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
11068 The Flood John Broderick 2000 Irish English
11091 Family Ba Jin 1931 Chinese Chinese
11135 The Widows Of Malabar Hill Sujata Massey 2018 American English
11168 Ghost Wall Sarah Moss 2018 British English
11181 The Abandoned Baobab Ken Bugul 1982 Senegalese French
11181 Juletane Myriam Warner-Vieyra 1982 Senegalese French
11222 La Dernière Harde Maurice Genevoix 1938 French French
11237 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11245 December Breeze Marvel Moreno 1987 Colombian Spanish
11255 Éthiopiques Léopold Sédar Senghor 1956 Senegalese French
11269 Empire Of Sand Tasha Suri 2018 British English
11257 From The Lanai And Other Hawaii Stories Jessica Saiki 1983 American English
11257 Praisesong For The Widow Paule Marshall 1983 American English
11257 Womenfolks Shirley Abbott 1983 American English
11276 Half A Lifelong Romance Eileen Chang 1948 Chinese Chinese
11295 Le Pietre Claudio Morandini 2017 Italian Italian
11346 Rituals Of Survival Nicholasa Mohr 1984 American English
11346 The Stillborn Zaynab Alkali 1984 Nigerian English
11358 The House Of Youssef Yumna Kassab 2019 Australian English
11366 Against Poets Witold Gombrowicz Polish Polish
11366 La Vie Chinoise De Marianne Pêche Lisa Bresner French French
11366 Tout Péguy Charles Péguy French French
11455 Early Autumn Louis Bromfield 1926 American English
11455 Scarlet Sister Mary Julia Peterkin 1928 American English
11455 Years of Grace Margaret Ayer Barnes 1930 American English
11455 The Store Thomas Sigismund Stribling 1932 American English
11455 Lamb in His Bosom Caroline Miller 1933 American English
11445 Awaiting Trespass Linda Ty-Casper 1985 Philippine English
11445 Mohawk Trail Beth Brant 1985 Canadian English
11445 Rich Like Us Nayantara Sahgal 1985 Indian English
11471 Batouala René Maran 1921 French French
11495 A Drama In Muslin George Moore 1886 Irish English
11534 Modernity On Endless Trial Leszek Kolakowski 1990 Polish English
11547 A Madman's Diary 狂人日記 Lu Xun 1918 Chinese Chinese
11582 Copper Crown Lane Von Herzen 1986 American English
11582 The Devil Is Loose Antonine Maillet 1986 Canadian French
11582 Frangipani House Beryl Gilroy 1986 Caribbean English
11582 The Last Of The Menu Girls Denise Chávez 1986 American English
11582 A Midwife's Story Penny Armstrong, Sheryl Feldman 1986 American English
11613 The Next Christendom Philip Jenkins 2002 American English
11634 Catalina Elisa Mujica 1952 Colombian Spanish
11650 Dead Poets Society N. H. Kleinbaum 1989 American English
11663 On Juneteenth Annette Gordon-Reed 2021 American English
11663 Apollo’s Angels Jennifer Homans 2010 American English
11663 Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2007 American English
11663 Bronx Primitive Kate Simon 1982 British English
11663 A Machine That Would Go Of Itself Michael Kammen 1987 American English
11663 Out Of India Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1995 Indian English
11813 Clay Walls Kim Ronyoung 1987 Korean-American English
11813 Windbreak Linda M. Hasselstrom 1987 American English
11840 In Bluebeard's Castle George Steiner 1971 British English
11870 Century Of Locusts Malika Mokedden 1999 Algerian French
11884 Honor Thrity Umrigar 2022 American English
11884 This All Come Back Now Mykaula Saunders 2022 Unknown English
11890 The Mac Gregor Brides Nora Roberts 1997 American English
11901 Twilight And Other Stories Shulamith Hareven 1988 Israeli Hebrew
11901 Waterlily Ella Cara Deloria 1988 American English
11932 Bad Dirt Annie Proulx 2004 American English
12020 Memories Of Peking Lin Hai-yin 1960 Chinese Chinese
12084 Real Farm Patricia Tichenor Westfall 1989 American English
12084 Tahuri Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 1989 New Zealand English
