Readers’ Top 100 Novels Of All Time

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Guardian, 100 Books

After critics and authors picked their top 100 novels we asked for your favourites. From Uruguay to the Isle of Skye, more than 3,000 readers cast their votes.

This list was originally published in 2026 and was added to this site 9 days ago.

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Cover of 'The Lord Of The Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lord Of The Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

Cover of 'Middlemarch' by George Eliot

Middlemarch

Cover of 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

Cover of 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath

Cover of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

Cover of 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

Cover of 'Nineteen Eighty Four' by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty Four

Cover of 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller

Catch-22

Cover of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Gabriel García Márquez

Cover of 'Ulysses' by James Joyce

Ulysses

Cover of 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

Cover of 'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

Cover of 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall

Cover of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights

Cover of 'In Search of Lost Time' by Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

Cover of 'East of Eden' by John Steinbeck

East of Eden

Cover of 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen

Persuasion

Cover of 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cover of 'Gravity's Rainbow' by Thomas Pynchon

Gravity's Rainbow

Cover of 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison

Beloved

Cover of 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five

Cover of 'The Brothers Karamazov' by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Cover of 'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

Cover of 'Les Misérables' by Victor Hugo

Les Misérables

Cover of 'Crime and Punishment' by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Cover of 'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens

Bleak House

Charles Dickens

Cover of 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Cover of 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy

Cover of 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Cover of 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

Cover of 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace

Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace

Cover of 'The Master and Margarita' by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov

Cover of 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

Cover of 'The Remains of the Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Remains of the Day

Cover of 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole

A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole

Cover of 'The Count of Monte Cristo' by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas

Cover of 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Cover of 'The Catcher in the Rye' by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye

Cover of 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein

Cover of 'Stoner' by John Williams

Stoner

Cover of 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry

A Fine Balance

Rohinton Mistry

Cover of 'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth

A Suitable Boy

Cover of 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

Cover of 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Cover of 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt

The Secret History

Cover of 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Cover of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Cover of 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams

Watership Down

Cover of 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Cover of 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan

Atonement

Cover of 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens

Cover of 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong

Sebastian Faulks

Cover of 'Emma' by Jane Austen

Emma

Cover of 'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry

Lonesome Dove

Cover of 'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things

Cover of 'The Magic Mountain' by Thomas Mann

The Magic Mountain

Cover of '2666' by Roberto Bolaño

2666

Roberto Bolaño

Cover of 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas

Cover of 'Never Let Me Go' by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go

Cover of 'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow

Cover of 'Possession' by A. S. Byatt

Possession

Cover of 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children

Cover of 'Demon Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver

Cover of 'Germinal' by Émile Zola

Germinal

Cover of 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert

Cover of 'My Brilliant Friend' by Elena Ferrante

My Brilliant Friend

Cover of 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

Cover of 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus

The Stranger

Cover of 'The Tin Drum' by Günter Grass

The Tin Drum

Cover of 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi

Cover of 'The Dispossessed' by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed

Ursula K. Le Guin

Cover of 'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse

Cover of 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac

On the Road

Cover of 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' by Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Cover of 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World

Cover of 'Brideshead Revisited' by Evelyn Waugh

Brideshead Revisited

Cover of 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

Cover of 'The Sun Also Rises' by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway

Cover of 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' by John le Carré

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Cover of 'Absalom, Absalom!' by William Faulkner

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner

Cover of 'Dune' by Frank Herbert

Dune

Cover of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernest Hemingway

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Ernest Hemingway

Cover of 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Cover of 'Memoirs of Hadrian' by Marguerite Yourcenar

Memoirs of Hadrian

Marguerite Yourcenar

Cover of 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

Cover of 'The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy' by Laurence Sterne

The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy

Laurence Sterne

Cover of 'The Name of the Rose' by Umberto Eco

The Name of the Rose

Cover of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Cover of 'The Plague' by Albert Camus

The Plague

Cover of 'The Red and the Black' by Stendhal

The Red and the Black

Cover of 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

Cover of 'The Stand' by Stephen King

The Stand

Cover of 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life

Hanya Yanagihara

Cover of 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See

Cover of 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell

Animal Farm

Cover of 'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel García Márquez

Love in the Time of Cholera

Gabriel García Márquez

Cover of 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway

Cover of 'Of Human Bondage' by W. Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage

W. Somerset Maugham

Cover of 'The Magus' by John Fowles

The Magus

Cover of 'A Dance to the Music of Time' by Anthony Powell

A Dance to the Music of Time