Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
As chosen by Penguin's readers, here's a list of 100 Must-Read Classics
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
The Great Gatsby
by
3.93 avg rating — 5,828,553 ratings
score: 581,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 2 |
|
The Master and Margarita
by
4.28 avg rating — 412,486 ratings
score: 514,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 3 |
|
Brideshead Revisited
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 125,564 ratings
score: 490,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 4 |
|
Pride and Prejudice
by
4.29 avg rating — 4,728,507 ratings
score: 487,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 5 |
|
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 3,110,142 ratings
score: 452,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 6 |
|
Dracula
by
4.02 avg rating — 1,450,566 ratings
score: 444,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
The Lord of the Rings
by
4.54 avg rating — 724,741 ratings
score: 442,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 8 |
|
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1)
by
4.17 avg rating — 923,043 ratings
score: 418,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 9 |
|
The Count of Monte Cristo
by
4.32 avg rating — 1,009,685 ratings
score: 414,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
In Cold Blood
by
4.09 avg rating — 721,357 ratings
score: 396,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 11 |
|
Wuthering Heights
by
3.90 avg rating — 2,002,671 ratings
score: 385,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 12 |
|
Jane Eyre
by
4.16 avg rating — 2,294,650 ratings
score: 377,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
To Kill a Mockingbird
by
4.26 avg rating — 6,791,408 ratings
score: 371,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 14 |
|
Persuasion
by
4.15 avg rating — 766,459 ratings
score: 366,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 15 |
|
A Christmas Carol
by
4.09 avg rating — 906,565 ratings
score: 365,
and
5 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 16 |
|
I Capture the Castle
by
3.99 avg rating — 114,479 ratings
score: 359,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 17 |
|
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
by
3.90 avg rating — 1,833,973 ratings
score: 357,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 18 |
|
Wide Sargasso Sea
by
3.59 avg rating — 105,565 ratings
score: 329,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 19 |
|
Anna Karenina
by
4.10 avg rating — 920,388 ratings
score: 327,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 20 |
|
1984
by
4.20 avg rating — 5,355,862 ratings
score: 312,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 21 |
|
The Secret Garden
by
4.17 avg rating — 1,281,631 ratings
score: 302,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 22 |
|
Les Misérables
by
4.21 avg rating — 838,264 ratings
score: 300,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 23 |
|
The Wind in the Willows
by
4.02 avg rating — 238,345 ratings
score: 283,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 24 |
|
War and Peace
by
4.17 avg rating — 361,917 ratings
score: 274,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 25 |
|
Middlemarch
by
4.04 avg rating — 177,576 ratings
score: 265,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 26 |
|
The Grapes of Wrath
by
4.02 avg rating — 984,500 ratings
score: 258,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 27 |
|
Crime and Punishment
by
4.28 avg rating — 1,056,235 ratings
score: 254,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 28 |
|
Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family
by
4.20 avg rating — 35,085 ratings
score: 248,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 28 |
|
Catch-22
by
3.99 avg rating — 881,201 ratings
score: 248,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 30 |
|
The Go-Between
by
4.01 avg rating — 14,381 ratings
score: 247,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 31 |
|
The Mill on the Floss
by
3.83 avg rating — 58,718 ratings
score: 246,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 32 |
|
Alice in Wonderland
by
Jane Carruth (Adapted By)
4.03 avg rating — 396,454 ratings
score: 238,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 33 |
|
Lolita
by
3.87 avg rating — 934,494 ratings
score: 237,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 34 |
|
Great Expectations
by
3.80 avg rating — 866,688 ratings
score: 234,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 35 |
|
A Tale of Two Cities
by
3.88 avg rating — 1,005,404 ratings
score: 230,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 36 |
|
East of Eden
by
4.43 avg rating — 622,777 ratings
score: 226,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 37 |
|
The Age of Innocence
by
3.97 avg rating — 193,576 ratings
score: 225,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 37 |
|
Vanity Fair
by
3.81 avg rating — 132,693 ratings
score: 225,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 39 |
|
Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)
by
3.74 avg rating — 408,542 ratings
score: 218,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 39 |
|
The Catcher in the Rye
by
3.80 avg rating — 3,851,610 ratings
score: 218,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 41 |
|
The Iliad
by
3.93 avg rating — 503,542 ratings
score: 208,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 41 |
|
The Godfather (The Godfather, #1)
by
4.40 avg rating — 459,501 ratings
score: 208,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 43 |
|
The Brothers Karamazov
by
4.39 avg rating — 379,800 ratings
score: 206,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 44 |
|
Suite Française
by
3.86 avg rating — 77,648 ratings
score: 200,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 45 |
|
Orlando
by
3.87 avg rating — 112,941 ratings
score: 198,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 46 |
|
Bleak House
by
4.02 avg rating — 113,384 ratings
score: 196,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 47 |
|
North and South
by
4.15 avg rating — 181,801 ratings
score: 194,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 48 |
|
Of Human Bondage
by
4.15 avg rating — 61,123 ratings
score: 193,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 49 |
|
I, Claudius (Claudius, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 72,574 ratings
score: 192,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 50 |
|
Brave New World
by
3.99 avg rating — 2,050,882 ratings
score: 187,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 51 |
|
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by
4.04 avg rating — 543,734 ratings
score: 186,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 52 |
|
The Death of the Heart
by
3.64 avg rating — 9,093 ratings
score: 180,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 53 |
