LibraryThing, 501 Books

501 Must-Read Books (Octopus/Bounty Books, 2006) is a 544-page coffee-table guide that distils the literary world into 501 illustrated, one-page entries. Edited by Emma Beare, the picks are spread across eight genre-based chapters—Children’s Fiction, Classic Fiction, Modern Fiction, Thrillers, Science-Fiction, History, Memoirs & Biography, and Travel—each essay pairing a brisk synopsis with key publication facts and a quick “why it matters” hook. Billed by the publisher as “the wisest, cleverest, best-read and most trusted friend you have ever had,” the list itself was drawn up by “a bibliophile and writer with a peerless reputation,” while the descriptive write-ups were farmed out to a team of lecturers, critics and book lovers. The result is an accessible, browsable canon designed to lure general readers into corners of the bookshop they might otherwise overlook.

Who voted: 1 unnamed expert

This list was originally published in 2006 and was added to this site 12 months ago.

This list has a weight of 1%. To learn more about what this means please visit the Rankings page.

Here is a list of what is decreasing the importance of this list:

• Voters: Voter Count
• List: contains over 500 books(Quantity over Quality)
• List: only covers mostly "Western Canon" books
• Voters: Unknown Names

If you think this is incorrect please contact us.

Number of Voters:

1

Voter Count Unknown:

No

Voter Names Unknown:

Yes

High Quality Source:

No

Location Specific:

No

Category Specific:

No