Best Australian Books of the 21st century (The Conversation)

The Conversation (2024), 43 Books

As no Australian works appeared in the New York Times list of the Best Books of the 21st century the Conversation took action: "The Conversation’s Books & Ideas team, seeking to right a wrong (and just very curious), asked 50 Australian literary experts to each share their favourite Australian books of this century"
All the experts are named and also give a synopsis on their choices.
Actual number of works came to 43 as a couple of books were chosen more than once.

100 Books, 100 Companions

Zeit Online (2023), 99 Books

The book list, curated by the editorial team of the German publication ZEIT, features 100 influential books categorized by themes such as Fear, Night, Sorrow, Lost, Sex, Identity, and Departure. Each book was chosen to provide readers with companionship and guidance through various stages and challenges of life.

The list includes a diverse range of works from world literature spanning different time periods and cultures.

Please visit the original list, because it's really well done. Alongside each book, there are texts including reviews and personal reflections from the authors, offering readers a deeper connection to the literary works. Each category in the list is designed to address a central life question or emotion, providing a comprehensive reading experience that reflects the human condition.

Note: This list contains 99 books. I double and triple checked. I am not sure where that 100th book went.

Who voted?
roughly 80–90 writers and critics fed suggestions into the process, while a three-person editorial core made the final call. The names of the critics are available.

The 100 best Irish books of the 21st century

The Irish Times (2025), 100 Books

This list presents the 100 best Irish novels and short story collections of the 21st century, curated by The Irish Times. The selection was made by a panel of 60 experts, including authors, critics, academics, festival curators, and booksellers. Each panelist submitted an unranked list of 50 favorite works, chosen for their personal significance or cultural impact. The data analyst Cathal Stack then compiled these into a ranked list based on the number of nominations. Finally, the panel refined the rankings to reflect personal preferences, ensuring the list represents titles that inspired the deepest admiration.

The Best Novels You’ve Never Read

NY Mag (2007), 60 Books

Talk to any critic and you’ll hear about a book you must read—often one you were begged to read by some reviewer when it came out, but which quickly slipped off your radar. Such is the plight of critics. Which is why we decided, with the help of the National Book Critics Circle, to ask professional critics (and some other writers) to pick the best under-the-radar book of the past ten years or so.

Ten brilliant authors reveal their all-time classic reads

Women & Home (2021), 10 Books

Woman & Home got 10 authors to pick their favorite book of all time. Their description says:

Your favorite writers, including Bernardine Evaristo and Richard Osman, share their all-time classic reads and why they love them

the writers include: Isabel Allende, Linwood Barclay, Erin Kelly, Lucinda Riley, Deborah Moggach, Paula Hawkins, Celia Imrie, Sebastian Faulks, Richard Osman, Bernardine Evaristo

Books of the Decade (1980s)

The Independent (1989), 76 Books

Published on Saturday 23rd December 1989 under the banner “Books of the Decade”, the feature invited this eclectic panel of novelists, historians, biographers, editors and journalists to nominate their standout titles of the 1980s. Their votes produced an aggregated ranking headed by Rites of Passage by William Golding (the only book mentioned four times), followed by a cluster of runners‑up—Bonfire of the Vanities, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Satanic Verses, Money and several others—each cited twice. A long tail of single mentions reflects the diversity of tastes across fiction, history, poetry, literary criticism and science writing. The overall spread highlights how British literary culture at the close of the decade balanced home‑grown talent with major international voices, and how the 1980s produced enduring work across genres, from Golding’s maritime morality tale to Rushdie’s controversial magic‑realist epic.

Who were the voters?
The panel comprised 22 well‑known writers, critics, broadcasters and public intellectuals—largely British, with a few Irish and American voices—who were invited by the newspaper to look back at the 1980s and choose the books that had mattered most to them. The voters were:

Melvyn Bragg, A. S. Byatt, Jan Morris, Ronald Hayman, Barbara Everett, Allan Gurganus, John Banville, Michael Foot, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Eric Christiaansen, Gabriel Josipovici, D. J. Taylor, Hugo Barnacle, Robert Winder, Jeremy Paxman, David Owen, Claire Tomalin, Godfrey Hodgson, Peter Levi, Tom Maschler, Mark Lawson and Blake Morrison.

