List Details
To determine the rank of each book, every list has a "weight" which is how much "good" a list is. A list with a higher weight is worth more points for the books that are on the list. The weight of a list is calculated by a number of criteria that i've listed below. Every list starts with 100 weight which is "Perfect". Each of the criteria listed below reduce the weight of the lists. The lowest Weight is 1.
- voted on by only 1 person: -90
- Limited to 10 or less years: -75
- Very niche: -70
- There's absolutely no voter details: -70
- voted on by the general public: -70
- Limited to 25 or less years: -65
- yearly book award: -55
- Limited to 50 or less years: -50
- a low number of voters: -40
- There are not many voter details: -30
- Limited to 1 language/nationality: -30
- Quantity over Quality: -25
- Absolutely no criteria information: -20
- seems location biased but is not specified: -20
- voters are mostly from 1 location or country: -20
- Limited to 100 or less years: -20
- Partially voted on by the general public: -20
- The creator of the list sells the same books that are on the list: -15
- the list is from a weird source that is not known for books: -15
- Limited to 1 Gender(Author or Audience): -5
I am always looking for ways to improve the accuracy of the list as well as looking for new lists that I might have missed. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me your thoughts.
Name | Source | Cons | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Top 100 Works in World Literature | Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute | 100 | |
Biblioteca | Argentina | 80 | |
The 25 Favorite Books of 100 Francophone Writers | Telerama | 80 | |
For The Love of Books | For The Love of Books | 80 | |
The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time | The Top 10 (Book) | 80 | |
The 100 Best Books of World Literature | ABC.es | 80 | |
The Ideal Library | Book | 80 | |
El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors | El Pais | 80 | |
Pour une Bibliothèque Idéale | Raymond Queneau | 80 | |
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die | The Book | 75 | |
Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century | themodernnovel.com | 70 | |
The Celebrity Reading List | Gardiner Public Library | 65 | |
Finest Works of Fiction | Martin Seymour-Smith and Editors | 60 | |
The 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the Century | National Review | 60 | |
Great Books of the Western World | Great Books Foundation | 60 | |
100 Life-Changing Books | National Book Award | 60 | |
The New York Public Library's Books of the Century | New York Public Library | 60 | |
The New Lifetime Reading Plan | The New Lifetime Reading Plan | 60 | |
Great Books | The Learning Channel | 55 | |
The 100 Greatest British Novels | BBC | 50 | |
The 50 Best Books of the Century | Intercollegiate Studies Institute | 50 | |
Världsbiblioteket (The World Library) | Tidningen Boken | 50 | |
Recommended Books | Academy of Achievement | 45 | |
The Greatest 20th Century Novels | Waterstone | 45 | |
"Best Foreign Work of Fiction" | Transfuge | 40 | |
The 16 Greatest Books of All Time | NYU Local | 40 | |
ZEIT-Bibliothek der 100 Bücher | Die Zeit | 40 | |
The Bigger Read List | English PEN | 40 | |
100 Novels That Shaped Our World | BBC | 40 | |
"Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century | January Magazine | 40 | |
100 Books to Read in a Lifetime | Amazon.com (USA) | 40 | |
100 Books to Read in a Lifetime | Amazon.com (UK) | 40 | |
The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written | Easton Press | 35 | |
48 Good Books | University of Buffalo | 35 | |
25 acclaimed international writers choose 25 of the best books from the last 25 years | Wasafiri Magazine | 35 | |
The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels | Modern Library | 35 | |
The 21st Century's 12 Greatest Novels | BBC | 35 | |
Top 100 World Literature Titles | Perfection Learning | 35 | |
A Premature Attempt at the 21st Century Canon | Vulture | 35 | |
The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians | Bookman.com | 35 | |
Third World Novels… The Top 10 | New Internationalist | 30 | |
110 Best Books: The Perfect Library | The Telegraph | 30 | |
The Great American Read | PBS | 30 | |
Best German Novels of the Twentieth Century | Wikipedia | 30 | |
The New Vanguard | New York Times | 30 | |
Select 100 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 25 | |
The Modern Library | 100 Best Nonfiction | The Modern Library | 25 | |
The Millions: The Best Fiction of the Millennium | The Millions | 25 | |
100 Best Books | Montana State University | 20 | |
100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 | Counterpunch | 20 | |
Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels | Radcliffe Publishing Course | 20 | |
The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years | Parade Magazine | 15 | |
Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books | Harvard Book Store | 15 | |
Man Booker Prize | Man Booker Prize | 15 | |
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction | PEN/Faulkner | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
