John Lubbock, The Choice of Books (1896)

The Choice of Books (Book), 147 Books

The List that started it all. This is one of the very first "Greatest Books of All Time" lists and caused quite a stir back in it's day. Here's a good article about it: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/sir-john-lubbock-the-book-list-literature-reading-godfather-mustread-listicle-a8320811.html

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, PC, DL, FRS, FRAI (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath. Lubbock worked in his family company as a banker but made significant contributions in archaeology, ethnography, and several branches of biology. He coined the terms "Paleolithic" and "Neolithic" to denote the Old and New Stone Ages, respectively. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was influential in debates concerning evolutionary theory.

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die(Book), 971 Books

A list written by James Mustich, a bookseller, editor, and writer. Here's the publisher's description:

Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that’s as compulsively readable, entertaining, surprising, and enlightening as the 1,000-plus titles it recommends.

Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage.

This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books

This is the Canon(Book), 50 Books

This is from a book from Kadija Sesay, Deirdre Osborne, Joan Anim-Addo

The editors description is:

Upending our traditionally white-dominated 'to be read' piles, Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne and Kadija Sesay push to the fore the voices and cultural perspectives that demand a place on everyone's shelves.

From literary giants such as Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie and Chinua Achebe to recent Man Booker Prize winners Paul Beatty and Bernardine Evaristo, the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant. They are books that reflect the wide and diverse experiences of people from around the world, of all backgrounds and all races. They are books that represent voices that have for too long been silenced or side-lined.

The description from the book's first 2 chapters:
Each title has been carefully chosen as a result of our commitment to diversify the traditional literary canon of novels and short stories available in the English language... It should be understood to mean this is a canon, neither replacing nor adding to what has existed previously, but one of many possible selections... Those who oppose or criticize the act of decolonization often fear contamination or a lowering of standards. To reassure readers, we are emphatically opposed to exalting books that are mediocre, or outside the possibility of literary success.

75 Books Every Woman Should Read

Jezebel, 75 Books

Jezebel lists the 75 books every woman should read. Here's their description:

We started you off with 20 culled from our editors' suggestions, and you guys took the ball and ran with it. A few notes on the compendium of 75 that you helped us compile below. As we said in the original post, most of the extant rosters of must-read classics are full of old white dudes. So our list is going to be mostly women. Which doesn't mean there are not myriad male-written must-reads! A second note: we're aware that "The Lottery" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" are short stories. We were referring to the eponymous books that contained those stories as well as several others. Finally, we're in no way implying that this is the final word in amazing, rich, edifying books for women, so please refrain from the "OMG I can't believe you morons forgot X," comments, mkay? The alive 75, in no particular order,after the jump!

The 100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books

The Guardian, 100 Books

The Guardian's list of the greatest non-fiction books of all time. here's their description:

After keen debate at the Guardian's books desk, this is our list of the very best factual writing, organised by category, and then by date.

Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels

David Pringle, 100 Books

Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949-1984 is a nonfiction book by David Pringle, published by Xanadu in 1985 with a foreword by Michael Moorcock. Primarily, the book comprises 100 short essays on the selected works, covered in order of publication, without any ranking. It is considered an important critical summary of the science fiction field.

Best Books Listed for High School Students

William J. Bennett, 35 Books

In 1984, William J. Bennett, then chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted an informal and unscientific survey among scholars, journalists, teachers, and leaders in government and culture to identify essential readings for high school students. Prompted by a query during a press meeting, Bennett sought to determine a core list of literary works deemed vital for every student to study before graduation. The survey garnered responses from 325 individuals, including feedback through a syndicated column by George F. Will and input from high school teachers participating in seminars sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation. The resulting list of thirty most frequently mentioned works, highlighted by Shakespeare's oeuvre, the Declaration of Independence, Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn," and the Bible, aimed to elevate the standard of reading material in high schools, suggesting that a selection of any ten from the list would offer significant educational value.

*NOTE*
I did not include any of the documents of United States history since they are not books. I also only included the top 3 highest rated William Faulkner novels, since including every one of his novels seems excessive.

The Best Southern Nonfiction of All Time

Oxford American, 25 Books

The best southern United States nonfiction books of all time judged by 130 literary experts and authors.

