my favorites of all time.

Comments

  1. Paula C says

    This list is great! Two additional books that I think should be on this list are The Outsiders and Go Ask Alice. I read these books as a teenager and absolutely loved them!!

  4. Rebecca says

    oh I love lists of books 😀 I was astonished to see Henrietta Lack on the list as this book usually is not mentioned on “most read” or “have to read” books but it is definitely worth reading! loved it!
    but there are still so many amazing books I have to read 😉 great inspiration though!

  5. Hannah says

    Memoirs of a Geisha is crap and needs to be replaced with Geisha a Life (also know as Geisha of Gion for non-americans) by Mineko Iwasaki. Mr.Golden was sued by several Geisha for his portrayal of them in the book as well as breach of contract and breach of confidentiality. His book does not portray any truth about the culture whatsoever. Read Ms. Iwasaki’s book instead. She was the premier Geisha of her time and well read the book.

  6. ana@carpe_diem says

    100 yrs of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, that is a powerful boo indeed!

  7. merlin says

    In the Fall by Jeffery Lent, The Road by Cormac McCarthy should be added

  11. Louis says

    I have read some of the books on the list and loved them,however
    ,,Ulysses,, by James Joyce does for me ,takes a lifetime to understand

  12. Jess Faith says

    I would add several books to this list and especially The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The Third Hill North of Town by Noah Bly.

  13. daffy says

    list obviously influenced greatly by women, while vast majority of great
    literature has been written by men.

  14. Will says

    No way on God’s green earth that the Hunger Games should be on here before any of the books not mentioned but written by Fitzgerald or Hemingway. Or Beowulf (Heaney). Or the Bell Jar by Plath. Or even any of the Dark Tower books by King. Or any of Franzen’s books. I liked Hunger Games, don’t get me wrong, but on this list it does not belong.

  15. Charlene says

    Will- everyone has a different opinion. One thing with contemporary books is that they do get people reading. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games opened a huge audience that may not have otherwise picked up a book.

  16. Will says

    If getting a certain segment of the population to read that otherwise wouldn’t were a valid reason to be included on a list with such great names, why not Twilight? Or Ender’s Game? Or the Garfield comic collections? I know, let’s include “Happy Happy Happy” by the duck commander. That one was no. 1 on the NY Times best seller list. It certainly got people to read. The problem with lists of this sort is they can be swayed by recent books (recent memory?) too easily. It’s an alright list, don’t get me wrong, but the Hunger Games just looks really out of place is all that I’m saying.

  17. Charlene says

    Ok. Well take it up with Good Reads and Amazon :). I didn’t make the list, I simply published it for people to see.

  20. DrSK_Ndlovu says

    I love some of the books althought I feel that a number of them should not have been featured on this list. If LOLITA” by Vladmir Nanokov and Peace & War by Leo Tolstoy were featured, I would exonerate the team for their horrid decision to include books like Harry Potter.

  21. Mark says

    This is such a boring, predictable load of acceptable crap! Is there no one who thinks we should read outside the “mainstream”? Just a few little punts: Hows about
    The Scar
    Perdido Street Station
    The Rediscovery of man
    The Lord of Light
    The Windup Girl
    Everville
    The Night Watch (Terry Pratchett – do not mock until you have read it)
    Lavondyss
    Gormenghast
    And more and more….

  22. Charlene says

    Mark- I take offense to that. These are beautiful books and the word “crap” does not apply. You are going to tell me Elie Wiesel wrote a bunch of crap? Shame on you. Really. Shame on you. I will assume you haven’t read the majority of the books on this list to make such a disgusting comment.

  23. Will says

    The Old Man and the Sea and the Great Gatsby Changed my life. They are definitely not crap, sir. For the record, nothing else on here is crap, either, I just have a personal preference.

  24. Nevin Glinka says

    Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko
    The Asian Saga by James Clavell (Shogun esp.)
    Ramayana by Valmiki

  25. Mrs Cope says

    I think the list is (for the most part) predictable and not outside the mainstream, though many, many good books appear.
    I agree with the comment about the Hunger Games appearing inappropriately.
    The problem with any list of this sort is that is precludes some points of view and opinions. While it may be a good place to start for readers looking to expand their breadth of knowledge, I don’t feel it can be considered as definitive.

  26. MikeCT says

    I am amazed that I have read 87 of these, but I doubt if there will be much agreement on some of the choices. In the children’s area I would rather have Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows. Also, comedy seems shortchanged: I would add Three Men in a Boat and A Confederacy of Dunces.

