List Details
To determine the rank of each book, every list has a "weight" which is how much "good" a list is. A list with a higher weight is worth more points for the books that are on the list. The weight of a list is calculated by a number of criteria that i've listed below. Every list starts with 100 weight which is "Perfect". Each of the criteria listed below reduce the weight of the lists. The lowest Weight is 1.
- voted on by only 1 person: -90
- Limited to 10 or less years: -75
- Very niche: -70
- There's absolutely no voter details: -70
- voted on by the general public: -70
- Limited to 25 or less years: -65
- yearly book award: -55
- Limited to 50 or less years: -50
- a low number of voters: -40
- There are not many voter details: -30
- Limited to 1 language/nationality: -30
- Quantity over Quality: -25
- Absolutely no criteria information: -20
- seems location biased but is not specified: -20
- voters are mostly from 1 location or country: -20
- Limited to 100 or less years: -20
- Partially voted on by the general public: -20
- The creator of the list sells the same books that are on the list: -15
- the list is from a weird source that is not known for books: -15
- Limited to 1 Gender(Author or Audience): -5
I am always looking for ways to improve the accuracy of the list as well as looking for new lists that I might have missed. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me your thoughts.
Name | Source | Cons | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Top 100 Works in World Literature | Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute | 100 | |
The Ideal Library | Book | 80 | |
For The Love of Books | For The Love of Books | 80 | |
The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time | The Top 10 (Book) | 80 | |
Pour une Bibliothèque Idéale | Raymond Queneau | 80 | |
The 100 Best Books of World Literature | ABC.es | 80 | |
Biblioteca | Argentina | 80 | |
El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors | El Pais | 80 | |
The 25 Favorite Books of 100 Francophone Writers | Telerama | 80 | |
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die | The Book | 75 | |
Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century | themodernnovel.com | 70 | |
The Celebrity Reading List | Gardiner Public Library | 65 | |
The New York Public Library's Books of the Century | New York Public Library | 60 | |
Great Books of the Western World | Great Books Foundation | 60 | |
The New Lifetime Reading Plan | The New Lifetime Reading Plan | 60 | |
100 Life-Changing Books | National Book Award | 60 | |
The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the Century | National Review | 60 | |
Finest Works of Fiction | Martin Seymour-Smith and Editors | 60 | |
Great Books | The Learning Channel | 55 | |
The 50 Best Books of the Century | Intercollegiate Studies Institute | 50 | |
Världsbiblioteket (The World Library) | Tidningen Boken | 50 | |
The 100 Greatest British Novels | BBC | 50 | |
Recommended Books | Academy of Achievement | 45 | |
The Greatest 20th Century Novels | Waterstone | 45 | |
100 Books to Read in a Lifetime | Amazon.com (USA) | 40 | |
100 Books to Read in a Lifetime | Amazon.com (UK) | 40 | |
ZEIT-Bibliothek der 100 Bücher | Die Zeit | 40 | |
"Best Foreign Work of Fiction" | Transfuge | 40 | |
"Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century | January Magazine | 40 | |
The 16 Greatest Books of All Time | NYU Local | 40 | |
The Bigger Read List | English PEN | 40 | |
100 Novels That Shaped Our World | BBC | 40 | |
48 Good Books | University of Buffalo | 35 | |
The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians | Bookman.com | 35 | |
Top 100 World Literature Titles | Perfection Learning | 35 | |
The 21st Century's 12 Greatest Novels | BBC | 35 | |
A Premature Attempt at the 21st Century Canon | Vulture | 35 | |
25 acclaimed international writers choose 25 of the best books from the last 25 years | Wasafiri Magazine | 35 | |
The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written | Easton Press | 35 | |
The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels | Modern Library | 35 | |
Third World Novels… The Top 10 | New Internationalist | 30 | |
The New Vanguard | New York Times | 30 | |
Best German Novels of the Twentieth Century | Wikipedia | 30 | |
The Great American Read | PBS | 30 | |
110 Best Books: The Perfect Library | The Telegraph | 30 | |
The Modern Library | 100 Best Nonfiction | The Modern Library | 25 | |
Select 100 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 25 | |
The Millions: The Best Fiction of the Millennium | The Millions | 25 | |
Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels | Radcliffe Publishing Course | 20 | |
100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 | Counterpunch | 20 | |
100 Best Books | Montana State University | 20 | |
Man Booker Prize | Man Booker Prize | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
National Book Award - Fiction | National Book Foundation | 15 | |
National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction | National Book Critics Circle | 15 | |
