The Complete 500: OCLC

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

About this list

OCLC, 495 Books

This list is from OCLC and is a bit different than most lists on this site. OCLC is a global library organization that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large. This list is based on how many libraries have a copy of a book on their shelves. Here's their own description:

What makes a novel “great”? At OCLC, we believe literary greatness can be measured by how many libraries have a copy on their shelves.
Yes, libraries offer access to trendy and popular books. But, they don’t keep them on the shelf if they’re not repeatedly requested by their communities over the years. We’ve identified 500 timeless, top novels—those found in thousands of libraries around the world—using WorldCat, the world’s largest database of library materials'.

This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site about 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
187 The Power and the Glory Graham Greene 1940 British English
153 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess 1962 British English
811 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
1453 The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury 1950 American English
290 The Road Cormac McCarthy 2006 American English
450 Way of All Flesh Samuel Butler 1903 British English
649 Villette Charlotte Brontë 1853 British English
1812 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon 2003 British English
6379 The Mysterious Island Jules Verne 1874 French French
260 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison 1977 American English
1140 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
385 Quo Vadis Henryk Sienkiewicz 1895 Polish Polish
564 Main Street Sinclair Lewis 1920 American English
1346 Matilda Roald Dahl 1988 British English
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
14984 Paper Towns John Green 2008 American English
16609 Sounder William H. Armstrong 1969 American English
573 Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret Judy Blume 1970 American English
2010 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks 1996 American English
1941 From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler EL Konigsburg 1967 American English
461 Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 1957 American English
434 The Fountainhead Ayn Rand 1943 American English
14984 Number The Stars Lois Lowry 1989 American English
2483 The Firm John Grisham 1991 American English
2605 Ender's Game Orson Scott Card 1985 American English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
3911 Water For Elephants Sara Gruen 2006 American English
294 The Time Machine H. G. Wells 1895 British English
2988 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
90 Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann 1901 German German
2058 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini 2007 Afghan English
16661 The Witch Of Blackbird Pond Elizabeth George Speare 1958 American English
191 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
1391 A Separate Peace John Knowles 1959 American English
14984 Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer 2008 American English
79 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
8161 The Girl Who Played With Fire Stieg Larsson 2006 Swedish Swedish
4306 Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls 1961 American English
548 Le Morte d'Arthur Thomas Malory 1485 British Middle english
14984 Mockingjay Suzanne Collins 2010 American English
588 The Pillars Of The Earth Ken Follett 1989 British English
14952 Persian Letters Montesquieu 1721 French French
9299 The Client John Grisham 1993 American English
560 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
14175 Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing Judy Blume 1972 American English
6158 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Howard Pyle 1883 American English
14931 Tortilla Flat John Steinbeck 1935 American English
253 Look Homeward, Angel Thomas Wolfe 1929 American English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
141 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh 1945 British English
17120 The Pelican Brief John Grisham 1992 American English
248 Atonement Ian McEwan 2001 British English
189 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
1367 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
2486 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
8301 The Secret Life Of Bees Sue Monk Kidd 2001 American English
3486 The Fault in Our Stars John Green 2012 American English
283 Nostromo Joseph Conrad 1904 British English
257 Finnegans Wake James Joyce 1939 Irish English
17120 The Brethren John Grisham 2000 American English
4655 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
31 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 1899 British English
14960 On The Banks Of Plum Creek Laura Ingalls Wilder 1937 American English
14870 Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 1903 American English
235 The Ambassadors Henry James 1903 American English
470 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad 1907 British English
1634 The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros 1984 American English
353 Go Tell it on the Mountain James Baldwin 1953 American English
17120 The Testament John Grisham 1999 American English
2158 The Clan of the Cave Bear Jean M. Auel 1980 American English
813 Cranford Elizabeth Gaskell 1851 British English
14232 Because Of Winn Dixie Kate DiCamillo 2000 American English
14158 My Side Of The Mountain Jean Craighead George 1959 American English
17120 The Runaway Jury John Grisham 1996 American English
10375 The Mouse And The Motorcycle Beverly Cleary 1965 American English
6306 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown 2009 American English
246 The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy 1906 British English
791 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012 American English
2881 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2137 The Last Days Of Pompeii Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1834 British English
975 The Reader Bernhard Schlink 1995 German German
16760 Caddie Woodlawn Carol Ryrie Brink 1935 American English
13941 The Tale Of Despereaux Kate DiCamillo 2003 American English
8503 The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest Stieg Larsson 2007 Swedish Swedish
17120 Dear Mr. Henshaw Beverly Cleary 1983 American English
713 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara 1974 American English
2105 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
10637 The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Albom 2003 American English
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
311 Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson 1919 American English
17120 P Is For Peril Sue Grafton 2001 American English
9936 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult 2004 American English
14195 Barnaby Rudge Charles Dickens 1841 British English
197 Howards End E. M. Forster 1910 British English
17120 The Broker John Grisham 2005 American English
17120 The Camel Club David Baldacci 2005 American English
487 Rainbow D.H. Lawrence 1915 British English
7041 The Man In The Iron Mask Alexandre Dumas 1847 French French
1736 Mary Poppins P. L. Travers 1934 British English
6890 Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer 2001 Irish English
17120 Dear John Nicholas Sparks 2006 American English
1877 Cold Mountain Charles Frazier 1997 American English
711 Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes 1959 American English
1005 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
2233 Resurrection Leo Tolstoy 1899 Russian Russian
17120 Fearless Fourteen Janet Evanovich 2008 American English
846 A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy Laurence Sterne 1768 British English
7048 The King Of Torts John Grisham 2003 American English
4459 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 British English
637 The Quiet American Graham Greene 1955 British English
17120 The Chamber John Grisham 1994 American English
644 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
2074 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson 1994 American English
14943 The Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder 1940 American English
4786 Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985 American English
17120 Cross Country James Patterson 2008 American English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
1289 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English