12084 Women Of Sand And Myrrh Hanan Al-Shaykh 1989 Lebanese Arabic
12132 The House Of The Mosque Kader Abdolah 2005 Dutch Dutch
12201 Memorial Ferdinando Camon 1983 Italian Italian
12259 Disappearing Moon Cafe Sky Lee 1990 Canadian English
12259 May You Be The Mother Of A Hundred Sons Elisabeth Bumiller 1990 American English
12259 Silent Dancing Judith Ortiz Cofer 1990 American English
12326 The Lost Upland W. S. Merwin 1992 American English
12326 Mazurka For Two Dead Men Camilo José Cela 1983 Spanish Spanish
12385 Small Congregations Thylias Moss 1993 American English
12419 Desert J. M. G. Le Clezio 1980 French French
12412 As Good A Woman As Ever Broke Bread Alex McInnis Unknown English
12447 A Legendary Tradition Of Kamapua’a Lilikalā Kameʻeleihiwa 1996 American English
12515 A Bag Of Stories Edla Van Steen 1991 Brazilian Portuguese
12515 Bake Face And Other Guava Stories Opal Palmer Adisa 1991 Jamaican English
12515 Changes Ama Ata Aidoo 1991 Ghanaian English
12515 Child Of Her People Anne Cameron 1991 Canadian English
12515 Grandmothers Of The Light Paula Gunn Allen 1991 American English
12515 The Loom And Other Stories R. A. Sasaki 1991 American English
12515 The Road Through Miyama Leila Philip 1991 American English
12515 The Seventh Garment Eugenia Fakinou 1991 Greek Greek
12748 Ripples Across Stagnant Water Li Jieren 1935 Chinese Chinese
12787 The Marriage Of Young Blacky Zhao Shuli 1943 Chinese Chinese
12834 Cantora Sylvia Lopez-Medina 1992 American English
12834 Claiming Breath Diane Glancy 1992 American English
12834 The Clay That Breathes Catherine Browder 1992 American English
12834 Daughter Of Persia Sattareh Farman-Farmaian 1992 Iranian English
12834 Incantations And Other Stories Anjana Appachana 1992 Indian English
12834 Little Altars Everywhere Rebecca Wells 1992 American English
12834 Princess Jean Sasson 1992 American English
12834 Talking Indian Anna Lee Walters 1992 American English
12834 Talking To High Monks In The Snow Lydia Minatoya 1992 American English
12834 Veils Nahid Rachlin 1992 Iranian English
12904 Ilaria, Or The Conquest Of Disobedience Gabriella Zalapi Unknown Unknown
12949 Four Generations Under One Roof Lao She 1944 Chinese Chinese
12975 Fundamentally Nussaibah Younis 2025 Unknown Unknown
12977 Boustany Sami Tamimi 2025 Unknown Unknown
13019 Fate In Tears And Laughter Chang Hen-shui 1925 Chinese Chinese
13054 Old School Indian Aaron John Curtis 2025 Unknown English
13057 Sons And Daughters Chaim Grade 2025 American Yiddish
13131 Peruvali Sukumaran Unknown Unknown
13219 Selections From The Speeches And Writings Of Edmund Burke Edmund Burke 1892 British English
13230 Flower In A Sea Of Sin Zeng Pu 1905 Chinese Chinese
13238 The Cazalet Chronicles Elizabeth Jane Howard 1988 British English
13245 A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories Isaac Bashevis Singer 1973 Polish English
13249 The Henna Wars Adiba Jaigirdar 2020 Irish English
13269 Ganado Red Susan Lowell 1993 American English
13269 Libby Betty John 1993 American Unknown
13269 Two Old Women Velma Wallis 1993 American English
13306 The Final Reflection John M. Ford 1984 American English
13309 Lotus Creek Sun Li 1950 Chinese Unknown
13308 Moment In Peking Lin Yutang 1939 Chinese English
13311 Spring Peach Xu Dishan 1930 Chinese Chinese
13312 Threshold Of Spring Rou Shi 1932 Chinese Chinese
13314 地之子 Tai Jingnong 1948 Chinese Unknown
13321 Jade Legacy Fonda Lee 2021 American English
13318 Records Of Orchard City Shi Tuo 1946 Chinese Chinese
13340 Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks 2011 Australian English
13362 The Pioneers James Fenimore Cooper 1823 American English
13362 A Book of Mediterranean Food Elizabeth David 1950 British English