The Greatest Western Contemporary Books of All Time

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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
186 Bonjour Tristesse Francoise Sagan 1954 French French
641 Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding 1996 British English
686 Rabbit Is Rich John Updike 1981 American English
700 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin 1978 American English
784 Rabbit at Rest John Updike 1990 American English
890 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
1039 Birds of America Lorrie Moore 1998 American English
1050 The Buddha of Suburbia Hanif Kureishi 1990 British English
1197 Light Years James Salter 1975 American English
1263 The Summer Book Tove Jansson 1972 Finnish Swedish
1354 Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout 2008 American English
1369 Veronica Mary Gaitskill 2005 American English
1549 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont Elizabeth Taylor 1971 British English
1637 The Sportswriter Richard Ford 1986 American English
1751 NW Zadie Smith 2012 British English
1760 Desperate Characters Paula Fox 1970 American English
1775 Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri 1999 American English
1830 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler 1982 American English
2062 Girl With Green Eyes Edna O'Brien 1962 Irish English
2224 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh 2018 American English
2273 The Accidental Tourist Anne Tyler 1985 American English
2371 Happiness, as Such Natalia Ginzburg 1973 Italian Italian
2388 Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler 1988 American English
2417 Bright Lights, Big City Jay McInerney 1984 American English
2467 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Alice Munro 2001 Canadian English
2587 Empire Falls Richard Russo 2001 American English
2636 An American Marriage Tayari Jones 2018 American English
2694 Waiting to Exhale Terry McMillan 1992 American English
3053 Red, White & Royal Blue Casey McQuiston 2019 American English
3112 Leviathan Paul Auster 1992 American English
3139 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain 2012 American English
3236 The Radiant Way Margaret Drabble 1987 British English
3324 To the North Elizabeth Bowen 1932 British English
3405 Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James 2011 British English
3430 Get A Life, Chloe Brown Talia Hibbert 2019 British English
3443 Transit Rachel Cusk 2016 British English
3526 All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews 2014 Canadian English
3568 Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng 2017 American English
3598 The Wedding Date Jasmine Guillory 2018 American English
3607 Virgin River Robyn Carr 2007 American English
3808 Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner 1984 British English
3824 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell 2008 Canadian English
3868 Monkey Grip Helen Garner 1977 Australian English
3896 Runaway Horse Martin Walser 1978 German German
4096 Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall 2020 British English
4101 Purge Sofi Oksanen 2008 Finnish Finnish
4307 Mrs. Stevens Hears The Mermaids Singing May Sarton 1965 American English
4308 Invitation To The Waltz Rosamond Lehmann 1932 British English
4369 Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan 2013 American English
4392 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4415 Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters 2021 American English
4470 Intermezzo Sally Rooney 2024 Irish English
4500 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4591 Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney 2017 Irish English
4805 Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante 2013 Italian Italian
4938 Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood 2023 Australian English
4996 The Sun Is Also A Star Nicola Yoon 2016 American English
5003 Feel Free Zadie Smith 2018 British English
5107 Brother Of The More Famous Jack Barbara Trapido 1982 British English
5241 The Life And Adventures Of Trobadora Beatrice Irmtraud Morgner 1974 German German
5309 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
5390 Tom Lake Ann Patchett 2023 American English
5490 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5493 Royally Screwed Emma Chase 2016 American English
5507 Seven Days In June Tia Williams 2021 American English
5636 Book Lovers Emily Henry 2021 American English
5724 White Mule William Carlos Williams 1937 American English
5728 My Kind of Place Susan Orlean 2004 American English
5743 Can You Keep A Secret? Sophie Kinsella 2003 British English
5959 Microserfs Douglas Coupland 1995 Canadian English
5965 A Princess In Theory Alyssa Cole 2018 American English
5986 The Idiot Elif Batuman 2017 American English
5995 The Green Road Anne Enright 2015 Irish English
6095 Tonight And Forever Brenda Jackson 1995 American English
6184 Fish Tales Nettie Jones 1983 American English
6279 Nothing Henry Green 1950 British English
6342 Repetition Peter Handke 1986 Austrian German
6440 Who Will Run The Frog Hospital Lorrie Moore 1994 American English
6457 The Needle's Eye Margaret Drabble 1972 British English
6460 A Gate at the Stairs Lorrie Moore 2009 American English
6490 Happy Are The Happy Yasmina Reza 2013 French French
6517 A Frozen Woman Annie Ernaux 1981 French French
6525 The Mars Room Rachel Kushner 2018 American English
6530 The Hating Game Sally Thorne 2016 Australian English
6707 The Mac Gregor Grooms Nora Roberts 1998 American English
6737 Room Temperature Nicholson Baker 1990 American English
6737 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6809 Eastbound Maylis de Kerangal 2012 French French
6854 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
6869 Captain Nemo's Library Per Olov Enquist 1991 Swedish Swedish
6891 Bared To You Sylvia Day 2012 American English
6930 Academy Street Mary Costello 2014 Irish English
6939 Summerhouse, Later Judith Hermann 1998 German German
6965 Bowling Alone Robert D. Putnam 2000 American English
7016 Original Bliss A. L. Kennedy 1997 British English
7063 Nightcrawling Leila Mottley 2022 American English
7078 Aquamarine Carol Anshaw 1992 American English
7099 The Dutch House Ann Patchett 2019 American English
7142 Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano 2023 American English
7144 Báječná Léta Pod Psa Michal Viewegh 1992 Czech Czech
7191 Heartstopper Alice Oseman 2018 British English
7205 Het Meesterstuk Anna Enquist 1994 Dutch Dutch
7211 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7215 Retreat From Love Colette 1936 French French
7215 Man's Hope Andre Malraux 1937 French French
7215 Wolf Solent John Cowper Powys 1929 British English
7215 H. M. Pulham, Esquire John P. Marquand 1941 American English
7215 Lead Us Into Temptation Breandán Ó hEithir 1976 Irish English
7215 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7215 The Long View Elizabeth Jane Howard 1956 British English
7639 The Sermon On The Fall Of Rome Jerome Ferrari 2012 French French
7734 Stag Dance Torrey Peters 2025 American English
7742 Flesh David Szalay 2025 British English
7752 Another Marvelous Thing Laurie Colwin 1986 American English
7787 Cold Enough For Snow Jessica Au 2022 Australian English
7806 Lick Kylie Scott 2013 Australian English
7831 Elling Ingvar Ambjørnsen 1996 Norwegian Norwegian
7844 The Accidental Ali Smith 2005 British English
7850 Paula Spencer Roddy Doyle 2006 Irish English
7860 World Enough And Time Robert Penn Warren 1950 American English