The Greatest Books of All Time on Daily Life

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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
782 Three Men in a Boat Jerome K. Jerome 1889 British English
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
1463 Camera Obscura Nicolaas Beets 1839 Dutch Dutch
1909 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
2881 The Diary of Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys 1825 British English
3052 Our Town Thornton Wilder 1938 American English
3067 Montaillou Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie 1975 French French
3074 Lunch Poems Frank O'Hara 1964 American English
3244 The Thurber Carnival James Thurber 1945 American English
3324 Journey to the Alcarria Camilo José Cela 1948 Spanish Spanish
4272 The Blue Book Mikhail Zoshchenko 1923 Russian Russian
5289 Cutting It Short Bohumil Hrabal 1976 Czech Czech
5862 My Life and Hard Times James Thurber 1933 American English
5862 The Grasmere Journal Dorothy Wordsworth 1897 British English
7215 Roman Sonnets Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli 1830 Italian Italian
7819 Transparence Of The World Jean Follain 1949 French French
8031 From A Chinese City Gontran de Poncins 1957 French English
8031 Sea And Sardinia D. H. Lawrence 1921 British English
8279 Three Plays Thornton Wilder 1957 American English
8502 Collected Poems Jane Kenyon 2005 American English
8710 A Alma Encantadora Das Ruas João Do Rio 1908 Brazilian Portuguese
9542 Guests Of The Sheik Elizabeth Warnock Fernea 1965 American English
9682 The Englishwoman's Diary Harriet Blodgett 1994 American English
9857 A Week Like Any Other Natalya Baranskaya 1969 Russian Russian
10592 Varieties of Disturbance Lydia Davis 2007 American English
10903 The Drone Eats With Me Atef Abu Saif 2015 Palestinian English
11363 Notes Boulet French Unknown
11390 Collected Poems James Schuyler 1988 American English
11811 The Riverhouse Stories Andrea Carlisle 1987 American English
11850 Havana Real Yoani Sánchez 2011 Cuban Spanish
12046 Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces Georges Perec 1974 French French
12148 The Secret Family David Bodanis 1997 Unknown English
12258 Beirut Fragments Jean Said Makdisi 1990 Lebanese English
12514 How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed Slavenka Drakulic 1991 Croatian English
12514 A Mom's Life Kathryn Grody 1991 American English
14598 How We Live Rust Hills 1973 American English
14629 Dad Is Fat Jim Gaffigan 2013 American English
14872 Father And Son E. O. Plauen 1934 German German
14984 A Strange And Sublime Address Amit Chaudhuri 1991 Indian English
15786 Writings And Drawings James Thurber 1973 American English
15902 Life Among The Savages Shirley Jackson 1953 American English
15902 Kilverts Diary, 1870 1879 Francis Kilvert 1938 British English
15902 Small Talk At Wreyland Cecil Torr 1918 British English
15902 Daily Life In Ancient Rome Jérôme Carcopino 1936 French French
17060 Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians George Catlin 1841 American English
17131 A Bride's Story Kaoru Mori 2009 Japanese Japanese
17131 A Window In Thrums J. M. Barrie 1889 Scottish English
17131 Be Here To Love Me At The End Of The World Sasha Fletcher 2021 American English
17131 The Heron Ibrahim Aslan 1983 Egyptian Arabic
17131 44 Scotland Street Collection Alexander McCall Smith 2005 British English
17131 The Letters Of Rachel Henning Rachel Henning 1952 Australian English
17131 The Kitchen Diaries, Volume I + Ii Nigel Slater 2005 British English