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The book you know will go into the canon of literature, on par with Tolkien, Shakespeare, Austen and other greats. The books that will one day be part of a school curriculum, or are beginning to be accepted as such. These are the books in the last hundred years or so that have really touched many by their literary genius.
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Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: A Cultural History, Vol. I)
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4.37 avg rating — 3,505 ratings
score: 51,
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1 person voted
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| 302 |
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Orphan Train
by
Christina Baker Kline (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 460,395 ratings
score: 50,
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1 person voted
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| 302 |
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The Clan of the Cave Bear, the Valley of Horses, the Mammoth Hunters, the Plains of Passage, The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, #1-5)
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4.45 avg rating — 2,106 ratings
score: 50,
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1 person voted
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| 302 |
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Black Robe
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3.79 avg rating — 1,488 ratings
score: 50,
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1 person voted
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| 305 |
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The Bad Seed
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4.01 avg rating — 19,732 ratings
score: 49,
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1 person voted
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| 305 |
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The Scapegoat
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 13,101 ratings
score: 49,
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1 person voted
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| 307 |
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Ten Little Indians
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4.06 avg rating — 6,961 ratings
score: 48,
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1 person voted
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| 307 |
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The City of Joy
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4.26 avg rating — 8,188 ratings
score: 48,
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1 person voted
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| 309 |
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Sweet Thursday (Cannery Row, #2)
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4.12 avg rating — 19,006 ratings
score: 47,
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1 person voted
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| 309 |
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Confederates
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4.07 avg rating — 1,308 ratings
score: 47,
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1 person voted
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| 311 |
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The Passions of the Mind
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4.04 avg rating — 1,855 ratings
score: 46,
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1 person voted
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| 311 |
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Eclipse of the Sun (Children of the Last Days #3)
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4.44 avg rating — 858 ratings
score: 46,
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1 person voted
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| 313 |
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The Parasites
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3.72 avg rating — 2,754 ratings
score: 45,
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1 person voted
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| 313 |
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The Eight (The Eight, #1)
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3.93 avg rating — 45,722 ratings
score: 45,
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1 person voted
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| 315 |
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Follow the River
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4.23 avg rating — 23,083 ratings
score: 44,
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1 person voted
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| 316 |
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Master of the Game
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4.15 avg rating — 59,859 ratings
score: 43,
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1 person voted
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| 316 |
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Hungry Hill
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3.73 avg rating — 1,898 ratings
score: 43,
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1 person voted
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| 316 |
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Gap Creek
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3.74 avg rating — 54,339 ratings
score: 43,
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1 person voted
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| 319 |
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The Stepford Wives
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3.88 avg rating — 53,126 ratings
score: 42,
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1 person voted
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| 319 |
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A Walk in Wolf Wood
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3.83 avg rating — 1,410 ratings
score: 42,
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1 person voted
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| 319 |
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The Girl in a Swing
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3.53 avg rating — 2,122 ratings
score: 42,
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1 person voted
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| 322 |
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The Education of Little Tree
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4.14 avg rating — 17,658 ratings
score: 41,
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1 person voted
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| 322 |
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Thunder on the Right
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3.84 avg rating — 4,695 ratings
score: 41,
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1 person voted
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| 322 |
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Great Maria
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4.10 avg rating — 596 ratings
score: 41,
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1 person voted
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| 325 |
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The Crystal Cave/The Hollow Hills/Wildfire at Midnight
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4.44 avg rating — 202 ratings
score: 40,
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1 person voted
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| 325 |
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The Royal Succession (The Accursed Kings, #4)
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4.28 avg rating — 9,147 ratings
score: 40,
and
1 person voted
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| 327 |
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The Stranger's Child
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3.33 avg rating — 11,816 ratings
score: 39,
and
1 person voted
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| 327 |
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The Poisoned Crown (The Accursed Kings, #3)
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4.21 avg rating — 10,346 ratings
score: 39,
and
1 person voted
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| 329 |
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Replay
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4.15 avg rating — 43,792 ratings
score: 38,
and
1 person voted
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| 329 |
