The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Massachusetts

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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
9833 Mornings On Horseback David McCullough 1981 American English
9857 An Essay on Man Alexander Pope 1734 British English
10005 Edgar Allan Poe Arthur Hobson Quinn 1941 American English
10057 In the Heart of the Sea Nathaniel Philbrick 2000 American English
10074 The Body Project Joan Jacobs Brumberg 1997 American English
10170 March Geraldine Brooks 2005 American English
10202 Elsie Venner Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 1861 American English
10214 Hersenschimmen J. Bernlef 1984 Dutch Dutch
10450 House Tracy Kidder 1985 American English
10545 The Character Of Physical Law Richard P. Feynman 1965 American English
10683 The Bewitching Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2025 Mexican English
10717 The Exceptions Kate Zernike 2023 American English
10740 Imagine Me Gone Adam Haslett 2016 American English
10842 Who Controls The Internet? Tim Wu, Jack Goldsmith 2006 American English
10882 Black Water Joyce Carol Oates 1992 American English
10897 America’s Women Gail Collins 2003 American English
10914 Common As Air Lewis Hyde 2010 American English
10921 Women Don’t Ask Linda Babcock, Sara Laschever 2003 American English
11288 The Girls Who Went Away Ann Fessler 2006 American English
11294 Jonathan Edwards George Marsden 2003 American English
11315 The Witches Stacy Schiff 2015 American English
11359 America's God Mark Noll 2002 American English
11431 Midwinter Day Bernadette Mayer 1982 American English
11452 Early Autumn Louis Bromfield 1926 American English
11442 Mohawk Trail Beth Brant 1985 Canadian English
11490 When Everything Changed Gail Collins 2009 American English
11510 Bowlaway Elizabeth McCracken 2019 American English
11580 Family Pictures Sue Miller 1986 American English
11612 The Cross Cultural Process In Christian History Andrew Walls 2002 Unknown English
11619 A Border Passage Leila Ahmed 1999 Unknown English
11661 Red Comet Heather L. Clark 2020 American English
11661 The Patriarch David Nasaw 2012 American English
11661 Mayflower Nathaniel Philbrick 2006 American English
11661 With A Daughter's Eye Mary Catherine Bateson 1984 American English
11661 Roger's Version John Updike 1986 American English
11661 American Dialogue Joseph Ellis 2018 American English
11661 The Parking Lot Attendant Nafkote Tamirat 2018 American English
11661 Fly Girls Keith O'Brien 2018 American English
11661 We The Corporations Adam Winkler 2018 American English
11837 The Balance Of Nature John Kricher 2009 Unknown English
11840 Broad Band Claire Evans 2018 Unknown English
11871 Weapons Of Math Destruction Cathy O'Neil 2016 American English
11888 The Mac Gregor Brides Nora Roberts 1997 American English
11922 A People's History Of Computing In The United States Joy Lisi Rankin 2018 American English
11939 Eden's Outcasts Jon Matteson 2007 American Unknown
11939 Charles W. Eliot Henry James 1909 American Unknown
11939 The Thought and Character of William James Ralph Barton Perry 1935 American English
11939 Johnathan Edwards Ola Elizabeth Winslow 1940 American English
11939 George Bancroft Russel Blaine Nye 1944 American English
11939 Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War David Donald 1960 American English
11939 The Life and Times of Cotton Mather Kenneth Silverman 1984 American English
11939 Margaret Fuller Megan Marshall 2013 American English
12039 Crash Override Zoë Quinn 2017 American English
12136 The Powers That Be David Halberstam 1979 American English
12159 At Seventy May Sarton 1984 American English
12242 Wreck Catherine Newman 2025 American English
12324 Toward The End Of Time John Updike 1997 American English
12402 The Road To Tender Hearts Annie Hartnett 2025 Unknown English
12408 The House On Buzzards Bay Dwyer Murphy 2025 American English
12475 Blood In The Water Tiffany D. Jackson 2025 Unknown English
12655 Patient H.M. Luke Dittrich 2016 American English
