The Greatest Books of All Time on Self Discovery

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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
6089 Herr Gustafsson Himself Lars Gustafsson 1983 Swedish Swedish
6099 Le Jeune Homme De Sable Williams Sassine 1979 French French
6122 The First Garden Anne Hébert 1988 Canadian French
6200 The Bridge Iain Banks 1986 Scottish English
6233 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6295 Stone Junction Jim Dodge 1990 American English
6316 The Artist's Way Julia Cameron 1992 American English
6340 Repetition Peter Handke 1986 Austrian German
6375 Asterios Polyp David Mazzucchelli 2009 American English
6419 The Laws Connie Palmen 1991 Dutch Dutch
6436 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6443 The Long Way Bernard Moitessier 1971 French French
6455 The Needle's Eye Margaret Drabble 1972 British English
6487 The Enchanted April Elizabeth von Arnim 1922 British English
6499 Cosima Grazia Deledda 1937 Italian Italian
6506 The Triple Mirror of the Self Zulfikar Ghose 1992 Pakistani English
6515 A Frozen Woman Annie Ernaux 1981 French French
6520 City of the Beasts Isabel Allende 2002 Chilean Spanish
6557 Prep Curtis Sittenfeld 2005 American English
6566 The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Ann Brashares 2001 American English
6584 Im Bach Des Wals Paul Nizon 1983 Swiss German
6588 American Shaolin Matthew Polly 2007 American English
6604 Pavilion Of Women Pearl S. Buck 1946 American English
6621 Looking For The Possible Dance A. L. Kennedy 1993 British English
6631 Reveries Of The Wild Woman Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
6635 The Stadium Of Wimbledon Daniele del Giudice 1983 Italian Italian
6655 Berittener Bogenschütze Brigitte Kronauer 1989 German German
6736 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6745 A Matter Of Feeling Janine Boissard 1985 French French
6747 Infanta Bodo Kirchhoff 1990 German German
6756 Breasts And Eggs Mieko Kawakami 2008 Japanese Japanese
6816 Open Andre Agassi 2009 American English
6821 Tracy's Tiger William Saroyan 1951 American English
6831 The Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett 2007 British English
6850 A Little Sun In Cold Water Francoise Sagan 1969 French French
6873 Povedal Mi Veštec Tiziano Terzani 2002 Italian Italian
6891 Bared To You Sylvia Day 2012 American English
6914 Théresè And Isabelle Violette Leduc 1966 French French
6917 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin, Janet Song 2009 Chinese English
6963 Sheeper Irving Rosenthal 1967 American English
6987 Just Listen Sarah Dessen 2006 American English
7016 Original Bliss A. L. Kennedy 1997 British English
7023 La Vida Exagerada De Martín Romaña Alfredo Bryce Echenique 1981 Peruvian Spanish
7056 A Passionate Apprentice Virginia Woolf 1990 British English
7067 Adventures Of A Breath Hayam Abbas Al-Homi 1989 Egyptian Unknown
7067 O Testamento Do Sr. Napumoceno Da Silva Araújo Germano Almeida 1989 Cape Verdean Portuguese
7081 Hermina Sami Tchak 2003 French French
7102 Nevada Imogen Binnie 2013 American English
7133 Desolation Angels Jack Kerouac 1965 American English
7174 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
7215 The Island Within Ludwig Lewisohn 1928 American English
7215 The Lady From The Sea Henrik Ibsen 1888 Norwegian Norwegian
7215 When We Dead Awaken Henrik Ibsen 1899 Norwegian Norwegian
7215 To Damascus August Strindberg 1898 Swedish Swedish
7215 Manhood Michel Leiris 1939 French French
7215 Wolf Solent John Cowper Powys 1929 British English
7214 The Jailing Of Cecelia Capture Janet Campbell Hale 1985 American English
7645 All About Love bell hooks 2000 American English
7683 Looking for Alaska John Green 2005 American English
7691 Das Superweib Hera Lind 1995 German German
7731 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7770 Summer And Smoke Tennessee Williams 1948 American English
7818 Sister Gin June Arnold 1975 American English
7831 Ein Mann Im Haus Ulla Hahn 1996 German German
7836 The Midnight Library Matt Haig 2020 British English
7839 Riverfinger Women Elana Nachman 1974 American English
7949 My Story Kamala Das 1976 Indian English
7977 Anthem Ayn Rand 1938 American English
7988 Sita Kate Millett 1976 American English
8024 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8031 I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth The Trip John Donovan 1969 American English
8031 An Area Of Darkness V. S. Naipaul 1964 British English
8064 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt 2022 American English
8075 Clea Lawrence Durrell 1960 British English
8105 The Dangerous Age Karin Michaelis 1910 Danish Danish
8105 Hermione Hilda Doolittle 1927 American English
8160 Born Confused Tanuja Desai Hidier 2002 American English
8171 Ladrón De Lunas Isaac Montero 1990 Spanish Spanish
8182 Alberta empfängt einen Liebhaber Birgit Vanderbeke 2023 German German
8196 Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong 1945 American English
8201 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8223 The Lincoln Highway Amor Towles 2021 American English
8305 The Native Air Sarah Woodhouse 1987 British English
8343 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8355 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
8357 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8394 The Stag's Leap Sharon Olds 2012 American English
8440 Journal Mireille Havet 2003 French French
8456 Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me Richard Fariña 1966 American English
8576 In Thrall Jane DeLynn 1982 Unknown English
8626 Custody Of The Eyes Diamela Eltit 1994 Chilean Spanish
8649 Three Days With My Mother François Weyergans 2005 Belgian French
8668 How Stella Got Her Groove Back Terry McMillan 1996 American English
8682 Miss Peabody’s Inheritance Elizabeth Jolley 1983 Australian English
8710 To A Distant Island James McConkey 1984 American English
8797 The Valley Of The Moon Jack London 1913 American English
8854 What You Are Looking For Is In The Library Michiko Aoyama 2020 Japanese Japanese
8894 Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It Geoff Dyer 2003 British English
8898 Vendor Of Sweets R. K. Narayan 1967 Indian English
8900 O Encontro Marcado Fernando Sabino 1956 Brazilian Portuguese
8906 Carreteras Secundarias Ignacio Martínez de Pisón 1996 Spanish Spanish
8911 Paladin of Souls Lois McMaster Bujold 2003 American English
8931 Cordelia And Other Stories Françoise Mallet-Joris 1958 French French
8976 Riwan, Ou Le Chemin De Sable Ken Bugul 1999 French French
8987 Less Andrew Sean Greer 2017 American English
9019 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
9019 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9054 In The Darkroom Susan Faludi 2016 American English
9094 Of Strangers And Bees Hamid Ismailov 2019 Uzbek Uzbek
9127 Mutant Message Down Under Marlo Morgan 1991 American English
9135 The Consequences Niña Weijers 2014 Dutch Dutch
9150 La Brecha Mercedes Valdivieso 1961 Chilean Spanish
9150 The Curve Of Time M. Wylie Blanchet 1961 Canadian English
9156 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9239 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
9279 Das verborgene Wort Ulla Hahn 1981 German German
9283 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Tom Robbins 1976 American English
9285 It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake Claire Christian 2020 Australian English
9297 My Place Sally Morgan 1987 Australian English
9319 The Beautiful Room Is Empty Edmund White 1988 American English