The Greatest Books of All Time on Tradition

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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
11128 The Widows Of Malabar Hill Sujata Massey 2018 American English
11161 Ghost Wall Sarah Moss 2018 British English
11174 The Abandoned Baobab Ken Bugul 1982 Senegalese French
11174 Juletane Myriam Warner-Vieyra 1982 Senegalese French
11215 La Dernière Harde Maurice Genevoix 1938 French French
11230 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11238 December Breeze Marvel Moreno 1987 Colombian Spanish
11248 Éthiopiques Léopold Sédar Senghor 1956 Senegalese French
11262 Empire Of Sand Tasha Suri 2018 British English
11250 From The Lanai And Other Hawaii Stories Jessica Saiki 1983 American English
11250 Praisesong For The Widow Paule Marshall 1983 American English
11250 Womenfolks Shirley Abbott 1983 American English
11269 Half A Lifelong Romance Eileen Chang 1948 Chinese Chinese
11288 Le Pietre Claudio Morandini 2017 Italian Italian
11339 Rituals Of Survival Nicholasa Mohr 1984 American English
11339 The Stillborn Zaynab Alkali 1984 Nigerian English
11351 The House Of Youssef Yumna Kassab 2019 Australian English
11360 Against Poets Witold Gombrowicz Polish Polish
11360 La Vie Chinoise De Marianne Pêche Lisa Bresner French French
11360 Tout Péguy Charles Péguy French French
11449 Early Autumn Louis Bromfield 1926 American English
11449 Scarlet Sister Mary Julia Peterkin 1928 American English
11449 Years of Grace Margaret Ayer Barnes 1930 American English
11449 The Store Thomas Sigismund Stribling 1932 American English
11449 Lamb in His Bosom Caroline Miller 1933 American English
11449 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain Robert Olen Butler 1992 American English
11439 Awaiting Trespass Linda Ty-Casper 1985 Philippine English
11439 Mohawk Trail Beth Brant 1985 Canadian English
11439 Rich Like Us Nayantara Sahgal 1985 Indian English
11467 Batouala René Maran 1921 French French
11491 A Drama In Muslin George Moore 1886 Irish English
11500 Hjortronlandet Sara Lidman 1955 Swedish Swedish
11531 Modernity On Endless Trial Leszek Kolakowski 1990 Polish English
11544 A Madman's Diary 狂人日記 Lu Xun 1918 Chinese Chinese
11579 Copper Crown Lane Von Herzen 1986 American English
11579 The Devil Is Loose Antonine Maillet 1986 Canadian French
11579 Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy 1986 Caribbean English
11579 The Last Of The Menu Girls Denise Chávez 1986 American English
11579 A Midwife's Story Penny Armstrong, Sheryl Feldman 1986 American English
11610 The Next Christendom Philip Jenkins 2002 American English
11631 Catalina Elisa Mujica 1952 Colombian Spanish
11647 Dead Poets Society N. H. Kleinbaum 1989 American English
11660 On Juneteenth Annette Gordon-Reed 2021 American English
11660 Apollo’s Angels Jennifer Homans 2010 American English
11660 Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2007 American English
11660 Bronx Primitive Kate Simon 1982 British English
11660 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11660 Out Of India Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1995 Indian English
11811 Clay Walls Kim Ronyoung 1987 Korean-American English
11811 Windbreak Linda M. Hasselstrom 1987 American English
11838 In Bluebeard's Castle George Steiner 1971 British English
11868 Century Of Locusts Malika Mokedden 1999 Algerian French
11882 Honor Thrity Umrigar 2022 American English
11882 This All Come Back Now Mykaula Saunders 2022 Unknown English
11888 The Mac Gregor Brides Nora Roberts 1997 American English
11899 Twilight And Other Stories Shulamith Hareven 1988 Israeli Hebrew
11899 Waterlily Ella Cara Deloria 1988 American English
11930 Bad Dirt Annie Proulx 2004 American English
12018 Memories Of Peking Lin Hai-yin 1960 Chinese Chinese
12083 Real Farm Patricia Tichenor Westfall 1989 American English
