These are the books that we've all either HAD to read, or chose to read to see if we could. Some of these selections are re-reads; a new perspective gained with each page. These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult. Feel free to add your personal "nightmare" reading material!
1

by
3.76 avg rating — 137,552 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.43 avg rating — 556,855 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,046,207 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.44 avg rating — 916,736 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.90 avg rating — 2,032,525 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.17 avg rating — 364,748 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,604 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
3.53 avg rating — 237,493 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
3.93 avg rating — 7,025 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.03 avg rating — 205,486 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
3.93 avg rating — 507,661 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.10 avg rating — 927,598 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.91 avg rating — 236,892 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.86 avg rating — 181,932 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
3.84 avg rating — 302,019 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.86 avg rating — 195,580 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
3.99 avg rating — 47,882 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.50 avg rating — 345,402 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.46 avg rating — 98,421 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.89 avg rating — 336,912 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.05 avg rating — 29,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.96 avg rating — 276,151 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.39 avg rating — 384,125 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.84 avg rating — 221,657 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.45 avg rating — 316,726 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.01 avg rating — 48,048 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.03 avg rating — 334,063 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,067,679 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.44 avg rating — 633,027 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.38 avg rating — 179,394 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.21 avg rating — 216,063 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.11 avg rating — 541,404 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.09 avg rating — 199,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,422,580 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.57 avg rating — 614,195 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.03 avg rating — 991,006 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,478,463 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.98 avg rating — 124,784 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,872,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.96 avg rating — 21,769 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.98 avg rating — 129,924 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.69 avg rating — 406,423 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.07 avg rating — 334,740 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.94 avg rating — 66,619 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.76 avg rating — 98,966 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.89 avg rating — 362,891 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.19 avg rating — 19,575 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.14 avg rating — 459,859 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.28 avg rating — 417,751 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.10 avg rating — 53,560 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.17 avg rating — 28,210 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.84 avg rating — 11,264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,855,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.15 avg rating — 435,908 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.87 avg rating — 254,545 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.98 avg rating — 105,616 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.87 avg rating — 941,704 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.86 avg rating — 11,774 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.48 avg rating — 157 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.53 avg rating — 7,965 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.28 avg rating — 342,641 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.43 avg rating — 8,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.73 avg rating — 23,011 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
4.02 avg rating — 8,675 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.13 avg rating — 64,387 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.83 avg rating — 112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.46 avg rating — 2,825 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.17 avg rating — 94,365 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.77 avg rating — 12,360 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.77 avg rating — 149,370 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.84 avg rating — 35,269 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.15 avg rating — 1,791 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.77 avg rating — 9,299 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.85 avg rating — 3,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.85 avg rating — 499 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.25 avg rating — 2,253 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.09 avg rating — 31,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.95 avg rating — 721 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.27 avg rating — 702 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.11 avg rating — 569 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.58 avg rating — 342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.79 avg rating — 24,251 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.89 avg rating — 2,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.39 avg rating — 263 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.94 avg rating — 33,986 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.83 avg rating — 3,398 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.62 avg rating — 6,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.18 avg rating — 225 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.05 avg rating — 17,859 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.85 avg rating — 1,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.98 avg rating — 13,146 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.97 avg rating — 13,878 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.60 avg rating — 30 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.02 avg rating — 6,344 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,388 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.75 avg rating — 7,200 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,236 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.85 avg rating — 4,292 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
102 books · 102 voters · list created June 18th, 2009 by Tara Lynn (votes) .
36 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tara 2340 books
189 friends
Cristen 234 books
45 friends
A.M. 1431 books
311 friends
Leslie 2867 books
181 friends
Charlie 154 books
3 friends
Bradley 2373 books
4993 friends
Tamar 760 books
23 friends
Elise 5042 books
240 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Great list; I always feel so guilty when I don't finish a book, but sometimes it is just impossible!


message 2: by Whitney FI (new)

Whitney FI I finished all the books for which I voted, but all took ample research, contemplation and discussion. It's those books that challenge, which are more rewarding, at least for me, in the end.


message 3: by Andrew (last edited Apr 22, 2014 11:40PM) (new)

Andrew Obrigewitsch Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of the Torturer (not hard but it is weird), Fahrenheit 451 (this book is super easy to read actually) and I'm sure at least half the books I haven't read on this list are not that hard.

I would say that, "Heart of Darkness and the Congo Diary" is medium difficulty, above those listed above, but I didn't find it difficult either. The only book on hear I didn't finish was The Silmarillion, because it was just boring and felt like reading a really dry history book taken from the Bible.


message 4: by Milo (new)

Milo I agree with The Silmarillion, Andrews, but am surprised anyone found Fahrenheit 451 hard to read. Perhaps the list also includes books people were forced to read in class, when they weren't in the mood.


message 5: by A.M. (new)

A.M. Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature."

I think the list has changed since I last looked at it - just reviewed it all now and there's quite a few titles on there that I've read and not found difficult. But I suppose each person has their own standards of what they find difficult...


message 6: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 30, 2019 05:50AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Andrew wrote: "Who is voting on this list? The Phantom of the Opera is only hard to read if you think Twilight is high literature.

Same goes for Brave New World, 1984, anything by John Steinbeck, The Shadow of t..."


I'm sorry to disagree but Nineteen Eighty-Four (#48) was not exactly an 'easy' read for me either. I read books which others found difficult and vice versa. I agree with A.M. on this, what's easy for some isn't easy for another.

Beowulf (#20), for instance, is a great read, but to say it is easy? Not in my opinion....

Besides, the description clearly says These books run the gamut from confusing to difficult.


back to top