The Best of the Booker

Booker Prize (2008), 6 Books

The Best of the Booker was a one-time award given in 2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Booker Prize. The prize considered all 41 past Booker-winning novels since 1968, with a shortlist of six titles selected by a panel including novelist Victoria Glendinning, broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, and Professor John Mullan. Notable nominees included two-time Booker winners Peter Carey and J.M. Coetzee. The public chose Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children as the winner, a novel that had previously won both the 1981 Booker and the 1993 Booker of Bookers, awarded for the prize’s 25th anniversary.

2 . Who actually picked the winner?
Unlike a normal Booker year, the panel’s work stopped at the shortlist stage. From 12 May until early July the international reading public voted online (via the Man Booker website and partner media sites). Roughly 8,000 readers cast ballots; 36 % of them chose Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.
theguardian.com
reuters.com

The result was revealed on 10 July 2008 at the London Literature Festival on the South Bank, where Rushdie’s sons accepted the glass trophy on his behalf.
en.wikipedia.org

Key take-away: in the 40th-anniversary “Best of the Booker,” the panel curated quality, while the public delivered the final verdict, making Midnight’s Children the only novel to have won the main Booker (1981), the 25th-anniversary “Booker of Bookers” (1993), and this 40-year crown.

200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

The Center for Fiction (2021), 206 Books

Description from the site:

As an organization whose mission is to both reflect and advance the art of fiction, we’re honoring our 200th anniversary by looking back on how storytelling has evolved since then. We set forth to create a list of the 200 works of fiction that had the most impact on American readers, writers, and culture over these past two centuries... the help of a panel of writers associated with The Center: Mahogany L. Browne, Amina Cain, Alexander Chee, Kia Corthron, Michael Cunningham, Alvaro Enrigue, Neil Gaiman, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Stephen King, Maaza Mengiste, Claire Messud, Jason Reynolds, Salman Rushdie, Esmeralda Santiago, Jonathan Santlofer, V. E. Schwab, Gary Shteyngart, Jane Smiley, Monique Truong, and De'Shawn Charles Winslow. Each author contributed five titles they wanted to be included... and The Center’s staff set to work on completing the list... after much anguish and debate, we present the 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature

20 Best New Zealand Books of the 21st Century

The Conversation (2024), 20 Books

As no New Zealand books appeared in the NYT list of best 21st century works The Coversation proceeded to create their own New Zealand list.
"... we worked with The Conversation’s NZ editor Finlay Macdonald, a former book publisher and Listener editor. Together, we asked more than 20 local literary experts to each share their favourite NZ book of the century."

Magnesia Litera: The Books of the Century

Magnesia Litera (2018), 81 Books

This list, titled 'Magnesia Litera: Book of the Century,' was created to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Czechoslovak Republic's founding in 2018. It aimed to establish a canon of modern Czech literature by identifying the most significant Czech books from each year since 1918. The selection process involved experts initially nominating five books per year, from which readers selected the 'book of the year' via the Magnesia Litera website, excluding years post-2001 when the Magnesia Litera survey was already in place. From this pool of 99 books spanning 1918 to 2017, both an expert jury and the public chose three books representing the century's best. Notably, the list included translated works and plays in the initial selection phase, though plays were excluded post-2000 in the Magnesia Litera competition, prompting some media criticism of the methodology.

Ezra Klein Show's Most Recommended Books

Ezra Klein Show (2024), 177 Books

This is a collation of all the books recommended by every guest that came on The Ezra Klein Show organized by most recommended and by guest appearances. It is one of the best long form interview shows when it comes to the depth of the topics discussed, the diversity and expertise of the lineup of guests and the very thoughtful interview questions that had yielded such nuanced and insightful responses.

The guests were not just nobodies - we have CEOs, ex presidents, famous writers, politicians, scientists... The list is therefore a combination of classics and those works that have caught the attention of the great and the good.
The total number of books recommended is over 1500, this list is only those that were mentioned by at least 2 show guests

Who voted:
528 guests voted. All their names are listed on the website

The Best Japanese Work of Fiction Published in Japanese during Japan’s Heisei era

The Asahi Shimbun (2019), 30 Books

In 2019, Japan's Heisei era (1989-2019) concluded, giving way to the new Reiwa era. This significant transition prompted the media and literary communities to reflect on the highlights of the past three decades, including the most outstanding works of Japanese fiction.

One of Japan's most prestigious national newspapers, The Asahi Shimbun, conducted a survey involving 120 literary experts and book reviewers who had contributed to the publication. They were asked to select their choice for the best book published during the Heisei period.

