Ranking guide
Rank the best books to read
Which novels stay with you after the last page—and why?
A book list should leave room for ambition, pleasure, and the strange intimacy of finding the right book at the right moment.
You do not have to reward difficulty for its own sake. A concise, generous novel can outrank an imposing classic when it gives you more to carry away.
Four ways to make the call
- 01Voice and style
- 02Ideas that linger
- 03Character and world
- 04Desire to reread
The starter pool
100 widely read novels spanning classics, fantasy, science fiction, and contemporary fiction.
Pride and Prejudice1984To Kill a MockingbirdThe Great GatsbyOne Hundred Years of SolitudeThe Lord of the RingsThe HobbitDuneThe Handmaid’s TaleBelovedThe Catcher in the RyeThe Count of Monte CristoFrankensteinJane EyreCrime and PunishmentThe Picture of Dorian Gray+ 84 more
Your turn
Start a books ranking.
The pool is ready. You decide what belongs at the top, what deserves another look, and what does not make the cut.
Open this books pool →