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| 1 |
Lord of the Flies
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3.70 avg rating — 3,156,437 ratings
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| 2 |
The Scarlet Letter
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3.44 avg rating — 909,809 ratings
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| 3 |
The Great Gatsby
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3.93 avg rating — 5,816,804 ratings
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| 4 |
The Catcher in the Rye
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3.80 avg rating — 3,845,603 ratings
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| 5 |
Great Expectations
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3.80 avg rating — 865,575 ratings
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| 6 |
The Old Man and the Sea
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3.81 avg rating — 1,289,252 ratings
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| 7 |
Of Mice and Men
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3.89 avg rating — 2,790,528 ratings
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| 8 |
Romeo and Juliet
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3.74 avg rating — 2,793,821 ratings
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| 9 |
Heart of Darkness
by
3.43 avg rating — 552,243 ratings
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| 10 |
To Kill a Mockingbird
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4.26 avg rating — 6,778,876 ratings
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| 11 |
Beowulf
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3.50 avg rating — 342,417 ratings
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| 12 |
Animal Farm
by
4.01 avg rating — 4,448,923 ratings
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| 13 |
The Grapes of Wrath
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4.02 avg rating — 982,920 ratings
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| 14 |
Ethan Frome
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3.46 avg rating — 136,267 ratings
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| 15 |
A Separate Peace
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3.60 avg rating — 230,846 ratings
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| 16 |
The Red Badge of Courage
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3.30 avg rating — 109,435 ratings
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| 17 |
Wuthering Heights
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3.90 avg rating — 1,996,723 ratings
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| 18 |
Hamlet
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4.03 avg rating — 1,034,342 ratings
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| 19 |
Moby-Dick or, The Whale
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3.56 avg rating — 609,337 ratings
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| 20 |
Julius Caesar
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3.71 avg rating — 217,308 ratings
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| 21 |
Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)
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3.74 avg rating — 407,822 ratings
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| 22 |
Silas Marner
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3.69 avg rating — 92,836 ratings
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| 23 |
The Outsiders
by
S.E. Hinton (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 1,567,368 ratings
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| 24 |
The Giver (The Giver, #1)
by
Lois Lowry (Goodreads Author)
4.12 avg rating — 2,767,646 ratings
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| 25 |
Macbeth
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3.89 avg rating — 1,005,377 ratings
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| 26 |
The Call of the Wild
by
3.91 avg rating — 466,706 ratings
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| 27 |
Frankenstein
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3.90 avg rating — 1,816,191 ratings
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| 28 |
A Tale of Two Cities
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3.88 avg rating — 1,004,360 ratings
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| 29 |
1984
by
4.20 avg rating — 5,340,246 ratings
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| 30 |
Crime and Punishment
by
4.28 avg rating — 1,052,270 ratings
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| 31 |
Fahrenheit 451
by
3.97 avg rating — 2,774,503 ratings
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| 32 |
All Quiet on the Western Front
by
4.11 avg rating — 512,810 ratings
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| 33 |
The Pearl/The Red Pony
by
3.72 avg rating — 1,896 ratings
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| 34 |
The Pearl
by
3.56 avg rating — 266,441 ratings
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| 35 |
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by
3.64 avg rating — 162,695 ratings
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| 36 |
The Crucible
by
3.61 avg rating — 457,986 ratings
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| 37 |
Robinson Crusoe
by
3.68 avg rating — 328,420 ratings
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| 38 |
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by
3.83 avg rating — 1,329,619 ratings
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| 39 |
Death of a Salesman
by
3.59 avg rating — 256,215 ratings
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| 40 |
The Fountainhead
by
3.89 avg rating — 335,687 ratings
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| 41 |
A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1)
by
3.97 avg rating — 1,271,881 ratings
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| 42 |
The Metamorphosis
by
3.90 avg rating — 1,381,060 ratings
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| 43 |
Night
by
4.38 avg rating — 1,347,635 ratings
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| 44 |
Don Quixote
by
3.91 avg rating — 301,387 ratings
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| 45 |