* Note, this list might have some translation issues. It obviously is not just fiction

As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition

New York Times (2011), 120 Books

This is the fiction version of the non-fiction list. The description of the non-fiction list is -- Inspired by The Guardian's recent list of the 100 greatest nonfiction books, we here at the magazine decided to create our own list. Dispensing with all pretense to rigor — it's a list, silly! — we simply asked each member of the staff to pick their five favorites.
Note. I did delete one entry where someone just listed one author. These are ranked at the top of the list. I aggregated the duplicates into a rank.

voter count: 32

IWU Select 100 Must-Read Books

IWU (Faculty, Staff, and Students) (1991), 99 Books

The IWU Select 100 Must-Read Books list was unveiled on September 17 1991 at Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Illinois). The project was run by the campus Bookstore Advisory Committee, whose chair—then–vice-president for Business & Finance Ken Browning—was charged with “initiating the search for the 100 top books.”

Rather than imposing a canonical ranking, the committee invited open nominations from faculty, staff and students, sifted those suggestions, and published the final 100 alphabetically under the label “Broad-Based Reading List.”

Because every title cleared the same nomination threshold, the brochure is unranked; each entry is presented on equal footing. Exact participation figures were never recorded, but an IWU advisory committee in the early 1990s typically had about a dozen voting members, and the press material speaks of a campus-wide call that brought in dozens of nominations—so roughly 40–60 people likely had a direct hand in shaping the selection. The stated aim was breadth and enduring relevance: classics and modern works across literature, history, philosophy, science and social commentary that “any curious reader on campus could tackle.”

Nebula Award

Nebula Awards (Yearly Award), 61 Books

The Nebula Award for Best Novel is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy novels. A work of fiction is considered a novel by the organization if it is 40,000 words or longer; awards are also given out for pieces of shorter lengths, in the categories of short story, novelette, and novella. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration, a novel must have been published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible, provided they are released on either a website or in an electronic edition.[1] The Award has been given annually since 1966.

Electorate size ≈ 2,500, but only a fraction of those people vote each year. The vote counts are not listed. We can conservatively assume that 1/8 of the electorate size vote, so around 300.

Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century

Le Monde (1999), 100 Books

The 100 Books of the Century (French: Les cent livres du siècle) is a list of the one hundred best books of the 20th century, according to a poll conducted in the spring of 1999 by the French retailer Fnac and the Paris newspaper Le Monde.

Starting from a preliminary list of 200 titles created by bookshops and journalists, 17,000 French voted by responding to the question, "Which books have stayed in your memory?" (« Quels livres sont restés dans votre mémoire ? »).

The list of acclaimed titles mixes great novels with poetry and theatre, as well as the comic strip. The first fifty works on the list were the subject of an essay by Frédéric Beigbeder, The Last Inventory Before Liquidation, in which he notably drew attention to its French-centred character.

The 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years

NY Times (2019), 50 Books

The New York Times’s book critics select the most outstanding memoirs published since 1969.

who voted:
Trade sources differ: a C-SPAN–based 2015 blog post tallied roughly 16 New York Times Book Review staffers, while a 2023 Publishers Weekly profile said the desk now has “more than 20 editors, critics and reporters” To keep our rankings conservative, we therefore credit each NYT list to 10 voters.

Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction

Pulitzer Prize (Yearly Award), 67 Books

The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category.

Rough head-count of people who shape the result each year

5 subject-matter jurors who screen the entries and forward three titles.

19 Board members who cast the decisive votes.
So, a maximum of 24 people take part in the decision path for the Biography / Autobiography prize each cycle.

Names are not secret, just easy to overlook.

Jury names stay under wraps until winners are announced, then they’re displayed on each category’s web page (and occasionally turn up in press coverage or book-specific Wikipedia entries, as in the 2011 example above).

Board membership is public all year and archived from one cycle to the next.

The Triangle’s 100 Best

The Publishing Triangle (1999), 100 Books

In the late 1990s, the Publishing Triangle—a nonprofit association dedicated to promoting LGBTQ+ literature—assembled a list of the 100 greatest lesbian and gay novels. This landmark project aimed to broaden the appreciation of queer literature and spark discussion among all readers, regardless of sexual orientation.