12655 Eager Ben Goldfarb 2018 American English
13256 The Spoken Word Revolution Mark Eleveld 2003 Unknown English
13337 Candyfreak Steve Almond 2004 American English
13337 Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks 2011 Australian English
13359 The Autocrat Of The Breakfast Table Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 1858 American English
13359 The Great Speeches And Orations Of Daniel Webster Daniel Webster 1851 American English
13549 How To Be A Good Creature Sy Montgomery 2018 American English
13715 The Headmaster Ritual Taylor Antrim 2007 American English
13741 Darconville's Cat Alexander Theroux 1981 American English
13771 Looking For Rachel Wallace Robert B. Parker 1980 American English
13789 Make Way For Ducklings Robert McCloskey 1941 American English
13885 American Voyeur Benoit Denizet-Lewis 2009 American English
13885 Louisa May Alcott Harriet Reisen 2009 Unknown English
14232 People Of The Book Geraldine Brooks 2008 Australian English
14389 The Collected Stories Richard Yates 2001 American English
14398 Writers & Lovers Lily King 2020 American English
14402 28 Summers Elin Hilderbrand 2020 American English
14553 For The Love Of Physics Walter Lewin 2011 American English
14588 The Babysitter Liza Rodman, Jennifer Jordan 2021 Unknown English
14622 The Promised Land Mary Antin 1912 American English
14697 The Age Of American Unreason Susan Jacoby 2008 American English
14779 Oliver Wiswell Kenneth Roberts 1940 American English
14788 The Thinking Machine Jacques Futrelle 1905 American English
14936 Java Head Joseph Hergesheimer 1919 American English
14930 Miss Mac Intosh, My Darling Marguerite Young 1965 American English
14984 The Metaphysical Club Louis Menand 2001 American English
14984 Practical Magic Alice Hoffman 1995 American English
14984 The Paper Palace Miranda Cowley Heller 2021 American English
14984 The Given Day Dennis Lehane 2008 American English
14984 Salt Mark Kurlansky 2002 American English
14984 Sandwich Catherine Newman 2024 Unknown English
14984 I'm A Stranger Here Myself Bill Bryson 1999 American English
14984 Shoeless Joe W. P. Kinsella 1982 Canadian English
14984 Poverty, By America Matthew Desmond 2023 American English
15583 Ghana Must Go Taiye Selasi 2013 American English
15677 Life And Confessions Of A Psychologist G. Stanley Hall 1923 American English
15706 Doctor Nye Of North Ostable Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1936 American English
15748 The Children's Hour Lillian Hellman 1934 American English
15822 Walden & Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau 1854 American English
15794 Collected Poems Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
15852 On Revolution Hannah Arendt 1963 American English
15899 The Boston Cooking School Cook Book Fannie Farmer 1896 American English
15899 Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson Mary White Rowlandson 1682 American English
15899 Holmes Laski Letters Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1953 American English
15899 Hobomok Lydia Maria Child 1824 Hobomok English
15899 Work Louisa May Alcott 1873 American English
15899 Female Biography Mary Hays 1803 British English
15899 The Colossus And Other Poems Sylvia Plath 1960 American English
15899 An Economic Interpretation Of The Constitution Of The United States Charles A. Beard 1913 American English
15899 Plymouth Adventure Ernest Gebler 1952 Irish English
15899 Conceived In Liberty Howard Fast 1945 American English
15899 Lydia Bailey Kenneth Roberts 1940 American English
16509 H.M. Pulham, Esq. John P. Marquand 1941 American English
16526 A Mirror for Witches Esther Forbes 1928 American English
16692 The Colour Out Of Space H. P. Lovecraft 1927 American English
17120 A Civil Action Jonathan Harr 1995 American English
17120 Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph L. Rusk 1949 American English
17120 Becoming a Man Paul Monette 1992 American English
17120 Picture Palace Paul Theroux 1978 American English