The Greatest Books of All Time on Memory

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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
11319 When The Emperor Was Divine Julie Otsuka 2002 American English
11333 Molnfri Bombnatt Vibeke Olsson 1995 Swedish Swedish
11334 The French Art Of War Alexis Jenni 2011 French French
11345 The Collected Prose Elizabeth Bishop 1984 American English
11345 Heartwork Solveig von Schoultz 1984 Finnish Swedish
11355 Memory And Dream Charles de Lint 1994 Canadian English
11357 Walking On The Ceiling Ayşegül Savaş 2019 Turkish English
11363 Une Façon D'aimer Dominique Barbéris 2019 French French
11365 La Patrie Empaillée Jacques Izoard Belgian French
11365 My Love Ishikawa Takuboku Japanese Japanese
11365 Où Sont Ils Maintenant. Anthologie Personnelle Laura Kasischke Unknown French
11365 The Dead Man Unknown Unknown Unknown
11365 The Watch Nikos Kavvadias Greek Greek
11392 Collected Poems Primo Levi 1988 Italian Italian
11392 His Daughter Yoram Kaniuk 1988 Israeli Hebrew
11392 Collected Poems James Schuyler 1988 American English
11392 The One Day Donald Hall 1988 American English
11392 Elaine's Book Jay Wright 1988 American Unknown
11392 River Writing James Applewhite 1988 American English
11405 A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson 2015 British English
11413 Spin Robert Charles Wilson 2005 Canadian English
11417 Waiting for Snow in Havana Carlos Eire 2003 Cuban English
11437 Philadelphia fire John Edgar Wideman 1990 American English
11444 Awaiting Trespass Linda Ty-Casper 1985 Philippine English
11444 A Farm Under A Lake Martha Bergland 1985 American English
11444 The Land Of Look Behind Michelle Cliff 1985 American English
11444 Later The Same Day Grace Paley 1985 American English
11444 The Magnificent Spinster May Sarton 1985 American English
11444 Various Miracles Carol Shields 1985 Canadian English
11499 What The Colonists Never Knew Dennis Foley, Peter Read 2020 Unknown English
11503 Hibakusha Gaynor Sekimori 1986 Hibakusha Unknown
11507 The Coming Bad Days Sarah Bernstein 2021 Canadian English
11564 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11581 Landscape For A Good Woman Carolyn Kay Steedman 1986 British English
11604 One Hundred Poems By Cavafy Cavafy Greek Greek
11629 Everyman Philip Roth 2006 American English
11639 On The Calculation Of Volume Ii Solvej Balle 2020 Unknown Danish
11643 Arsonists City Hala Alyan 2021 American English
11643 Gentle And Fierce Vanessa Berry 2021 Australian English
11643 Paradise Estate Max Easton 2021 Unknown English
11643 Silence Is A Sense Layla AlAmmar 2021 Unknown English
11652 Collected Earlier Poems Anthony Hecht 1990 American English
11652 Above The River James Wright 1990 American English
11652 The Continuous Life Mark Strand 1990 American English
11652 The World Of The Ten Thousand Things Charles Wright 1990 American English
11652 Westward Amy Clampitt 1990 American English
11662 Checkout 19 Claire-Louise Bennett 2021 Irish English
11662 The Furrows Namwali Serpell 2022 Unknown English
11662 On Juneteenth Annette Gordon-Reed 2021 American English
11662 War And Turpentine Stefan Hertmans 2013 Belgian Dutch
11662 Falling Through The Earth Danielle Trussoni 2006 American English
11662 Bronx Primitive Kate Simon 1982 British English
11662 During The Reign Of The Queen Of Persia Joan Chase 1983 American English
11662 The Moons Of Jupiter Alice Munro 1982 Canadian English
11662 Lives Of The Poets E. L. Doctorow 2001 American English
11662 Staring At The Sun Julian Barnes 1986 British English
11662 Arabesques Anton Shammas 1986 Israeli Hebrew
11662 The Magic Lantern Ingmar Bergman 1987 Swedish Swedish
11662 Everything Under Daisy Johnson 2018 British English
11662 The House Of Broken Angels Luis Alberto Urrea 2018 American English
