The Greatest Fiction, Speculative Fiction, and Teen & Young Adult Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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
75 Lord of the Flies William Golding 1954 British English
186 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien 1937 British English
192 A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle 1962 American English
197 A Wizard of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin 1968 American English
333 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman 1995 British English
719 The Giver Lois Lowry 1993 American English
940 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000 British English
1009 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
1012 The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 British English
1085 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
1186 Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 American English
1242 Howl's Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones 1986 British English
1383 A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle 1978 American English
1441 Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie 1990 British English
1505 Noughts and Crosses Malorie Blackman 2001 British English
1539 The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins 2008 American English
1764 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling 2003 British English
1840 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling 2007 British English
1957 The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen Alan Garner 1960 British English
2442 The Amber Spyglass Philip Pullman 2000 British English
2542 Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One Rick Riordan 2005 American English
2806 Children Of Blood And Bone Tomi Adeyemi 2018 Nigerian English
2857 Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor 2011 American English
2859 Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 American English
3277 The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 1997 British English
3327 Alanna Tamora Pierce 1983 American English
3347 An Ember In The Ashes Sabaa Tahir 2015 American English
3716 Rules Of Summer Shaun Tan 2013 Australian English
3868 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
3879 Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 American English
3985 Six Of Crows Leigh Bardugo 2015 American English
4062 The Blue Sword Robin McKinley 1982 American English
4421 City of the Beasts Isabel Allende 2002 Chilean Spanish
4472 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman 2008 British English
4514 Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer 2001 Irish English
5122 Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs 2011 American English
5257 A Court Of Thorns And Roses Sarah J. Maas 2015 American English
5430 Pet Akwaeke Emezi 2019 American English
5718 City Of Glass Cassandra Clare 2009 American English
5952 The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo 2018 American English
5970 Angelfall Susan Ee 2011 American English
6255 Red Rising Pierce Brown 2014 American English
6318 How I Live Now Meg Rosoff 2004 British English
6413 Graceling Kristin Cashore 2008 American English
6534 Silver On The Tree Susan Cooper 1977 British English
6732 The Wrath & The Dawn Renée Ahdieh 2015 American English
6739 Aru Shah And The End Of Time Roshani Chokshi 2018 American English
6817 A Torch Against The Night Sabaa Tahir 2016 American English
6825 Obsidio Amie Kaufman 2018 Australian English
6844 Talking To Dragons Patricia C. Wrede 1985 American English
6933 Many Waters Madeleine L'Engle 1986 American English
7121 Ship Breaker Paolo Bacigalupi 2010 American English
7325 Beasts Made Of Night Tochi Onyebuchi 2017 American English
7332 Daughter Of Smoke & Bone Laini Taylor 2011 American English
7454 Kurangaituku Whiti Hereaka 2022 New Zealander English
7467 Legend Marie Lu 2011 American English
7488 Scythe Neal Shusterman 2016 American English
7503 The Scorpio Races Maggie Stiefvater 2011 American English
7526 Castle In The Air Diana Wynne Jones 1990 British English
7565 Blanca & Roja Anna-Marie McLemore 2018 American English
7637 He Who Fights With Monsters Shirtaloon 2021 Unknown English
7660 The Changeover Margaret Mahy 1984 New Zealand English
7777 Calling On Dragons Patricia C. Wrede 1993 American English
7784 Children Of Virtue And Vengeance Tomi Adeyemi 2019 American English
7784 We Hunt The Flame Hafsah Faizal 2019 American English
7803 Inkheart Cornelia Funke 2003 German German
7859 The Tricksters Margaret Mahy 1986 New Zealand English
7965 Elatsoe Darcie Little Badger 2020 American English
7965 Woven In Moonlight Isabel Ibañez 2020 American English
8150 We Are The Ants Shaun David Hutchinson 2016 American English
8150 When The Moon Was Ours Anna-Marie McLemore 2016 American English
8333 The Marrow Thieves Cherie Dimaline 2017 Canadian English
9126 Cemetery Boys Aiden Thomas 2020 American English
10853 Sabriel Garth Nix 1995 Australian English
10894 The Invasion K. A. Applegate 1996 American English
10922 The Amulet of Samarkand Jonathan Stroud 2003 British English
11671 Lord of Misrule Rachel Caine 2008 American English
11915 Dactyl Hill Squad Daniel José Older 2018 American English
11955 Marked (House Of Night) Unknown 2007 American English
12140 Harry Potter And The Methods Of Rationality Eliezer Yudkowsky 2010 American English
12211 Ajin Gamon Sakurai, Tsuina Miura 2012 Japanese Japanese
12400 United As One (Lorien Legacies Book 7) Pittacus Lore 2016 American English
12447 La Belle Sauvage Philip Pullman 2017 British English
12489 A Snake Falls To Earth Darcie Little Badger 2021 American English
12570 Solo Leveling 02 Dubu, CHUGONG 2020 Korean Korean
12613 The Freedom Maze Delia Sherman 2011 American English
12613 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking T. Kingfisher 2020 American English
12674 House Of Sky And Breath Sarah J. Maas 2022 American English
12668 Daughter Of The Moon Goddess Sue Lynn Tan 2022 Unknown English
12672 Hell Followed With Us Paperback 6 Copy Pre Pack Andrew Joseph White 2022 Unknown English
12682 Iron Widow Xiran Jay Zhao 2021 Canadian English
12855 Farmer in the Sky Robert A. Heinlein 1950 American English
12795 Knight's Wyrd Debra Doyle 1992 American English
12795 Owl in Love Patrice Kindl 1993 American English
12795 The Crown of Dalemark Diana Wynne Jones 1993 British English
12795 Dark Lord of Derkholm Diana Wynne Jones, Magali Mangin 1998 British English
12795 The Folk Keeper Franny Billingsley 1999 American English
12795 Aria of the Sea Dia Calhoun 2000 American English
12795 The Ropemaker Peter Dickinson 2001 British English
12795 Summerland Michael Chabon 2002 American English
12795 The Hollow Kingdom Clare B. Dunkle 2003 American English
12795 The Golem's Eye Jonathan Stroud 2004 British English
12795 Corbenic Catherine Fisher 2002 British English
12795 The King of Attolia Megan Whalen Turner 2006 American English
12795 A Conspiracy of Kings Megan Whalen Turner 2010 American English
12795 Vessel Sarah Beth Durst 2012 American English
12795 Doll Bones Holly Black 2013 American English
12795 Dragon Pearl Yoon Ha Lee 2019 Korean English
12795 Pahua and the Soul Stealer Lori Lee 2021 American English
12795 Root Magic Eden Royce 2021 American English
12965 Vampire Academy Richelle Mead 2007 American English
12968 The Alchemyst Michael Scott 2007 Irish English
13065 Powers Ursula K. Le Guin 2007 American English
13176 Cuckoo Song Frances Hardinge 2014 British English
14371 Wolf Brother Michelle Paver 2004 British English
14371 Ender's Shadow Orson Scott Card 1999 American English
14306 The White Mountains John Christopher 1967 British English
14371 Demon Slayer Koyoharu Gotouge 2016 Japanese Japanese
14371 Down A Dark Hall Lois Duncan 1974 American English
14371 In The Hand Of The Goddess Tamora Pierce 1984 American English