200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

The Center for Fiction, 206 Books

Description from the site:

As an organization whose mission is to both reflect and advance the art of fiction, we’re honoring our 200th anniversary by looking back on how storytelling has evolved since then. We set forth to create a list of the 200 works of fiction that had the most impact on American readers, writers, and culture over these past two centuries... the help of a panel of writers associated with The Center: Mahogany L. Browne, Amina Cain, Alexander Chee, Kia Corthron, Michael Cunningham, Alvaro Enrigue, Neil Gaiman, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Stephen King, Maaza Mengiste, Claire Messud, Jason Reynolds, Salman Rushdie, Esmeralda Santiago, Jonathan Santlofer, V. E. Schwab, Gary Shteyngart, Jane Smiley, Monique Truong, and De'Shawn Charles Winslow. Each author contributed five titles they wanted to be included... and The Center’s staff set to work on completing the list... after much anguish and debate, we present the 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written

Easton Press, 102 Books

Easton Press's selection of the greatest books of the Western Canon.

Mythopoeic Awards

The Mythopoeic Awards, 92 Books

The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas.

Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels

Radcliffe Publishing Course, 100 Books

48 Good Books

University of Buffalo, 49 Books

Recommended literature by the Undergraduate Academies and Libraries of the University of Buffalo.

description from their old website:
In cooperation with the UB Libraries, the UB Undergraduate Academies announce the Good Books project, a list of 48 good books which embody the mission and spirit of the five Undergraduate Academies: Civic Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Global Perspectives, Research Exploration and Sustainability The Academies Council members, an advisory board of faculty and staff, nominated books that have been personally important to them. You could read one book from this eclectic list, which ranges from biography to politics to poetry, each month over the course of your college career. Some of these books may be familiar, others quite unknown, but Council Members put their heads together to devise a list of “unrequired reading” that have inspired inquiry, pleasure, and a renewed engagement with civic life.

Bill Gate's Book Recommendations

Bill Gates, 258 Books

All books recommended by Bill Gates

The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years

Parade Magazine, 88 Books

A list of voted on by 17 employees(book sellers) at Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN for Parade Magazine.

The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the Century

National Review, 100 Books

The 100 best non-fiction books of all time judged by a panel of historians, authors, publishers, and experts for the National Review Magazine.

The Greatest Stories Ever Told

The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 Books

The Sydney Morning Herald published this list in their newspaper on Saturday 13th, 1994. They asked a "panel of experts" what the greatest story ever told was. The voters were: Donald Horne, Rosemary Dobson, Gwen Harwood, David Ireland, Barry Jones, and Marian Halligan

100 Best Novels in the World (Published in 1899)

The Daily Telegraph, 101 Books

The Daily Telegraph published an article in 1899 listing the 100 Best Novels. The list was selected by the editor of The Daily Telegraph with the assistance of Sir Edwin Arnold, H. D. Traill, and W. L. Courtney.

These books were also sold to the public, so it was a commercial proposition.

As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Best Non-Fiction from the NY Times Writers

New York Times, 68 Books

Inspired by The Guardian’s recent list of the 100 greatest nonfiction books, we here at the magazine decided to create our own list. Dispensing with all pretense to rigor — it’s a list, silly! — we simply asked each member of the staff to pick their five favorites.

The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

Time, 98 Books

With a panel of leading fantasy authors—N.K. Jemisin, Neil Gaiman, Sabaa Tahir, Tomi Adeyemi, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Cassandra Clare and Marlon James—TIME presents the most engaging, inventive and influential works of fantasy fiction, in chronological order beginning in the 9th century.
*note* I combined some of the books here. All the Lord of the Rings books are combined.

The New Lifetime Reading Plan

The New Lifetime Reading Plan, 202 Books

Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.

The New Lifetime Reading Plan provides readers with brief, informative and entertaining introductions to more than 130 classics of world literature. From Homer to Hawthorne, Plato to Pascal, and Shakespeare to Solzhenitsyn, the great writers of Western civilization can be found in its pages. In addition, this new edition offers a much broader representation of women authors, such as Charlotte Bront%, Emily Dickinson and Edith Wharton, as well as non-Western writers such as Confucius, Sun-Tzu, Chinua Achebe, Mishima Yukio and many others.
This fourth edition also features a simpler format that arranges the works chronologically in five sections (The Ancient World; 300-1600; 1600-1800; and The 20th Century), making them easier to look up than ever before. It deserves a place in the libraries of all lovers of literature.

TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels

TIME Magazine, 100 Books

Time critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo pick the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.

The Best Books of All Time, as Chosen by the Good Housekeeping Team

Good Housekeeping, 20 Books

The Good Housekeeping team have all the picked their top read - the one they would happily read, again and again.

The 50 Most Influential Books of All Time

Open Education Database, 51 Books

The "The 50 Most Influential Books of All Time," as compiled by the Open Education Database, celebrates literature's unparalleled power to inspire, educate, and transform individuals and societies at large. This diverse collection spans various genres, time periods, and subjects, illustrating the profound impact that written words can have on humanity's evolution. These books have been carefully selected for their significant contributions in shaping political and governmental landscapes, setting new benchmarks in literary excellence, challenging and reshaping societal norms, and advancing academic and intellectual discourse in science, religion, and beyond.