12083 Tahuri Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 1989 New Zealand English
12083 Women Of Sand And Myrrh Hanan Al-Shaykh 1989 Lebanese Arabic
12131 The House Of The Mosque Kader Abdolah 2005 Dutch Dutch
12200 Memorial Ferdinando Camon 1983 Italian Italian
12258 Disappearing Moon Cafe Sky Lee 1990 Canadian English
12258 May You Be The Mother Of A Hundred Sons Elisabeth Bumiller 1990 American English
12258 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
12324 The Lost Upland W. S. Merwin 1992 American English
12324 Mazurka For Two Dead Men Camilo José Cela 1983 Spanish Spanish
12383 Small Congregations Thylias Moss 1993 American English
12417 Desert J. M. G. Le Clezio 1980 French French
12410 As Good A Woman As Ever Broke Bread Alex McInnis Unknown English
12445 A Legendary Tradition Of Kamapua’a Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa 1996 American English
12513 A Bag Of Stories Edla Van Steen 1991 Brazilian Portuguese
12513 Bake Face And Other Guava Stories Opal Palmer Adisa 1991 Jamaican English
12513 Changes Ama Ata Aidoo 1991 Ghanaian English
12513 Child Of Her People Anne Cameron 1991 Canadian English
12513 Grandmothers Of The Light Paula Gunn Allen 1991 American English
12513 The Loom And Other Stories R. A. Sasaki 1991 American English
12513 The Road Through Miyama Leila Philip 1991 American English
12513 The Seventh Garment Eugenia Fakinou 1991 Greek Greek
12746 Ripples Across Stagnant Water Li Jieren 1935 Chinese Chinese
12785 The Marriage Of Young Blacky Zhao Shuli 1943 Chinese Chinese
12832 Cantora Sylvia Lopez-Medina 1992 American English
12832 Claiming Breath Diane Glancy 1992 American English
12832 The Clay That Breathes Catherine Browder 1992 American English
12832 Daughter Of Persia Sattareh Farman-Farmaian 1992 Iranian English
12832 Incantations And Other Stories Anjana Appachana 1992 Indian English
12832 Little Altars Everywhere Rebecca Wells 1992 American English
12832 Princess Jean Sasson 1992 American English
12832 Talking Indian Anna Lee Walters 1992 American English
12832 Talking To High Monks In The Snow Lydia Minatoya 1992 American English
12832 Veils Nahid Rachlin 1992 Iranian English
12902 Ilaria, Or The Conquest Of Disobedience Gabriella Zalapi Unknown Unknown
12946 Four Generations Under One Roof Lao She 1944 Chinese Chinese
12972 Fundamentally Nussaibah Younis 2025 Unknown Unknown
12974 Boustany Sami Tamimi 2025 Unknown Unknown
13016 Fate In Tears And Laughter Chang Hen-shui 1925 Chinese Chinese
13051 Old School Indian Aaron John Curtis 2025 Unknown English
13054 Sons And Daughters Chaim Grade 2025 American Yiddish
13128 Peruvali Sukumaran Unknown Unknown
13216 Selections From The Speeches And Writings Of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke 1892 British English
13227 Flower In A Sea Of Sin Zeng Pu 1905 Chinese Chinese
13235 The Cazalet Chronicles Elizabeth Jane Howard 1988 British English
13242 A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1973 Polish English
13246 The Henna Wars Adiba Jaigirdar 2020 Irish English
13266 Ganado Red Susan Lowell 1993 American English
13266 Libby Betty John 1993 American Unknown
13266 Two Old Women Velma Wallis 1993 American English
13303 The Final Reflection John M. Ford 1984 American English
13306 Lotus Creek Sun Li 1950 Chinese Unknown
13305 Moment In Peking Lin Yutang 1939 Chinese English
13308 Spring Peach Xu Dishan 1930 Chinese Chinese
13309 Threshold Of Spring Rou Shi 1932 Chinese Chinese
13311 地之子 Tai Jingnong 1948 Chinese Unknown
13318 Jade Legacy Fonda Lee 2021 American English
13315 Records Of Orchard City Shi Tuo 1946 Chinese Chinese
13337 Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks 2011 Australian English
13359 The Pioneers James Fenimore Cooper 1823 American English
13359 A Book of Mediterranean Food Elizabeth David 1950 British English