  27. WilliamK says

    There is no list that would be ‘right’.

    The only reason for libraries is so that people have a choice of reading material.

    Personally, I think that there are so many books that have a good story / message that you could spend the rest of your life reading and never get done.

    And, then there is You Tube!

    I would add to the List – anything by Heinlein! One of the really great writers of philosophy who chose Science Fiction to express himself. “Stranger In A Strange Land” is the best look at ‘Christianity’ that I have ever found.

  28. Mike Wright says

    I scrolled through the list decently quick, but failed to see any Kurt Vonnegut? Slaughterhouse 5 is usually a top 100 contender, as well as several others. I recommend any Vonnegut book. But overall, a great list!

  29. sam says

    I love this list! the only book I would add would be Flowers for Algernon.. or I think it goes by the title Charlie… Great book!

  32. Quiqui says

    I’ve read maybe half books on this list. Pride and Prejudice, Animal Farm, The Giver, and To kill a Mocking bird are my all time favorites. But I’m simply shocked that Oliver Twist didn’t make the cut. It was a great book, not to mention that fact that it made a good musical . And why the hell isn’t the Little Prince there. That book would take a lifetime to understand

  33. Taylor says

    The Little Prince is on there.
    I’m surprised that Aesop’s Fables aren’t on there! They’re a little old fashioned, and maybe more for children, but they’re still great. I’m not upset that the Hunger Games is on there; I’m more upset that every HG book is. If you have the first book of the series up, why would you need more than that? Anyway, I’m a little upset that no Agatha Christie novels made it

  34. Charlene says

    Taylor- I think that is a good point. The Hunger Games books started out awesome and then got weaker in my opinion- same with Divergent :). But I don’t know who could have read the first book and stopped with the series after that… for either series. Definitely addicting!

  35. Beatriz says

    Evan, I agree that is missing “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” and I think other book which is valueable to read is Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

  36. Evan says

    Beatriz, haven’t read The Metamorphosis but I did read The Trial by him and it was excellent so I’ll take your word for it!

  38. MC Jamieson says

    Not well known but truly brilliant is Mary Wesley’s The Chamomile Lawn.

  39. Iris Ifemey says

    I would have to add The Robe, as it affected me just about as deeply as reading The Bible itself. Also, I would add Stranger in a Strange Land, another very thought provoking book.

  40. Doug Matthews says

    Several of my all-time favorite books are:
    The Dispossessed by Ursula K Leguin
    Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
    The Trial of Socrates by IF Stone
    Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
    Godot by Samuel Beckett
    Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

  41. Alisha says

    I have no problem with The Hunger Games being on this list. Or Harry Potter. The list is for 100 amazing books to read. Those books are amazing. They both take the reader into their world (at least for me) and make one feel so many different things. The magic of reading the Harry Potter series is something I can’t even put into words. I’m 32 years old, and I have enjoyed books by Steinbeck, Faulkner, Kafka and others, but if asked what my favorite read of all time is…..it’s Harry Potter.
    By the way, Beatriz, Metamorphosis is indeed amazing. I did a project on it in high school, and a paper on it in college….it is a very powerful read.

  42. Cari Hopkins says

    I’m Canadian through and through…Anne of Green Gables! I love this list and teach most of these novels! How about Book of Negroes? and In the Heat of the Night!

  43. Crystal says

    Does anybody know the title of the book cover in the middle of the last row in that picture? I read it once in elementary school, but I can’t remember the name of it to find it again. I just know it’s about a boy finding a jaguar. That’s all I remember about it. I would be so appreciative to whomever can find me the title.

  44. Charlene says

    Crystal- that is the Lord of the Flies :). Amazing book. I read it in high school.

  45. Muriel says

    Winter of the World by Ken Follett. Trinity by Leon Uris and every book by James Michener. The only one I have never read was Caravans.

  48. Jess says

    Outsiders
    Maze Runner Series
    Things Fall Apart
    Divergent
    If I Stay
    Wicked
    Eat Pray Love
    Blue Like Jazz

Trackbacks

  1. […] she stocked her fridge with tons of healthy foods! *Reading is one of my favorite hobbies so this list of 100 amazing books thrills me! *How cute is this idea for your littles? *We will soon be planting a garden and this […]

  2. […] 100 Amazing Books to Read in a Lifetime: Pretty good collection […]

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