The list, known as The Triangle’s 100 Best, was curated by a distinguished panel of writers and critics, including Dorothy Allison, David Bergman, Christopher Bram, Michael Bronski, Samuel Delany, Lillian Faderman, Anthony Heilbut, M.E. Kerr, Jenifer Levin, John Loughery, Jaime Manrique, Mariana Romo-Carmona, Sarah Schulman, and Barbara Smith.

The result is a snapshot of queer literary taste and influence at the close of the 20th century—a time capsule reflecting both canon and community.

The 100 Novels That Have Most Enthralled "Le Monde" Since 1944

Le Monde (2019), 100 Books

This list highlights the 100 novels that have most captivated the editors and critics at Le Monde since the year 1944.

The list reflects a subjective selection of novels that have captivated the editors and critics at Le Monde over the past 75 years. The list does not aim to be an objective ranking or a comprehensive panorama of literature since 1944, but rather a collection of literary works that have left a significant impression on the contributors to the newspaper.

The selection process involved Le Monde's literary team diving into the newspaper's archives, sifting through decades of articles and reviews. The books were chosen based on moments of enthusiasm and admiration expressed by the critics over the years. This approach underscores the subjective nature of literary criticism and emphasizes the personal connection between the critics and the texts. Rather than striving for an exhaustive or algorithm-driven list, the focus was on highlighting the passionate, sometimes contradictory, and always personal responses that these novels elicited from the critics of Le Monde.

Who picked the books? The list was hand-curated by three in-house critics – Jean Birnbaum (then editor-in-chief of Le Monde des livres), Florent Georgesco and Raphaëlle Leyris – “with the invaluable help of our librarians.”

The Top 100 Book Series of All Time

Audible (2024), 100 Books

The feeling of discovering that your favorite new listen is actually the start of a series is euphoric. That you can immediately hit play and re-enter a beloved new world, or love story, or era from history is a gift to the devoted listener. But how to pick just 100 of these unique and immersive listening journeys? We defined a series as having a minimum of three books, and—after some debate—we decided the titles had to be anchored in fiction. There are plenty of genres to explore—from YA to horror to historical fiction, from fresh voices to seminal tales, hours upon hours of discovery await.

Here are the people who worked on the list: https://web.archive.org/web/20240111065043/https://www.audible.com/blog/editors

It seems like there were 18 people who worked on this and their names are listed on the page above

30 Best Australian books of the 21st century

Readings (2024), 30 Books

Another reaction to that NYT list of best books of the 21st Century, this time from the Australian book retailer Readings.
"As fierce advocates for Australian literature we were disappointed not to see any of our own remarkable writers on the(NYT) list... We reached out to members of the Australian literary community, from writers to publishers and our own passionate booksellers, asking them to nominate their favourite Australian books, published since 2000. The result is this list of the 30 best Australian books of the 21st century." Over 600 votes were cast.

The exact number of voters was not specifically mentioned, but based on their summary, I am going to guess at least 20. If anyone has a more accurate count please let me know.

The 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers since 1945

The Times (2019), 100 Books

The Times team pick their favourite crime and spy novels, from Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon to today’s edgy Scandi and Japanese masters.

Contributors: Francesca Angelini, John Carey, Max Freeman-Mills, Josh Glancy, Andrew Holgate, Alan Hunter, Peter Kemp, Claire Lowdon, David Mills, John Dugdale, Patricia Nicol, Nick Rennison, Karen Robinson, Mika Ross-Southall, Joan Smith, Johanna Thomas-Corr

As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Best Non-Fiction from the NY Times Writers

New York Times (2011), 68 Books

Inspired by The Guardian’s recent list of the 100 greatest nonfiction books, we here at the magazine decided to create our own list. Dispensing with all pretense to rigor — it’s a list, silly! — we simply asked each member of the staff to pick their five favorites.

who voted:
the article mentions they got 33 lists, so let's assume 33 people voted

List of the 100 best Italian books of the last 200 years

IL RIFUGIO DELL'IRCOCERVO (2017), 100 Books

This list is a curated selection of the 100 best Italian books from the past 200 years, created by Il rifugio dell'ircocervo. The purpose of the list is to provide reading recommendations and encourage a deeper exploration of Italian literature beyond the well-known authors, highlighting significant yet lesser-known works. The selection criteria include critical acclaim, the cultural and social impact of the work, literary innovation, average reader opinions, and the author's prestige. The list exclusively features narrative prose, excluding poetry, plays, and essays, and is organized chronologically to reflect the historical context and sequence of the works' publication.