The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years | Parade Magazine | 15 | |
National Book Critics Circle Award - Nonfiction | National Book Critics Circle | 15 | |
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | PEN/Faulkner | 15 | |
National Book Award - Nonfiction | National Book Foundation | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books | Harvard Book Store | 15 | |
James Tait Black Memorial Prize | Wikipedia | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for History | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
Best Books Ever | bookdepository.com | 15 | |
The College Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers | The College Board, an American not-for-profit organization | 10 | |
Masterpieces of World Literature | Frank N. Magill | 10 | |
Great Books | Anthony O'Hear | 10 | |
The 100 Greatest Novels | greatbooksguide.com | 10 | |
The Great Books Reader | Book | 10 | |
The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time | The Novel 100 | 10 | |
100 Essential Books | Bravo! Magazine | 10 | |
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Reading List | Thomas C. Foster | 10 | |
The Best Classics | The Times | 10 | |
In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels | ThisRecording.com | 10 | |
The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read | Telegraph | 10 | |
The Greatest Novel of All Time | William Faulkner | 10 | |
W. Somerset Maugham’s Ten Greatest Novels of All Time | Great Novelists and Their Novels | 10 | |
Books That Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History | Book | 10 | |
TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels | TIME Magazine | 10 | |
The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List | The Observer | 10 | |
50 Greatest Books of All Time | Globe and Mail | 10 | |
How to Read and Why | Harold Bloom | 10 | |
The 100 best books of the 21st century | The Guardian | 5 | |
50 Books That Changed the World | Open Education Database | 5 | |
50 Books to Read Before You Die | Complex | 5 | |
Top 10 British, Irish or Commonwealth Novels from 1980 to 2005 | The Observer | 5 | |
What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years? | New York Times | 5 | |
The best books in Spanish for the last 25 years | El Pais | 5 | |
The 100 Best Books in the World | AbeBooks.de (in German) | 5 | |
The Best Fiction Books of the 2010s | Time | 1 | |
Top 10 Fiction Books of the Decade(2010) | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
Modern classics: 11 novels that belong in the classroom | Today.com | 1 | |
Donald Barthelme’s Reading List | Believer Mag | 1 | |
50 Memorable Books from 50 Years of Books to Remember | The New York Public Library | 1 | |
The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 | Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com | 1 | |
The 40 Best Novels of the 2010s | Paste Magazine | 1 | |
The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics | Book | 1 | |
50 Books to Read Before You Die | Barnes and Noble | 1 | |
From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books | Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com | 1 | |
The 10 Best of the Decade(2000) | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
D. G. Myers’ 50 Greatest English Language Novels | D. G. Myers | 1 | |
The New Classics - 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008 | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013 | Flavor Wire | 1 | |
The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time | The Guardian | 1 | |
Paste Magazine's Best Books of the Decade(2000-2009) | Paste Magazine | 1 | |
The 80 Books Every Man Should Read | Esquire | 1 | |
Books of the Decade | The Guardian | 1 | |
The Best Southern Novels of All Time | Oxford American | 1 | |
The Best Southern Nonfiction of All Time | Oxford American | 1 | |
Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time | National Geographic Adventure Magazine | 1 | |
The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years | Slate | 1 | |
The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written | Martin Seymour-Smith | 1 | |
100 Most Influential Books of the Century | Boston Public Library | 1 | |
The Best Books of the 2000s | The Onion AV Club | 1 | |
50 Books to (Re-)Read at 50 | nextavenue | 1 | |
Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century | Le Monde | 1 | |
Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
Greatest Prose Works of the 20th Century | Vladimir Nabokov | 1 | |
Costa Book Award - Best Novel | Costa Coffee | 1 | |
The Graphic Canon | Book | 1 | |
25 Books to Read Before you Die: 21st Century | Powell's Books | 1 | |
The 100 Best Books of the Decade(2000) | Times | 1 | |
The Dream of the Great American Novel | Book | 1 | |
Books That Changed the World | Book | 1 | |
100 Best Novels Written in English | The Guardian | 1 | |
20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction | Larry McCaffery | 1 | |
Robert McCrum's top 10 books of the twentieth century | The Guardian | 1 | |
100 Major Works of Modern Creative Nonfiction | About.com | 1 | |
Waterstone's Books of the Century | LibraryThing | 1 |