National Book Award - Nonfiction | National Book Foundation | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
James Tait Black Memorial Prize | Wikipedia | 15 | |
National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction | National Book Critics Circle | 15 | |
National Book Critics Circle Award - Nonfiction | National Book Critics Circle | 15 | |
Best Books Ever | bookdepository.com | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for History | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
National Book Award - Fiction | National Book Foundation | 15 | |
Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction | Pulitzer Prize | 15 | |
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Reading List | Thomas C. Foster | 10 | |
100 Essential Books | Bravo! Magazine | 10 | |
The Greatest Novel of All Time | William Faulkner | 10 | |
W. Somerset Maugham’s Ten Greatest Novels of All Time | Great Novelists and Their Novels | 10 | |
The 100 Greatest Novels | greatbooksguide.com | 10 | |
The College Board: 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers | http://www.uhlibrary.net/pdf/college_board_recommended_books.pdf | 10 | |
The Great Books Reader | Book | 10 | |
The Best Classics | The Times | 10 | |
In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels | ThisRecording.com | 10 | |
How to Read and Why | Harold Bloom | 10 | |
The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time | The Novel 100 | 10 | |
50 Greatest Books of All Time | Globe and Mail | 10 | |
The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List | The Observer | 10 | |
Books That Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History | Book | 10 | |
Masterpieces of World Literature | Frank N. Magill | 10 | |
Great Books | Anthony O'Hear | 10 | |
TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels | TIME Magazine | 10 | |
The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read | Telegraph | 10 | |
50 Books That Changed the World | Open Education Database | 5 | |
The best books in Spanish for the last 25 years | El Pais | 5 | |
Top 10 British, Irish or Commonwealth Novels from 1980 to 2005 | The Observer | 5 | |
The 100 best books of the 21st century | The Guardian | 5 | |
The 100 Best Books in the World | AbeBooks.de (in German) | 5 | |
What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years? | New York Times | 5 | |
50 Books to Read Before You Die | Complex | 5 | |
The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years | Slate | 1 | |
D. G. Myers’ 50 Greatest English Language Novels | D. G. Myers | 1 | |
Modern classics: 11 novels that belong in the classroom | Today.com | 1 | |
The 100 Best Books of the Decade(2000) | Times | 1 | |
50 Books to (Re-)Read at 50 | nextavenue | 1 | |
The Best Books of the 2000s | The Onion AV Club | 1 | |
Extreme Classics: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time | National Geographic Adventure Magazine | 1 | |
The Best Southern Novels of All Time | Oxford American | 1 | |
Books of the Decade | The Guardian | 1 | |
The 80 Books Every Man Should Read | Esquire | 1 | |
Paste Magazine's Best Books of the Decade(2000-2009) | Paste Magazine | 1 | |
The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013 | Flavor Wire | 1 | |
The New Classics - 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008 | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
The 10 Best of the Decade(2000) | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books | Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com | 1 | |
50 Books to Read Before You Die | Barnes and Noble | 1 | |
The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics | Book | 1 | |
The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 | Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com | 1 | |
Donald Barthelme’s Reading List | Believer Mag | 1 | |
100 Best Novels Written in English | The Guardian | 1 | |
Books That Changed the World | Book | 1 | |
Costa Book Award - Best Novel | Costa Coffee | 1 | |
Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century | Le Monde | 1 | |
Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
The Dream of the Great American Novel | Book | 1 | |
The Graphic Canon | Book | 1 | |
Greatest Prose Works of the 20th Century | Vladimir Nabokov | 1 | |
20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction | Larry McCaffery | 1 | |
Robert McCrum's top 10 books of the twentieth century | The Guardian | 1 | |
100 Major Works of Modern Creative Nonfiction | About.com | 1 | |
Waterstone's Books of the Century | LibraryThing | 1 | |
The Best Fiction Books of the 2010s | Time | 1 | |
50 Memorable Books from 50 Years of Books to Remember | The New York Public Library | 1 | |
The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time | The Guardian | 1 | |
The Best Southern Nonfiction of All Time | Oxford American | 1 | |
The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written | Martin Seymour-Smith | 1 | |
25 Books to Read Before you Die: 21st Century | Powell's Books | 1 | |
Top 10 Fiction Books of the Decade(2010) | Entertainment Weekly | 1 | |
The 40 Best Novels of the 2010s | Paste Magazine | 1 | |
100 Most Influential Books of the Century | Boston Public Library | 1 |