Announcing the Best Books of All Time list

I recently became interested in reading all the best books I could get my hands on, the classics, the kinds of books they make Cliff Notes for. But every list of best books I found was so different, I became frustrated with the process and almost gave up. Then I had an idea. What if there was a master list? What if there was...

One list to rule them all

I set out to create a best of list that uses science and magic to definitively answer the question: What is the best book of all time? And, almost as importantly, what is the 87th best book of all time?

Now I want to share my list with you!

This is a work in progress. I'll keep you updated as I increase the accuracy and scope of this list, but in the meantime, here are my top ten books so far.

Rank
Title
Author


1
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov


2
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner


3
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald


4
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison


5
Beloved
Toni Morrison


6
Ulysses
James Joyce


7
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen


8
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy


9
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez


10
1984
George Orwell




Click here to see the entire list

If you have any feedback, ideas for lists to include in my compilation or want to tell me how wrong I am, let me know at the bottom of the list in the comments!

Methods

This list was compiled using a scientific method developed by researchers and statisticians to create the most comprehensive and accurate list of best books ever. Out of 100s of possible lists, the highest quality lists were selected as the basis for this project. Lists that assigned a rank to each book were given a score of 1 to 100 to each book, based on the rank of the book. Lists that did not assign a rank were given an average rating equal to half that total number of books on the list. The total scores from all lists were combined and ranked, resulting in this compilation ranking. This system is based on the scholarly systematic review method meta-analsysis, which combines numerous studies to create a highly accurate master study. A sample of the lists included, the ranking, and scores can be found here.