|
Peter Pan (Peter Pan, #2)
by
4.03 avg rating — 372,021 ratings
score: 178,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 54 |
|
The Call of the Wild
by
3.91 avg rating — 467,514 ratings
score: 175,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 55 |
|
One Hundred Years of Solitude
by
4.12 avg rating — 1,089,948 ratings
score: 174,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 56 |
|
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
by
3.98 avg rating — 484,707 ratings
score: 173,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 57 |
|
The Art of War
by
3.95 avg rating — 562,035 ratings
score: 172,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 58 |
|
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
by
4.20 avg rating — 775,000 ratings
score: 169,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 59 |
|
Mrs. Dalloway
by
3.78 avg rating — 350,852 ratings
score: 164,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 60 |
|
The Chrysalids
by
3.93 avg rating — 61,567 ratings
score: 161,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 61 |
|
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
by
3.56 avg rating — 610,438 ratings
score: 158,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 62 |
|
The Code of the Woosters (Jeeves, #7)
by
4.32 avg rating — 31,166 ratings
score: 156,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 63 |
|
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by
3.83 avg rating — 1,330,822 ratings
score: 151,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 64 |
|
Hard Times
by
3.55 avg rating — 73,843 ratings
score: 148,
and
3 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 65 |
|
To the Lighthouse
by
3.81 avg rating — 211,947 ratings
score: 141,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 66 |
|
Midnight’s Children
by
3.97 avg rating — 132,011 ratings
score: 135,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 67 |
|
The Outsiders
by
S.E. Hinton (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 1,571,844 ratings
score: 130,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 68 |
|
Barchester Towers (Chronicles of Barsetshire, #2)
by
4.05 avg rating — 17,584 ratings
score: 126,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 68 |
|
Another Country
by
4.30 avg rating — 33,627 ratings
score: 126,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 70 |
|
The Diary of a Nobody
by
3.68 avg rating — 17,935 ratings
score: 125,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 71 |
|
The Sea, the Sea
by
3.96 avg rating — 25,136 ratings
score: 119,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 72 |
|
Atlas Shrugged
by
3.69 avg rating — 405,264 ratings
score: 115,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 73 |
|
Ulysses
by
3.76 avg rating — 136,854 ratings
score: 114,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
by
4.08 avg rating — 105,714 ratings
score: 109,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
Little Women (Little Women, #1)
by
4.17 avg rating — 2,427,229 ratings
score: 109,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
A Confederacy of Dunces
by
3.89 avg rating — 295,428 ratings
score: 109,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 77 |
|
Women in Love
by
3.66 avg rating — 33,360 ratings
score: 104,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 77 |
|
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by
3.64 avg rating — 162,892 ratings
score: 104,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 79 |
|
My Ántonia
by
3.84 avg rating — 146,535 ratings
score: 103,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 80 |
|
The Forsyte Saga (The Forsyte Chronicles, #1-3)
by
4.18 avg rating — 20,648 ratings
score: 102,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 81 |
|
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1)
by
3.78 avg rating — 243,765 ratings
score: 100,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
Romeo et Juliette
by
3.74 avg rating — 2,797,565 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 83 |
|
The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)
by
Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)
4.15 avg rating — 2,378,443 ratings
score: 95,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 84 |
|
Lost Illusions
by
4.16 avg rating — 12,369 ratings
score: 93,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 85 |
|
The Secret History
by
4.16 avg rating — 996,041 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 86 |
|
Silas Marner
by
3.69 avg rating — 92,959 ratings
score: 89,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
The Castle
by
3.92 avg rating — 74,175 ratings
score: 84,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
by
3.98 avg rating — 123,981 ratings
score: 84,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 89 |
|
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
by
3.84 avg rating — 300,670 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 90 |
|
The Razor’s Edge
by
4.19 avg rating — 53,365 ratings
score: 80,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 91 |
|
The Return of the Native
by
3.88 avg rating — 40,250 ratings
score: 77,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 92 |
|
Heart of Darkness
by
3.43 avg rating — 553,197 ratings
score: 74,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 93 |
|
White Nights
by
4.08 avg rating — 314,159 ratings
score: 66,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 94 |
|
Scoop
by
3.79 avg rating — 22,338 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 95 |
|
The Betrothed
by
3.88 avg rating — 17,472 ratings
score: 42,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 96 |
|
The Time Machine
by
3.89 avg rating — 559,864 ratings
score: 39,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 97 |
|
Tropic of Cancer (Tropic, #1)
by
3.66 avg rating — 77,480 ratings
score: 35,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 98 |
|
Staying On (The Raj Quartet, #5)
by
3.89 avg rating — 4,206 ratings
score: 33,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 99 |
|
Breakfast of Champions
by
4.06 avg rating — 277,931 ratings
score: 24,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 100 |
|
Lark Rise to Candleford
by
4.02 avg rating — 4,931 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
101 books ·
15 voters ·
list created September 16th, 2019
by Andry DeJong (votes) .
Andry
1507 books
208 friends
208 friends
Joanne
3018 books
250 friends
250 friends
Charlotte Igelkott
3122 books
1 friend
1 friend
~☆~Autumn
8063 books
145 friends
145 friends
Angie
1591 books
77 friends
77 friends
Saturday's
2238 books
67 friends
67 friends
Phillip
5125 books
139 friends
139 friends
Trine
661 books
1 friend
1 friend
More voters…
Related News
As you might expect, we are book people here at Goodreads World Headquarters—rather intense book people, actually. And when the holidays roll...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