The 20 Best Novels of the Decade (2010s)

Literary Hub (2020), 39 Books

The 20 Best Novels of the Decade (2010-2019) chosen by the Literary Hub staff. This does not include translated books. This actually includes 39 books because they included 19 additional books in "Dissenting Opinions" section. I am assuming those are in ranked order.

Taking off the Reading Gloves

Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1998), 36 Books

This list was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram on Sunday, July 26th, 1998. It's mostly in response to the infamous Modern Library 100 list. The Star-Telegram assembled a group of well-read staffers and community members to write about their favorite books.

I have aggregated them all and added them to a single list.

This list has 9 voters, and each of the voter's names are listed in the article

25 Greatest Science Books of All Time

Discover Magazine (2006), 25 Books

Discover Magazine staff presents the essential reading list for anyone interested in science.

20 Best Chinese Fiction Books of the 20th Century

Time Out Beijing (2015), 20 Books

"Time Out Beijing's best Chinese fiction books of all time, as voted for by 24 Chinese literature experts, novelists, literary agents, publishers, editors, critics and journalists for their top book picks from the last 100 years, based on the following criteria:

- Available in English
- Published after 1900
- Written by a Mainland or Greater China-born author.

Read the full lists of what each expert voted for and why each book means so much to them in our judges' section".

Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century

themodernnovel.com (1999), 100 Books

Intended as a companion to the infamous Modern Library ranking of the top 100 books of the past century, this list represents a different viewpoint--that of the booksellers themselves. Compiled from the responses of over 150 Koen Book Distributors customers, the following titles represent the very best in modern literature.

Readers Pick Their 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

NY Times (2024), 100 Books

Here's the description directly from the website:

When the Book Review published a list of the 100 best books of the century, we knew we’d hear from readers who were incensed or gutted or driven wild by grief. How could So-and-So’s book not make the cut?

One of the best things about working in books is just this: the passion of our constituency. No way would we deprive readers of the chance to vote for their own list and make their voices heard.

And so you have. There’s some overlap between your list and ours — we agreed on 39 books. As for the 61 new entries here, what stands out most is that they’re the books that captured cultural moments and sparked lively literary conversations. They’re also great. Enjoy!

101 Significant Books

Good Reading: A Guide for Serious Readers (1989), 105 Books

Good Reading first appeared as a pamphlet in 1932 and ended its run in 1989 with a 23rd edition behemoth of some 465 pages with thousands of books selected by educators and experts in their fields. Its purpose was always "to lead an increasing number of people to savor the great or significant books, both those that strive to light the dark places in our understanding of our complex world and our equally complex selves, and those that aim simply to delight."
A constant through all these different editions was a list of around 100 or so "significant books that many
people have found rewarding to know", revised several times. This list is from the last 23rd edition of Good Reading: A Guide for Serious Readers.
Note: List consists of 105 books

Who Voted?
Committee on College Reading of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Contemporary reviews describe it as “a co-operative effort of 35 members of the Committee on College Reading.”

Have You Read 100 Great Books?

The Jasper Lee Company (1950), 102 Books

The book Have You Read 100 Great Books? by The Jasper Lee Company, particularly the revised and expanded 1950 edition, is a curated collection of numerous book lists compiled by various authorities on literature. The primary purpose of the book was to provide readers with a guide to some of the greatest books, particularly those that are enjoyable and stimulating for the general public.

The process of creating the final list involved several steps:

Collection of Lists: The Jasper Lee Company gathered numerous lists of great books from eminent authorities, including public libraries, scholars, and notable literary figures. These lists were varied, coming from different sources, including libraries, academic institutions, and individual authors.

Master List: From these collected lists, the company created a "master" list of 1,500 works, eliminating any duplications.

Final List of 100: From this master list of 1,500 books, they selected a final list of 100 great books that they deemed most enjoyable and accessible for the average reader. This final selection represents a consensus of mid-20th-century opinion on what constituted great literature.

The book also includes detailed information about the sources of these lists, highlighting how different libraries and authorities contributed to the selection process. The final list of 100 books, though derived from the broader collection of 1,000 to 1,500 works, represents the editorial judgment of those involved in the publication of the book. The selection process was not strictly objective but was influenced by the preferences and opinions of the editors and contributors at the time. The book is noted for its broad approach to curating literature, reflecting the tastes and literary standards of the mid-20th century.

