100 Books You Must Read Before You Die

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

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  • Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

    The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder
    Cover of 'Brideshead Revisited' by Evelyn Waugh

    The novel is a nostalgic story about the narrator's involvement with the Flyte family, British aristocrats living in a grand mansion called Brideshead. The story explores themes of faith, love, and the decline of the British aristocracy, primarily through the narrator's relationships with the family's Catholic faith and his complicated friendship with the family's son and his love for the daughter. The novel is set in the backdrop of the time period between the two World Wars.

    The 141st Greatest Book of All Time
    Purchase from Bookshop.org or Amazon

  • Room by Emma Donoghue

    Cover of 'Room' by Emma Donoghue

    "Room" by Emma Donoghue is a novel about a young woman named Ma who has been held captive in a small room for seven years with her five-year-old son Jack. The story is told from Jack's point of view as he struggles to understand the world outside of Room and adjust to life after their escape. The novel explores themes of resilience, trauma, and the power of love and imagination.

    The 2493rd Greatest Book of All Time
    Purchase from Bookshop.org or Amazon
About this list

BBC Radio Oxford, 102 Books

This BBC list was chosen mainly by authors but also other 'book' experts such as bookshop staff, with short audio discussions on each work.
Actual number of books chosen was 102.

This list was originally published in 2020 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

How Good is this List?

This list has a weight of 71%. 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: only covers mostly "Western Canon" books
  • Voters: are mostly from a single country/location

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List Information

Number of Voters:
15
Voter Count Unknown:
No
Voter Names Unknown:
No
High Quality Source:
No
Location Specific:
No
Category Specific:
No