The Greatest Books of All Time on Competition

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
180 On the Origin of Species Charles Darwin 1859 British English
304 The Double Helix James D. Watson 1968 American English
333 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 1996 American English
1842 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
1893 The Soul of a New Machine Tracy Kidder 1981 American English
3189 The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern 2011 American English
3403 Wobble To Death Peter Lovesey 1970 British English
3609 The Knights Aristophanes -424 Greek Ancient greek
3618 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe 1979 American English
4076 Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand 2001 American English
4149 The Tale Of Cross Eyed Lefty From Tula And The Steel Flea Nikolai Leskov 1881 Russian Russian
4168 The History of the Standard Oil Company Ida Tarbell 1904 American English
4196 The Master Of Go Yasunari Kawabata 1951 Japanese Japanese
4226 The Frogs Aristophanes -405 Greek Ancient greek
4290 Finite And Infinite Games James P. Carse 1986 American English
4309 Brewster's Millions Richard Greaves 1902 British English
4930 Running Jean Echenoz 2008 French French
5223 Riders Jilly Cooper 1985 British English
5381 Longitude Dava Sobel 1995 American English
5615 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin 1978 American English
6443 The Long Way Bernard Moitessier 1971 French French
6528 The Hating Game Sally Thorne 2016 Australian English
6816 Open Andre Agassi 2009 American English
7716 The Southpaw Mark Harris 1953 American English
7731 Ready Player One Ernest Cline 2011 American English
8003 Play Their Hearts Out George Dohrmann 2010 American English
8075 The Mighty Walzer Howard Jacobson 1999 British English
8075 Nurture Shock Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman 2008 American English
8142 Night Circus And Other Stories Ursula Kovalyk 2014 Slovak Unknown
8366 They Used To Play On Grass Terry Venables, Gordon Williams 1972 British English
8424 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
9034 Jouer Juste François Bégaudeau 2008 French French
9052 The Crossover Kwame Alexander 2014 American English
10305 Man, Play And Games Roger Caillois 1958 French French
11660 Fly Girls Keith O'Brien 2018 American English
12324 Titan Ron Chernow 1998 American English
12814 Flanagan's Run Tom McNab 1982 British English
13246 You Should See Me In A Crown Leah Johnson 2020 American English
13885 Googled Ken Auletta 2009 American English
14051 The Power To Compete Hiroshi Mikitani, Ryoichi Mikitani 2014 Japanese English
14090 String Theory David Foster Wallace 2016 American English
14212 Frank Stewart's Bridge Club Frank Stewart 2001 American English
14232 Glengarry Glen Ross David Mamet 1984 American English
14232 The Boys In The Boat Daniel James Brown 2013 American English
14383 The Chess Master Ah Cheng 1984 Chinese Chinese
14389 The World Is Flat Thomas L. Friedman 2005 American English
14457 A Champion's Mind Pete Sampras 2008 American English
14897 The Professional W. C. Heinz 1958 American English
14984 The Player Of Games Iain Banks 1988 Scottish English
14968 End Zone Don DeLillo 1972 American English
15610 Play Nice But Win Michael Dell 2021 American English
15898 Pigs Have Wings P. G. Wodehouse 1952 British English
17120 Prophets of Regulation Thomas K. McCraw 1984 American English
16828 From The Earth To The Moon Jules Verne 1865 French French
17120 The Wolves Sarah DeLappe 2016 American English
17120 Inside The Bar George Whyte-Melville 1872 British English
17120 Slow Getting Up Nate Jackson 2013 American English
17120 Swimming Studies Leanne Shapton 2012 Canadian English
16947 Misty Of Chincoteague Marguerite Henry 1947 American English
17120 The Master Switch Tim Wu 2010 American English
17120 Crooked Little Heart Anne Lamott 1997 American English
17120 Carrie Soto Is Back Taylor Jenkins Reid 2022 American English
17120 Ready Player Two Ernest Cline 2020 American English
17120 Zero To One Peter Thiel 2014 American English
16875 Theory Of Business Enterprise Thorstein Veblen 1904 American English
17120 The Republic Of Thieves Scott Lynch 2013 American English
17120 A Season On The Brink John Feinstein 1986 American English
17120 Loose Balls Terry Pluto 1990 American English
17120 The Breaks Of The Game David Halberstam 1981 American English
17120 The Long Season Jim Brosnan 1960 American English
17120 The Golf Omnibus P. G. Wodehouse 1966 British English
17120 Big Red Of Meadow Stable William Nack 1988 American English
16804 Down The Fairway Bobby Jones, O.B. Keeler 1927 American English
17120 Sports World Robert Lipsyte 1975 American English
17120 Little Girls In Pretty Boxes Joan Ryan 1995 American English
17120 Check & Mate Ali Hazelwood 2023 Unknown English
17120 The Selection Kiera Cass 2012 American English
17120 Sirens & Muses Antonia Angress 2022 Unknown English
17120 One False Note Gordon Korman 2024 Canadian English
17120 Judgement Of Paris George Taber 2005 American English
17120 All Played Out Pete Davies 1995 British English
17120 The Unconquerable Game Callaway, Ely Unknown Unknown
17120 The Horsemasters Joan Wolf 1993 American English
17120 The Combat Codes Charles Darwin Unknown Unknown
17120 For Blood And Money Nathan Vardi 2023 Unknown English
17120 Digital Empires Anu Bradford 2023 Unknown English
17120 Oscar Wars Michael Schulman 2023 Unknown English
17120 Fair Play Katie Barnes Unknown English
17120 The Maze Of Bones Rick Riordan 2008 American English
17120 The Motion Of The Body Through Space Lionel Shriver 2020 American English
17120 Competitive Strategy Michael E. Porter 1980 American English
17120 Uncrowned Will Wight 2019 American English
17120 The Long Walk Stephen King 1979 American English
17120 A Voyage For Madmen Peter Nichols 2001 British English
17120 Rough Magic Lara Prior-Palmer 2019 British English
17120 The Last Go Round Ken Ksey American English