Who voted:
Since this aggregates 26 different lists, I am going to assume at least 26 people helped make this list

Fifty French Writers Choose Their Favorite 10 Books - Honourable Mention

On en garde 10 ! Pour la littérature (2022), 385 Books

This is the honourable mention followup list for https://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/1051

This is all the lists from the 50 french writers and critics that were only mentioned one time. please see that list for more details

The 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism

GQ (2021), 50 Books

In creating their list of the 50 best literary journalism books of the 21st century, GQ sought the opinions of an elite group of American journalists, including Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and National Magazine Award winners, as well as GQ contributors. These books, which range from explorations of significant events to deep dives into intriguing subjects, represent a form of journalism that combines meticulous reporting with the narrative depth of novels. The journalists who voted for these books considered them not only enjoyable but also significant in their ability to clarify and interpret contemporary and recent historical events, influencing other forms of art such as film and TV. The list, meant to update the canon of literary journalism, strictly features one book per author and excludes essay collections, focusing instead on works that fully articulate a single story or theme.

who voted?
the article says "we canvassed dozens and dozens of American journalists who do this kind of reporting and writing at the highest level. Among those we asked were winners of Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and National Magazine Awards, as well as a number of GQ contributors."

dozens of dozens is a lot. I am not sure I believe that. I am going to go with 36 unless someone knows of more specific details

What Our Children Should Read

The Birmingham Post (1993), 10 Books

The National Curriculum Council devised a list of books that should be read by young people. When they list an author instead of a specific book, that author's most iconic work is chosen to represent them.

The NCC consists of 58 members, including the Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, provincial education ministers, and representatives from universities, madrasas, and other stakeholders.

50 (+1) essential texts from Dutch literature

literairecanon.be (2020), 52 Books

The literary canon presented here is an initiative by the Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature (KANTL), supported by Literatuur Vlaanderen. A canon committee, chaired by Erik Vlaminck and comprising various literary experts, was formed to develop this dynamic list. This canon aims to explore, showcase, and explain the roots and literary heritage of Dutch-language literature, particularly focusing on the essential works recognized in Flanders.

The canon is not intended to be a rigid list of mandatory readings but rather a flexible guide that reflects contemporary tastes and historical significance. It serves as a resource and inspiration for educators, reading groups, librarians, publishers, cultural ministers, media creators, and other readers, playing a part in promoting reading culture.

Contributors to the canon include a wide array of literary scholars and professionals who have written new texts or adapted previous versions for this updated list. The project encompasses more than just the list itself, involving editorial work, programming, and various promotional activities.

In summary, the canon is a curated, evolving selection of significant Dutch-language literary works from Flanders, designed to educate, inspire, and foster a love of reading while reflecting on the literary past and its relevance today.

Who voted?
The 2020 revision of the Literaire Canon was drawn up by a ten-person committee convened by the Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature (KANTL) and chaired by novelist Erik Vlaminck.
Committee roster: Hugo Brems, Luc Devoldere, Leen Huet, Samuel Mareel, Willy Vandeweghe, Leen van Dijck, Bert Van Raemdonck, Annelies Verbeke and Frank Willaert (plus Vlaminck as chair).

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Pulitzer Prize (Yearly Award), 99 Books

All the books that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction from 1918 to the present.

Rough head-count of people who shape the result each year

5 subject-matter jurors who screen the entries and forward three titles.

19 Board members who cast the decisive votes.
So, a maximum of 24 people take part in the decision path for the Biography / Autobiography prize each cycle.

Names are not secret, just easy to overlook.

Jury names stay under wraps until winners are announced, then they’re displayed on each category’s web page (and occasionally turn up in press coverage or book-specific Wikipedia entries, as in the 2011 example above).

Board membership is public all year and archived from one cycle to the next.

The Hundred Most Influential Books Since The War (WW2)

Central and East European Publishing Project (1995), 100 Books

In 1986, a diverse group of writers and scholars came together to try to assist independent East European writers and publishers both at home and in exile. The Chairman was Lord Dahrendorf, Warden of St.Antony's College, Oxford. Other members were the French historian Francois Furet; Raymond Georis, Director of the European Cultural Foundation, Amsterdam; Laurens van Krevelen of the Dutch publishing house Meulenhoff; the Swedish writer Per Wastberg, at the time President of International PEN; the European correspondent of the New Yorker, Jane Kramer; and the historian and commentator Timothy Garton Ash. It was
envisaged that support would take two forms: first, to ensure publication in the original languages, and second, to encourage more translations.