11662 The Witch Elm Tana French 2018 Irish English
11806 The Meursault Investigation Kamel Daoud 2013 Algerian French
11812 Memory Board Jane Rule 1987 Canadian English
11812 My Father's House Sylvia Fraser 1987 Canadian English
11812 On The Golden Porch Tatyana Tolstaya 1987 Russian Russian
11825 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11856 Mahmoud Ou La Montée Des Eaux Antoine Wauters 2021 Belgian French
11855 You Left On A May Day Yannis Ritsos Greek Greek
11864 More Happy Than Not Adam Silvera 2015 American English
11879 Sololand Hassan Blasim 2021 Iraqi Arabic
11881 Watching Over Her Jean-Baptiste Andrea 2021 French French
11889 The Rabbiter's Bounty Les A. Murray 1991 Australian English
11889 Flow Chart John Ashbery 1991 American English
11883 Root And Branch Eda Gunaydin 2022 Unknown English
11883 This All Come Back Now Mykaula Saunders 2022 Unknown English
11895 Kinder Than Solitude Yiyun Li 2014 American English
11900 Coming Home And Other Stories Farida Karodia 1988 South African English
11900 Sans Souci And Other Stories Dionne Brand 1988 Canadian English
11900 A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid 1988 Antiguan English
11900 Twilight And Other Stories Shulamith Hareven 1988 Israeli Hebrew
11940 Chasing Me To My Grave Winfred Rembert, Erin I. Kelly 2021 American English
12009 The Echo Maker Richard Powers 2006 American English
12010 Mr. Mani A. B. Yehoshua 1990 Israeli Hebrew
12019 Memories Of Peking Lin Hai-yin 1960 Chinese Chinese
12018 La Danseuse Patrick Modiano 2023 French French
12024 Cafe Scheherazade Arnold Zable 2001 Australian English
12029 The Heather Blazing Colm Toibin 1992 Irish English
12028 Night Train To Lisbon Pascal Mercier 2004 Swiss German
12048 Landing Light Don Paterson 2003 British English
12047 Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces Georges Perec 1974 French French
12049 Omega Minor Paul Verhaeghen 2004 Belgian Dutch
12062 O Tamanho Do Mundo António Lobo Antunes 2022 Portuguese Portuguese
12077 Rosewater Tade Thompson 2016 Nigerian English
12077 Basti Intizar Husain 1979 Pakistani Urdu
12084 Sweet Summer Bebe Moore Campbell 1989 American English
12113 Hotel Lautréamont John Ashbery 1992 American English
12123 Songs For The Dead And The Living Sara M. Saleh 2023 Unknown English
12173 The Electric Michelangelo Sarah Hall 2004 British English
12201 Memorial Ferdinando Camon 1983 Italian Italian
12201 The House on Via Gemito Domenico Starnone 2000 Italian Italian
12259 Beirut Fragments Jean Said Makdisi 1990 Lebanese English
12259 Dreams Of An Insomniac Irena Klepfisz 1990 American English
12259 The Dust Roads Of Monferrato Rosetta Loy 1990 Italian Italian
12259 Floating In My Mother's Palm Ursula Hegi 1990 German English
12259 Lantern Slides Edna O'Brien 1990 Irish English
12259 A Natural History Of The Senses Diane Ackerman 1990 American English
12259 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
12259 The Worry Girl Andrea Freud Loewenstein 1990 American English
12301 Languages Of Home John Edgar Wideman 2025 American English
12323 Worsted Garielle Lutz 2025 American English
12326 Vladimir Nabokov Brian Boyd 1990 British English
12326 Holocaust Testimonies Lawrence L. Langer 1991 American English
12326 The Journals Of John Cheever John Cheever 1991 American English
12326 Two Lives William Trevor 1991 Irish English
12326 The Island Gustaw Herling 1958 Polish Polish
12326 Mazurka For Two Dead Men Camilo José Cela 1983 Spanish Spanish
12326 A Way In The World V. S. Naipaul 1994 American English
12326 After Rain William Trevor 1996 Irish English
12326 The Collected Stories Of Mavis Gallant Mavis Gallant 1996 Canadian English
12326 Toward The End Of Time John Updike 1997 American English