Othello
by
3.89 avg rating — 432,182 ratings
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| 46 |
As I Lay Dying
by
3.72 avg rating — 184,812 ratings
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| 46 |
The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 259,297 ratings
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| 48 |
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
by
4.30 avg rating — 4,399,945 ratings
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| 49 |
A Farewell to Arms
by
3.82 avg rating — 349,099 ratings
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| 50 |
The Sun Also Rises
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3.79 avg rating — 488,162 ratings
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| 51 |
Emma
by
4.05 avg rating — 967,630 ratings
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| 52 |
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
by
3.84 avg rating — 300,303 ratings
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| 53 |
Babbitt
by
3.69 avg rating — 24,707 ratings
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| 54 |
The Canterbury Tales
by
3.52 avg rating — 236,224 ratings
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| 55 |
Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3)
by
3.68 avg rating — 173,568 ratings
score: 871,
and
9 people voted
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| 56 |
Madame Bovary
by
3.71 avg rating — 369,650 ratings
score: 862,
and
9 people voted
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| 57 |
The House on Mango Street
by
3.68 avg rating — 228,135 ratings
score: 779,
and
8 people voted
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| 58 |
Billy Budd, Sailor
by
3.19 avg rating — 19,416 ratings
score: 778,
and
8 people voted
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| 59 |
Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Persuasion
by
4.51 avg rating — 6,830 ratings
score: 765,
and
8 people voted
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| 59 |
Siddhartha
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4.08 avg rating — 861,511 ratings
score: 765,
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8 people voted
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| 61 |
Jane Eyre
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4.16 avg rating — 2,290,281 ratings
score: 763,
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8 people voted
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| 62 |
The Pilgrim's Progress
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4.07 avg rating — 156,517 ratings
score: 742,
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8 people voted
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| 63 |
The Stranger
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4.03 avg rating — 1,356,305 ratings
score: 692,
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7 people voted
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| 64 |
Brave New World
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3.99 avg rating — 2,046,894 ratings
score: 661,
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7 people voted
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| 65 |
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
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4.11 avg rating — 534,845 ratings
score: 656,
and
7 people voted
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| 66 |
The Yearling
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4.04 avg rating — 30,360 ratings
score: 642,
and
7 people voted
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| 67 |
The Jungle
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3.78 avg rating — 153,503 ratings
score: 567,
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6 people voted
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| 68 |
Cry, the Beloved Country
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3.93 avg rating — 79,106 ratings
score: 566,
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6 people voted
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| 68 |
The Lovely Bones
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3.86 avg rating — 2,450,806 ratings
score: 566,
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6 people voted
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| 70 |
Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)
by
3.79 avg rating — 444,882 ratings
score: 555,
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6 people voted
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| 71 |
War and Peace
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4.17 avg rating — 361,273 ratings
score: 554,
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6 people voted
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| 72 |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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3.92 avg rating — 1,007,756 ratings
score: 541,
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6 people voted
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| 73 |
The Cherry Orchard
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3.69 avg rating — 44,720 ratings
score: 530,
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6 people voted
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| 74 |
Doctor Zhivago
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4.01 avg rating — 102,066 ratings
score: 521,
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6 people voted
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| 75 |
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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4.03 avg rating — 159,291 ratings
score: 484,
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5 people voted
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| 76 |
Invisible Man
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3.92 avg rating — 200,516 ratings
score: 483,
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5 people voted
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| 77 |
Waiting for Godot
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3.84 avg rating — 219,675 ratings
score: 473,
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5 people voted
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| 78 |