One of the basic tenets of this initiative, which came to be known as the Central and East European Publishing Project (CEEPP), was that the geopolitical division of Europe - the Iron Curtain was then still very much a reality - had interrupted the normal and healthy flow not just of people but also of books and ideas. Its aim, in the words of Ralf Dahrendorf, was to foster a "common market of the mind" throughout the whole of Europe. After 1989, CEEPP was able to expand its activities and organize workshops and in-house training for those involved in publishing, but its main concern remained to facilitate the publication of worthwhile books and journals.

At Trustees' meetings, titles submitted by publishers for consideration were scrutinized for their quality and relevance. Not surprisingly, there were, among the Orwells, Poppers, and Hannah Arendts, some very odd works, and also some strange omissions. Inspired and provoked by the perusal of these lists over the years, the Trustees decided that in their final year of activity (the Project disbanded at the end of 1994) they would respond to the challenge of producing, as a jeu d'esprit, a consciously arbitrary list of the 100 books which have been most influential in the West since 1945.

An initial list was put together by a small panel consisting of Robert Cassen, Dahrendorf, Garton Ash, Michael Ignatieff, Leszek Kolakowski, and Bryan Magee. It was then revised, following an extensive discussion at the last meeting of CEEPP Trustees. Works of fiction were included only when they had a wider impact.

Who voted?
The first shortlist of titles was drawn up in 1994 by a six-person working group (Robert Cassen, Ralf Dahrendorf, Timothy Garton Ash, Michael Ignatieff, Leszek Kołakowski, Bryan Magee). Their draft was then debated and amended by the full board of the Central and East European Publishing Project. That board now numbered 11 trustees, so the final “Hundred Most Influential Books Since the War” reflects the collective judgment of roughly a dozen leading European historians, philosophers, writers and publishers.

40 Most Important Books, 1927-2001

World Literature Today (2001), 40 Books

Published in 2001 for World Literature Today’s 75th anniversary, the list was built by a panel of about three dozen experts—35 writers and professors from 22 countries were reported as submitting ballots—whom the editors had originally assembled as “40 scholars” for the project. The judges were asked to single out works they felt had proved most “important” to engaged general readers rather than merely to academics, and they could choose only titles issued during the magazine’s own lifespan (1 January 1927 – 31 December 2001). The resulting, unranked Top 40 covers four genres (fiction, poetry, drama, essays), draws on 29 different national literatures, and includes 23 books first written in languages other than English, underlining the list’s deliberately concise yet genuinely international scope.

Finding Comfort in the Classics

NY Times (2020), 21 Books

Editors and writers on the Books desk — along with colleagues from the newsroom — recommend some time-tested books that offer escape from the present moment. This list came out during COVID

who voted:
Trade sources differ: a C-SPAN–based 2015 blog post tallied roughly 16 New York Times Book Review staffers, while a 2023 Publishers Weekly profile said the desk now has “more than 20 editors, critics and reporters” To keep our rankings conservative, we therefore credit each NYT list to 10 voters.

The Modern Library | 100 Best Nonfiction

The Modern Library (1999), 100 Books

who voted:
The same ten-member Modern Library Editorial Board that produced the companion “100 Best Novels” list also voted on the non-fiction list in 1999. The board was:
• Daniel J. Boorstin (historian)
• A. S. Byatt (novelist/critic)
• Christopher Cerf (publisher/author, board chair)
• Shelby Foote (historian/novelist)
• Vartan Gregorian (scholar/philanthropist)
• Edmund Morris (biographer)
• John Richardson (art historian)
• Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (historian)
• William Styron (novelist)
• Gore Vidal (novelist/essayist)

how they voted:
Modern Library sent each board member a ballot of 440 pre-selected titles from its catalogue. Members marked every book they thought belonged on the list (an approval-voting method). Titles with the most checks were ranked highest; ties were broken internally by Random House staff.

The Great Books Reader

Book (2011), 29 Books

"In this volume you will be guided by esteemed professors and writers who have selected excerpts from the most important books in Western Civilization. A brief essay illuminates each excerpt and puts the work in context. Take your education to the next level by letting some of the best thinkers of today walk you through the most influential books in history."

