The Greatest Farm Life and Fiction Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 '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
28 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 1939 American English
97 Charlotte's Web E. B. White 1952 American English
205 My Antonia Willa Cather 1918 American English
246 Anne of Green Gables L. M. Montgomery 1908 Canadian English
247 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
266 Independent People Halldor Laxness 1934 Icelandic Icelandic
360 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck 1931 American English
547 Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1877 British English
594 Adam Bede George Eliot 1859 British English
607 Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy 1874 British English
664 Silas Marner George Eliot 1861 British English
687 Growth of the Soil Knut Hamsun 1917 Norwegian Norwegian
723 Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1935 American English
825 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1938 American English
952 A Kestrel for a Knave Barry Hines 1968 British English
1011 A Thousand Acres Jane Smiley 1991 American English
1107 Nectar in a Sieve Kamala Markandaya 1954 Indian English
1225 Barefoot Zaharia Stancu 1948 Romanian Romanian
1258 Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey 1964 American English
1367 The Emigrants Vilhelm Moberg 1949 Swedish Swedish
1400 The Country of the Pointed Firs Sarah Orne Jewett 1896 American English
1429 Pallieter Felix Timmermans 1916 Belgian Dutch
1485 The Emperor of Portugallia Selma Lagerlöf 1914 Swedish Swedish
1568 Lad Albert Payson Terhune 1919 American English
1672 The Devil's Pool George Sand 1846 French French
1698 Broad and Alien is the World Ciro Alegría 1941 Peruvian Spanish
1698 House in the Uplands Erskine Caldwell 1946 American English
1813 The Hamlet William Faulkner 1940 American English
1843 O Pioneers! Willa Cather 1913 American English
1946 My Friend Flicka Mary O'Hara 1941 American English
2433 Little House In The Big Woods Laura Ingalls Wilder 1932 American English
2526 Close Range Annie Proulx 1999 American English
2764 In the Heart of the Country J. M. Coetzee 1977 South African English
2826 On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin 1982 British English
2925 Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson 2003 Norwegian Norwegian
2999 Giants in the Earth Ole Edvart Rolvaag 1927 Norwegian Norwegian
3176 Horseman, Pass By Larry McMurtry 1961 American English
3232 The Blithedale Romance Nathaniel Hawthorne 1852 American English
3239 Women And Appletrees Moa Martinson 1933 Swedish Swedish
3253 Now in November Josephine Winslow Johnson 1934 American English
3368 Crow Lake Mary Lawson 2002 Canadian English
3493 Call Home The Heart Olive Tilford Dargan 1932 American English
3493 A New Home, Who'll Follow? Caroline M. Kirkland 1839 American English
3493 Pembroke Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 1894 American English
3493 Weeds Edith Summers Kelley 1923 Canadian English
3493 Winter Wheat Mildred Walker 1944 American English
3843 Lark Rise To Candleford Flora Thompson 1945 British English
3870 Sunset Song Lewis Grassic Gibbon 1932 Scottish English
3999 The Dollmaker Harriette Arnow 1954 American English
4117 Harvest Home Thomas Tryon 1973 American English
4174 The Morometes Marin Preda 1955 Romanian Romanian
4268 Storm In The Village Miss Read 1958 British English
4543 Plainsong Kent Haruf 1999 American English
4600 The Peasants Władysław Reymont 1904 Polish Polish
4679 The Third Life Of Grange Copeland Alice Walker 1970 American English
4703 Harvest Jim Crace 2013 British English
4867 Under The Feet Of Jesus Helena María Viramontes 1995 American English
5139 This Child's Gonna Live Sarah E. Wright 1969 American English
5458 The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans 1995 British English
5537 Regain Jean Giono 1930 French French
5773 That They May Face the Rising Sun John McGahern 2002 Irish English
5900 Lord Of The Barnyard Tristan Egolf 1998 American English
5993 One of Ours Willa Cather 1922 American English
6509 Firelight and Woodsmoke Claude Michelet 1979 French French
7061 A Farm Under A Lake Martha Bergland 1985 American English
7076 Tarry Flynn Patrick Kavanagh 1948 Irish English
7115 December Bride Sam Hanna Bell 1951 British English
7261 Half Broke Horses Jeannette Walls 2009 American English
7261 Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2007 American English
7469 Esther Waters George Moore 1894 British English
7470 Little Fadette George Sand 1849 French French
7697 Der Laden Erwin Strittmatter 1983 German German
7827 Jayber Crow Wendell Berry 2000 American English
7863 Real Farm Patricia Tichenor Westfall 1989 American English
8129 All Creatures Great And Small James Herriot 1972 British English
8992 Charlottes Buzzybeez PUBLICATIONS Unknown Unknown
9220 Coming Rain Stephen Daisley 2015 Australian English
9214 The Twin Gerbrand Bakker 2006 Dutch Dutch
10831 Moo Jane Smiley 1995 American English
11208 Ride This Night Vilhelm Moberg 1941 Swedish Swedish
11240 Raskens Vilhelm Moberg 1927 Swedish Swedish
11539 The Able McLaughlins Margaret Wilson 1923 American English
11539 So Big Edna Ferber 1924 American English
11539 Scarlet Sister Mary Julia Peterkin 1928 American English
11539 Lamb in His Bosom Caroline Miller 1933 American English
11539 The Town Conrad Richter 1950 American English
11630 October Light John Gardner 1976 American English
11671 Plains Song Wright Morris 1980 American English
11371 Het Leven En De Dood In Den Ast Stijn Streuvels 1926 Belgian Dutch
11833 The Kulla Gulla Series Martha Sandwall-Bergström 1945 Swedish Swedish
12249 The Dogs of March Ernest Hebert 1979 American English
13025 Barren Ground Ellen Glasgow 1925 American English
13364 Sörgården Anna-Maria Roos 1912 Swedish Swedish
14018 Elizabeth And Her German Garden Elizabeth von Arnim 1898 German English
14120 A Country Doctor Sarah Orne Jewett 1884 American English
13914 Cross Creek Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1942 American English
14160 The Red Pony John Steinbeck 1933 American English
14161 Anne Of Avonlea L. M. Montgomery 1909 Canadian English
14178 Akenfield Ronald Blythe 1969 American English
14164 The Loväng Series Sven Edvin Salje 1942 Swedish Swedish
14222 On The Banks Of Plum Creek Laura Ingalls Wilder 1937 American English
14223 Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 1903 American English
14231 Caddie Woodlawn Carol Ryrie Brink 1935 American English
14273 The Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder 1940 American English
14282 By The Shores Of Silver Lake Laura Ingalls Wilder 1939 American English
14371 A Painted House John Grisham 2001 American English
14371 Shiloh Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 1991 American English
14315 Misty Of Chincoteague Marguerite Henry 1947 American English
14334 These Happy Golden Years Laura Ingalls Wilder 1943 American English
14352 Little Town On The Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1941 American English
14371 Adventures In Friendship David Grayson 1910 American English
14371 Maria Chapdelaine Louis Hémon 1913 French French
14371 Joanna Godden Sheila Kaye-Smith 1921 British English
14371 The Harvester Gene Stratton-Porter 1911 American English
14371 Hjortronlandet Sara Lidman 1955 Swedish Swedish