The Odyssey
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3.83 avg rating — 1,173,587 ratings
score: 472,
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5 people voted
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| 79 |
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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3.76 avg rating — 76,360 ratings
score: 471,
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5 people voted
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| 80 |
Candide
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3.76 avg rating — 298,030 ratings
score: 470,
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5 people voted
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| 81 |
The Mill on the Floss
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3.83 avg rating — 58,618 ratings
score: 468,
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5 people voted
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| 82 |
Pride and Prejudice
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4.29 avg rating — 4,717,529 ratings
score: 456,
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5 people voted
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| 83 |
Fathers and Sons
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 99,600 ratings
score: 449,
and
5 people voted
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| 84 |
The Secret Life of Bees
by
Sue Monk Kidd (Goodreads Author)
4.10 avg rating — 1,345,280 ratings
score: 443,
and
5 people voted
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| 85 |
King Lear
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3.91 avg rating — 235,043 ratings
score: 429,
and
5 people voted
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| 86 |
The Count of Monte Cristo
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4.32 avg rating — 1,007,533 ratings
score: 388,
and
4 people voted
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| 87 |
Wringer
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3.64 avg rating — 15,298 ratings
score: 386,
and
4 people voted
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| 88 |
Taras Bulba
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3.73 avg rating — 14,292 ratings
score: 382,
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4 people voted
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| 89 |
Flowers for Algernon
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4.23 avg rating — 778,864 ratings
score: 381,
and
4 people voted
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| 90 |
Slaughterhouse-Five
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4.10 avg rating — 1,467,116 ratings
score: 379,
and
4 people voted
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| 91 |
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
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3.86 avg rating — 87,859 ratings
score: 375,
and
4 people voted
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| 92 |
The Betrothed
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3.88 avg rating — 17,418 ratings
score: 374,
and
4 people voted
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| 93 |
Holes (Holes, #1)
by
Louis Sachar (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 1,348,825 ratings
score: 362,
and
4 people voted
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| 94 |
Like Water for Chocolate
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3.95 avg rating — 390,845 ratings
score: 353,
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4 people voted
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| 95 |
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
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4.24 avg rating — 3,103,658 ratings
score: 338,
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4 people voted
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| 96 |
Richard III
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3.91 avg rating — 57,931 ratings
score: 330,
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4 people voted
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| 97 |
A Christmas Carol
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4.09 avg rating — 905,079 ratings
score: 327,
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4 people voted
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| 98 |
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by
Richard Bach (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 269,982 ratings
score: 316,
and
4 people voted
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| 99 |
Johnny Got His Gun
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4.21 avg rating — 48,130 ratings
score: 297,
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3 people voted
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| 100 |
The Pigman (The Pigman, #1)
by
3.60 avg rating — 28,631 ratings
score: 292,
and
3 people voted
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Kim
1286 books
15 friends
15 friends
LaTrica
1370 books
46 friends
46 friends
Loren
460 books
62 friends
62 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3385 books
853 friends
853 friends
Briconnerlubisich
66 books
1 friend
1 friend
League of Native Nations
12 books
3 friends
3 friends
Emily
1509 books
20 friends
20 friends
Tamora
2811 books
4842 friends
4842 friends
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Comments Showing 1-29 of 29 (29 new)
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I think the process of being made to read a book is often the problem, not the book itself. I read of mice and men and animal farm, before i was made to read them in school and really liked them and when i had to re-read them for class i found them ubnbearably boring.Reading any book purely because a curriculum demands it is never a good way to treat literature.
Meredeth wrote: "
I disliked with a passion having to read this book. It was so tedious to me!"
This is our county's Big Read this year. Guess who's taking a year off from participating?
Who put Catcher in the Rye on this list? Own up! You really are very naughty. Go back and read it again. You WILL enjoy.
SvenneI absolutely hated this book, but some the books on the list i really enjoyed. Like To Kill a Mockingbird and P&P. How could anyone hate those?