7 Essential Authors Recommend Their 7 Essential Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

Powell's Books, 7 Books

Powells Books gets 7 authors to recommend their 7 essential sci-fi and fantasy books.

Masterpieces of World Literature

Frank N. Magill, 244 Books

Scholar Frank N. Magill’s famous literary studies reference book. A selection of over 200 of the greatest works of literature of all time

100 Great 20th Century English-language Works of Fiction by Women

Feminista!, 96 Books

Feminista! created this list in response to the infamous Modern Library list. Here's their description:

While we’d [Feminista!] agree that the Modern Library’s list features some extraordinary and wonderful works of fiction, we’re a little dismayed by a list of major 20th century English language novels that completely overlooks such writers as Margaret Atwood, Nadine Gordimer, Zora Neale Hurston, Harper Lee, Doris Lessing, Toni Morrison and Sylvia Plath. We could go on, but instead we’ve compiled our own list of 100 Great 20th Century English-language Works of Fiction by Women. In order to choose the works on the list, women’s online forums and lists were canvassed. Unlike the Modern Library’s, our list is not ranked. We’ve also restricted it to one work per author, since our aim was to showcase the extraordinary richness and variety of 20th century fiction by women.

Costa Book Award - Best Novel

Costa Coffee, 57 Books

The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.
The awards, launched in 1971, are given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they are a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize.

The Ultimate Book Bucket List: The 75 Best Books Of All Time

Refinery29, 75 Books

What is the best book of all time? This question is impossible to answer — to some, the best book of all time might be Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. To others, it could be A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. If we’re looking at plain numbers, it appears that The Bible is the best-selling book of all time — but does that really make it the best book of all time?
Because there are just so many books well worth a read, we’ve collated some of the very best stories ever told for you in the list below. They’re even sorted by genre, so you can pick your favourite and get started — do you like fiction, non-fiction, romance, or even fantasy? We’ve got you covered.

Top 100 World Literature Titles

Perfection Learning, 100 Books

The top 100 titles for the world literature classroom, ranked in order of popularity, chosen by literature teachers from across the country.

The Greatest 20th Century Novels

Waterstone, 23 Books

Waterstone’s 1999 poll of the greatest 20th century novels, according to British writers. This appeared to be the result of muddle in the way questions were put to and answered by the 47 authors, critics and media personalities who voted in the poll.

Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel

Locus Awards, 43 Books

The Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel is one of the annual Locus Awards presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Science Fiction Novel was first presented in 1980, and is among the awards still presented (as of 2022). Previously, there had simply been an award for Best Novel. A similar award for Best Fantasy Novel was introduced in 1978.[1] The Locus Awards have been described as a prestigious prize in science fiction, fantasy and horror literature

The Best Travel Books of All Time, According to Authors

Condé Nast, 75 Books

Condé Nast Traveler created a list of the best travel books based on multiple authors opinions. Here's the description from their website:

There are an astounding number of travel books out there. How to choose the best of the best? You can start by asking the experts. Back in 2007, Traveler enlisted a literary all-star jury that included Monica Ali, Vikram Chandra, Jennifer Egan, Francine Prose, Paul Theroux, and more to create a comprehensive list of the best travel books of all time. Then in 2020, we reached out to another batch of authors—Pico Iyer, Julia Phillips, and Imbolo Mbue, to name a few—to see what travel books have made a mark on them—an even more meaningful question during a year when travel was extraordinarily limited for most. We wanted to know which books, regardless of genre, changed the way they considered a certain culture or place or people; the books that inspired them both to write and to get out into the world themselves.

As you'll see below, the picks—old and new—carry their weight, proving many of the greats are just as relevant today as they were when first published. From David Sedaris's 2000 Me Talk Pretty One Day to Herodotus's 440 B.C. The Histories, read on for dozens of passionately endorsed and beloved travel books, presented in alphabetical order.

Top 100 Fantasy Books

Fantasy Book Review, 103 Books

Fantasy Book Review lists their Top 100 Fantasy Books of all time, with links to their reviews of each one. Here's what their description says:

The 100 fantasy books that we - and other readers - simply cannot recommend highly enough; books that we've all loved reading. Click on a book title to read the full review.

Kanon na koniec wieku (Canon at the end of the century)

Rzeczpospolita (newspaper), 42 Books

Canon at the end of the century - a series of 25 (later expanded to 40) most important books of the 20th century published by a Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita (newspaper).

Books That Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History

Book, 49 Books

A 208 page book written in 2009 by Journalist and Author Andrew Taylor.