The 40 Best Novels of the 2010s

Paste Magazine (2020), 40 Books

Novels have inherent power. From building new worlds to reanimating history, they have the ability to enthrall and challenge us. But their most powerful trait is that they offer an escape while still encouraging readers to think critically, weaving entertainment and reflection into one experience.
As the decade comes to a close, we want to celebrate the novels that impacted us during the last 10 years. This list includes 40 novels published in English between 2010 and September 2019, and we’ve limited it to one book per author. The Paste staff tends to read fantasy and literary fiction, so you’ll notice the majority of the titles below fit those labels. And this list is obviously subjective; it’s by no means representative of the only “good” novels published during the last 10 years. This is simply a collection of the books we wept over, laughed with and were inspired by during a tumultuous decade.

We loved these books, and we believe you will, too.

The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

Time (2020), 98 Books

With a panel of leading fantasy authors—N.K. Jemisin, Neil Gaiman, Sabaa Tahir, Tomi Adeyemi, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Cassandra Clare and Marlon James—TIME presents the most engaging, inventive and influential works of fantasy fiction, in chronological order beginning in the 9th century.
*note* I combined some of the books here. All the Lord of the Rings books are combined.

All-Time Classics, According to Academics

The Commercial Appeal (1985), 103 Books

This list contains several different pages/links:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/141617077/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/141617064/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/141617235/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/141617445/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/141617490/

These selections were submitted by literature professors from a variety of different universities. Seven professors/experts contributed in total. Here are their names:
Evans Harrington, chairman of the Liberal Arts college at the University of Mississippi
Keneth Kinnamon, an English professor at the University of Arkansas
Ethel Pumphrey Stephens, chairman of the English department at the University of Arkansas
William Bennett, the United States Secretary of Education
Richard Wood, an English professor at Rhodes College
Robert Allen, an indepedant literature scholar
Joseph K. Davis, chairman of the English department at Memphis State University

Twenty Books that Changed the World

The Guardian (2015), 20 Books

The “Twenty Books that Changed the World” shortlist was assembled in October 2015 for the first Academic Book Week: a panel of specialist academic booksellers, librarians and publishers whittled 200 titles submitted by UK publishers down to a top-20 line-up, then opened an online ballot to the public to decide which work had had the greatest scholarly impact. During the fortnight-long vote, just over 900 people cast ballots, with Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species taking 26 % of the “900-plus” votes and topping the poll.

100 Books of Classical and Modern Foreign Literature

The Union of Russian Writers (2013), 100 Books

"100 books of classical and modern foreign literature" according to the Union of Writers of Russia, published on January 23, 2013.

The creators of the list are confident that Russian literature is a universal cultural heritage, but its significance can only be understood in unity with world literature, and that this list, presented to the public within the framework of the presidential project, will help strengthen spirituality and morality among Russian youth, and will also help revive traditions family reading and will become a notable event in the cultural life of modern Russia.

The Union of Russian Writers is a non-governmental organization uniting Russian and writers (novelists, poets, essayists, etc.). It was established in 1991, when on the basis of the Union of Soviet Writers three independent associations were formed: the Writers' Union of Russia (the "patriotic" orientation), the Writers' Union of Moscow, and the Union of Russian Writers ("democratic" union). The Union of Russian Writers includes more than 3,500 writers from Russia and former USSR, in 58 regional organizations.

Who voted and how many people voted?
At that moment the Union’s affairs were run by its elected Правление (Board/Presidium), ca. 40-45 writers (roster published after the XIV Congress in Oct 2013). In the Union’s statute this Board takes such decisions by simple majority. There is no indication that a wider membership vote (≈ 3500 writers) or an external public poll was held. I am going to go with 40 writers helped make the list

Top Authors Pick Their Favorite Books

The Index-Journal (2022), 4 Books

Four prominent authors give their favorite books of all time. The authors are George R. R. Martin, Patti Callahan Henry, Scott Spencer, and Sherman Alexie.

Zeit Library of 100 Non-Fiction Books

Zeit-Bibliothek (1984), 100 Books

The success of the Zeit Library of 100 Books led to the project being expanded five years later to include a collection of 100 non-fiction books, the Zeit-Bibliothek der 100 Sachbücher, with Raddatz again being in charge. The jury for this consisted of noted academics: Ralf Dahrendorf, Manfred Eigen, Theodor Eschenburg, Wolf Lepenies, Golo Mann, Alexander Mitscherlich, Fritz J. Raddatz, Thomas von Randow and Uta Ranke-Heinemann.