I'm Italian, so I had to put some books they force us to read in my country, maybe you don't know them...and you don't miss anything at that :)
I haven't read all of these, but English Lit was my favorite subject ever. These aren't all English Lit, though, so ANY class where I get to read a book and then write essays about what I just read is the best kind of class! I've read about half of these, and I loved them all! Especially in English class. I have to say I hated The Scarlet Letter at first, but not because it wasn't a good book. I just couldn't relate to Hester and thought she was crazy for staying in that place. After thinking about the book for days, I finally decided I did like it, after all.
When I was school-bullied teen I hated to read about "poor misunderstood" crap like teens in S E Hinton books and Clockwork orange.
I hated reading the Brontë sisters. Bemoaning melodramatically about love is not something I like to waste time on. If I wanted to do that, I would read poorly written fanfiction. Jane EyreWuthering Heights
Samantha wrote: "You people are crazy, i love these books. They are wonderful."True, now they are, but when you are made to read them at too young an age then the mere title brings back bad memories.
I did not hate Dubliners and The Quiet American but the reading process was painful and dull. I would rather watch Martha on TV than reading them again. =)
English was always my absolute favourite class, and reading is my favourite pasttime... but reading books for English class was always so brutal! Most of the books they make us read aren't that good, in my opinion. A few were ok, and some were great (Elie Wiesel's Night and Shelly's Frankenstein). Shakespeare was just the worst, although Macbeth and Hamlet were at least somewhat interesting. Worst book ever? Heart of Darkness. Reading that was like pulling teeth for me...
Vampirella wrote: "Do you guys really hate those wonderful books?"Not all of them, but a good number of them, yea. That is the thing about reader taste, what one likes, another may not. And I am sure the "being forced to read it," often left a bit of a trauma too. I know there are books that, had I not been forced, I may have at least appreciated. Having that trauma, there is no way in hell I am touching them again.
Jo wrote: "Who put Catcher in the Rye on this list? Own up! You really are very naughty. Go back and read it again. You WILL enjoy."I did not put it, but I wish I had. Salinger owes me for the time I lost on that book. But hey, that is me. As librarians say, every book its reader, and every reader its book.
As others have said, I did enjoy English as a subject in school. Heck, I even got a degree in it later on. But, I do have some serious traumas from some books I was forced to read, whether it was not the right time, wrong book for me, lousy teacher, or lousy curriculum (hell, even the best teacher cannot fix things when curriculum mandates come down a pipe). I did notice a few titles in Spanish, including one or two I was forced to read as well.
Killthepopular wrote: "I think the process of being made to read a book is often the problem, not the book itself. I read of mice and men and animal farm, before i was made to read them in school and really liked them an..."I agree. I remember hating most of the required reading back in high school (with the exception of Dickens, Shakespeare, and Bronte). But not anymore. I love most of them now.
Sapphire wrote: "Killthepopular wrote: "I think the process of being made to read a book is often the problem, not the book itself. I read of mice and men and animal farm, before i was made to read them in school a..."Yes! I'm a huge Shakespeare fan and it's one of my favorites, but being made to read Romeo and Juliet in class (already knowing the show backwards and forwards) almost ruined it for me.
On a similar note- I've read three Steinbeck books now. The Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl, which I first read for school, I absolutely hated. However, when I read Of Mice and Men on my own, I loved it. I wonder if it has to do with being forced to read them and having classmates who will constantly bash on whatever they're assigned.
Crime and Punishment was incredibly painful for my AP Lit class to read for one reason - the version we read was written in engrish and had multiple misspellings and badly translated phrases. The story was decent, the copy of the book itself was horrible.
My beef with 1984 was the fact that my teacher freaking spoiled the book for the whole class. He actually played a short video on YouTube that walked the viewer through every event and every meaning behind the book. This was AP Lit class. What, you thought I couldn't handle the stupid message against oppressive regimes and how it could possibly infect Western nations? Oh my God, no. A Brave New World is the better dystopian novel of the two, I find.
And people had to read War and Peace in school? I feel soooo bad for you people D: You could keep a fire going for two hours with a book that big!
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I disliked with a passion having to read this book. It was so tedious to me!