Books from every field of human creativity and intellectual endeavor - from poetry to politics, from fiction to philosophy, from theology to anthropology, and from economics to physics – have been selected to create a rounded and satisfying picture of how 50 towering achievements of the human intellect have built our societies, shaped our values, enhanced our understanding of the nature of the world, enabled technological advancements, and reflected our concerns and dilemmas, strengths and failings. In a series of engaging and lively essays, Andrew Taylor sets each work and its author firmly in historical context, summarizes the content of the work in question, and explores its wider influence and legacy. A fascinating and richly informative read.

As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition

New York Times, 120 Books

This is the fiction version of the non-fiction list. The description of the non-fiction list is -- Inspired by The Guardian's recent list of the 100 greatest nonfiction books, we here at the magazine decided to create our own list. Dispensing with all pretense to rigor — it's a list, silly! — we simply asked each member of the staff to pick their five favorites.
Note. I did delete one entry where someone just listed one author. These are ranked at the top of the list. I aggregated the duplicates into a rank.

The Cundill History Prize

The Cundill History Prize, 16 Books

The Cundill History Prize is an annual Canadian book prize for "the best history writing in English". It was established in 2008 by Peter Cundill and is administered by McGill University. The prize encourages "informed public debate through the wider dissemination of history writing to new audiences around the world" and is awarded to an author whose book, published in the past year, demonstrates "historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal". No restrictions are set on the topic of the book or the nationality of the author, and English translations are permitted.

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Pulitzer Prize, 97 Books

All the books that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction from 1918 to the present.

Biblioteca

Argentina, 41 Books

38 Argentinean Authors were polled by the Argentinean government for their favorite books. This is a tally of all books with more than 1 vote.

Books of the Century

The Age (Newspaper), 26 Books

The Age, a major newspaper Melbourne, Victoria asked around 30 authors/critics/experts what their favorite book of the century was. Note, some authors did not understand the question and picked books written in the 1700s

Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction

Pulitzer Prize, 66 Books

The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category.

The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users

Culture Café, 499 Books

In October 2008, the Culture Café site asked Internet users to vote for their ten favorite books. After collecting 5,000 votes and listing more than 3,000 titles, here are the results of the 500 best chosen by Internet users of the site

Details on the method and classification

- A list of ten books was requested from Internet users, in order of preference of their favorite works (all genres, nationalities, and dates of publication). The votes were anonymous.
- Only the rankings containing the ten titles were counted. The votes containing fewer were automatically deleted by the software.
- The book arriving first in each ranking was awarded ten points, the second nine points, etc.
- The series of novels (Harry Potter, Dune, etc.) have been counted under the generic name of the complete series"

Mary Warnock's top 10 philosophy books

Mary Warnock, 10 Books

Lady Mary Warnock is a crossbench life peer, moral philosopher and author of a number of books on philosophy, including The Intelligent Person's Guide to Ethics. This is her list of her favorite philosophy books

50 Essential Fantasy Books

Abe Books, 51 Books

Abe Books lists 50 Essential Fantasy books you should read. Here's what the description says on the website:

If you haven't read any fantasy since reading the The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in school, you might still think it's a genre for kids. Think again. While you'll still find plenty of elves, knights, and magi, fantasy is now also home to gunslingers, poets and literary detectives. This selection of recommended fantasy books runs the gamut - it's time to discover fantasy all over again.

Books by Women That Every Man Should Read

The Guardian, 23 Books

Chosen by Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Richard Curtis and more. The description on the website says:

Studies show men avoid female authors. Ahead of the Women’s prize for fiction, chair of judges Mary Ann Sieghart finds out why – and we ask male authors to redress the balance

50 Classics You Must Read Before You Die

Gyldendal (Denmark Publisher), 50 Books

This list is from Gyldendal, the largest publisher in Denmark. This is what the translated description says:

We asked Gyldendal's fiction editors about their greatest reading experiences. Here are their picks for 50 classics you should read before you die. Find out which ones you have already read, which ones you should re-read and, not least, which ones you should read for the first time. Happy reading!

The 13 Best Science Books for the General Reader

The Guardian, 13 Books

Steven Weinberg, The Nobel laureate, lists his 13 best science books for the general reader

A Science Canon (Ian McEwan)

The Guardian, 15 Books

Thirty years ago, Richard Dawkins published his groundbreaking book The Selfish Gene. Ian McEwan argues that it is part of a long history of literary science writing, in which the pursuit of truth and the excitement of new ideas is conveyed in luminous prose

Best Philosophy Books of All Time

Fivebooks, 18 Books

Fivebooks interviewed hundreds of philosophers, these are the philosophy books that come up again and again