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The She-Wolf (The Accursed Kings, #5)
by
4.18 avg rating — 7,965 ratings
score: 38,
and
1 person voted
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| 331 |
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The Children of Men
by
3.67 avg rating — 51,555 ratings
score: 37,
and
1 person voted
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| 331 |
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The King Without a Kingdom (The Accursed Kings, #7)
by
Maurice Druon (Artist)
3.41 avg rating — 4,880 ratings
score: 37,
and
1 person voted
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| 333 |
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The Strangled Queen (The Accursed Kings, #2)
by
4.17 avg rating — 12,475 ratings
score: 36,
and
1 person voted
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| 334 |
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The Other Typist
by
Suzanne Rindell (Goodreads Author)
3.55 avg rating — 19,344 ratings
score: 35,
and
1 person voted
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| 334 |
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The Lily and the Lion (The Accursed Kings, #6)
by
4.22 avg rating — 6,943 ratings
score: 35,
and
1 person voted
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| 336 |
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Dolores Claiborne
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 167,804 ratings
score: 34,
and
1 person voted
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| 336 |
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Salt to the Sea
by
Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 248,603 ratings
score: 34,
and
1 person voted
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| 336 |
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The Iron King (The Accursed Kings, #1)
by
4.08 avg rating — 22,682 ratings
score: 34,
and
1 person voted
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| 339 |
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Daughter of Fortune
by
Isabel Allende (Goodreads Author)
3.94 avg rating — 139,001 ratings
score: 33,
and
1 person voted
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| 340 |
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Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)
by
Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 268,288 ratings
score: 32,
and
1 person voted
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| 341 |
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A Soldier of the Great War
by
4.33 avg rating — 7,908 ratings
score: 31,
and
1 person voted
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| 341 |
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She Walks These Hills (Ballad, #3)
by
Sharyn McCrumb (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 4,413 ratings
score: 31,
and
1 person voted
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| 343 |
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A Lesson Before Dying
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3.98 avg rating — 63,421 ratings
score: 30,
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1 person voted
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| 343 |
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Through a Glass Darkly
by
Karleen Koen (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 11,362 ratings
score: 30,
and
1 person voted
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| 345 |
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The Rainmaker
by
John Grisham (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 205,477 ratings
score: 29,
and
1 person voted
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| 345 |
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Traveller
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3.91 avg rating — 1,258 ratings
score: 29,
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1 person voted
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| 347 |
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Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan, #1)
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3.90 avg rating — 47,465 ratings
score: 28,
and
1 person voted
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| 347 |
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An Unknown Welshman: A Historical Novel
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3.90 avg rating — 84 ratings
score: 28,
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1 person voted
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| 349 |
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The Hotel New Hampshire
by
John Irving (Goodreads Author)
3.93 avg rating — 68,305 ratings
score: 27,
and
1 person voted
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| 349 |
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The Wolves of Paris
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4.07 avg rating — 157 ratings
score: 27,
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1 person voted
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| 351 |
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The Yearling
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4.03 avg rating — 30,299 ratings
score: 26,
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1 person voted
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| 352 |
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Comrades of War
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4.07 avg rating — 1,901 ratings
score: 25,
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1 person voted
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| 353 |
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The Bonfire of the Vanities
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3.92 avg rating — 86,006 ratings
score: 24,
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1 person voted
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| 354 |
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I, Claudius (Claudius, #1)
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4.24 avg rating — 72,243 ratings
score: 23,
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1 person voted
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| 355 |
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Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie
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4.03 avg rating — 6,097 ratings
score: 22,
and
1 person voted
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| 356 |
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A Raisin in the Sun
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3.85 avg rating — 108,525 ratings
score: 21,
and
1 person voted
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| 356 |
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Excellent Women
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3.91 avg rating — 20,049 ratings
score: 21,
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1 person voted
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| 358 |
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Jane and Prudence
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3.87 avg rating — 5,885 ratings
score: 20,
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1 person voted
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| 359 |
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Filaree: A Novel of an American Woman
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3.72 avg rating — 121 ratings
score: 19,
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1 person voted
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| 360 |
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The Big Sky (The Big Sky, #1)
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4.01 avg rating — 5,679 ratings
score: 18,
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1 person voted
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| 361 |
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The Way West
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3.96 avg rating — 5,818 ratings
score: 17,
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1 person voted
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| 362 |
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A Lantern in Her Hand
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4.19 avg rating — 7,081 ratings
score: 15,
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1 person voted
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| 363 |
|
The Snow Goose
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4.15 avg rating — 5,508 ratings
score: 14,
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1 person voted
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363 books ·
188 voters ·
list created March 30th, 2012
by Sam Sigelakis-Minski (votes) .
Sam
4184 books
192 friends
192 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Soumya
1374 books
38 friends
38 friends
JanBreesmom
2425 books
235 friends
235 friends
Joe
1336 books
45 friends
45 friends
Harry
43 books
13 friends
13 friends
Winnie
699 books
25 friends
25 friends
Michaela
502 books
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More voters…
Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)
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message 1:
by
Ayesha
(last edited Mar 23, 2013 06:13AM)
(new)
Mar 23, 2013 06:14AM
why is a goosebumps book on this list!!
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I like this list, however there are some books on here that don't belong simply for the reason that they are not modern... Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens are great writers and their books are classics, but they belong to the 1800's... Not the last 50 years.
Sam, you want me to "clean" this list? Remove anything from before, say, 1960?
Susanna wrote: "Sam, you want me to "clean" this list? Remove anything from before, say, 1960?"Just cleaned it up a bit; please let me know if there are any other books you find should be removed.
Sarah wrote: "I like this list, however there are some books on here that don't belong simply for the reason that they are not modern... Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens are great writers and their books are clas..."Just cleaned it up a bit; please let me know if there are any other books you find should be removed.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was first published in 1950, and Animal Farm is from 1945.
Susanna wrote: "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was first published in 1950, and Animal Farm is from 1945.">The list does say "fifty years OR SO" for a reason; so that people can loosely interpret that and put books on here that they find are classics that have not entered the standard literary canon yet. That being said, I removed the books you think do not belong there so that there is no more problems.
I'm fine with people voting for whatever they deem worthy to be called "modern classics". What I'm not fine with is that there are not a few books that are already undoubted classics, like books by Faulkner or Bulgakov. The idea is good but the list author doesn't seem to edit it accordingly.
"The list author" is currently 63 people. Most listopias are crowd sourced.It's easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."
This list wants a bit of editing as some books are listed twice.
Chris wrote: "This list wants a bit of editing as some books are listed twice."I just ran the Goodreads "duplicate checker;" it has found and removed five duplicates from the list.
Published > 50 years ago:To Kill a Mockingbird (#1)
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (#32)
Native Son (#105)
Rebecca (#121)
A Town Like Alice (#129)
On the Beach (#134)
1984 (#246)
Jamaica Inn (#269)
Frenchman's Creek (#271)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (#302)
Fiona wrote: "Published > 50 years ago:To Kill a Mockingbird (#1)
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (#32)
Native Son (#105)
Rebecca (#121)
A Town Like Alice (#129)
On the Beach (#134)
1984 (#246)
Jamaica I..."
What part of "or so" did you not understand?
Catherine wrote: "I'm fine with people voting for whatever they deem worthy to be called "modern classics". What I'm not fine with is that there are not a few books that are already undoubted classics, like books by..."That is a highly subjective opinion. This list is for the people to decide. You, as a person, can add books thst you feel are more fitting.
The Hobbit 1937 - 81 years. more than 50% greater than 50 years or so.The Time Machine 1890s - over 100 years. More than twice 50 years.
If the list criteria had a firm date, it would make the list easier to maintain.
Kurt wrote: "The Hobbit 1937 - 81 years. more than 50% greater than 50 years or so.The Time Machine 1890s - over 100 years. More than twice 50 years.
If the list criteria had a firm date, it would make the li..."
Make your own list with firm criteria, then. This list was created literally seven years ago, and to be frank, I do not have time to maintain and edit it. People have the ability to add and subtract books at their own will. If you feel that strongly about this, I will change the description to 100 years.
To all who are complaining that this list is inaccurate, has books outside of a time range you are comfortable with, or that you *insist* are already classics or not classics at all, become a Librarian and edit the list yourself. From the Goodreads page:
"Important: if you're on this page you have been granted a special "librarian" status, and can edit list data. Don't take this responsibility lightly—if you can help correct any inaccuracies or add any missing data, please do so! But only make changes if you're sure they're correct."
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