Browse Curated Lists
Explore 146 curated book lists from literary awards, critics, and publications.
#ThisBook
In May 2014, Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction launched the #ThisBook campaign to find out which books, written by women, have had the biggest impact on readers.[21] Nineteen "inspirational women" were chosen to launch the campaign and then thousands of people from the "general public" submitted their ideas via Twitter.[22] The 20 winners were announced on 29 July 2014.[22] The organisers noted that nearly half (eight) of the winning books were published before 1960.[
100 Best Novels in English, Since 1900
We hope that our novels list confirms some of your own tastes and at other times confounds you, irritates you and turns you on to some fresh reading pleasures. As Alex was fond of saying: “By the quality of life, art and freedom that radicals commend, so will radicals prevail.”

100 Most Influential Books of the Century
A bookllist for adults. List compiled by Dawn Cook, General Library, Adult Reader and Information Services, Boston Public Library, May 2000.

1001 books to read before you die
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is a literary reference book compiled by over one hundred literary critics worldwide and edited by Peter Boxall. This list aggregates the results of several editions.

20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction
The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction is a list of the 100 best English-language books of the 20th century compiled by American literary critic Larry McCaffery. The list was created largely in response to the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list (1999), which McCaffery considered out of touch with 20th-century fiction. McCaffery wrote that he saw his list "as a means of sharing with readers my own views about what books are going to be read 100 or 1000 years from now".
25 Books to Read Before You Turn 25
List created by The Guardian to promote reading in children. So which books will engage your children in this National Year of Reading? I consulted leading authors to come up with a list of books everyone should read (or have read to them) at least once – one for every year of life up to the age of 25. Not a regimen: a buffet. These are not books to chew dutifully through, but to relish – titles we hope will kindle or rekindle that vital pleasure in the word. And, of course, for every book that appears on this list there are many dozens more that could, or should, have been here.

30 Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die
This list of 30 books recommended by Britain's librarians as must-reads before one dies was compiled in 2006 by the "Museum, Libraries and Archives Council" (MLA) in 2006. The Council was closed in 2012 by the British Government in order to simplify its bureaucracy.
50 Books to (Re-)Read at 50
Your essential short list of novels, nonfiction and biographies Mike Hammer has covered pop culture for three decades for national publications including Rolling Stone, TV Guide, Maxim, Men's Journal, and has interviewed countless personalities, from Al Gore to Paul McCartney and Evander Holyfield. Sadly, he's lost touch with all of them.

Adam Grant's reading recommendations
Adam M. Grant is an American psychologist and author who is currently a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania specializing in organizational psychology. He received academic tenure aged 28, making him the youngest tenured professor at the Wharton School.
ALS Gold Medal
The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, when the two organisations were merged.

Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime
A list curated by "Amazon's book editors".

Anthony Award for Best Novel
The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.

Aspen Words Literary Prize
The Aspen Words Literary Prize, established in 2018, is an annual literary award presented by Aspen Words, a literary center in Aspen, Colorado. The prize is presented to an author for "an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.” Winners receive a US$35,000 prize.
Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books
Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books is a non-fiction book by Trevor J. Adams and Stephen Patrick Clare, published by Nimbus Publishing. The first book of its type, it ranks and reviews the top 100 books written by Atlantic Canadian writers, published in the region, or focusing on the region. The 100 books chosen were selected from a list of over 2,000 titles voted on by over 700 authors, editors and critics. The book includes reviews of each of the ranked titles, top-ten lists on a variety of literary subjects, and lists from guest contributors such as the premiers of the Maritime Provinces and novelists such as David Adams Richards and Ami MacKay.

Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II(born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. As a member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
BBC 100 Greatest British Novels
BBC Culture polled book critics outside the UK, to give an outsider’s perspective on the best in British literature. What does the rest of the world see as the greatest British novels? In search of a collective critical assessment, BBC Culture contributor Jane Ciabattari polled 82 book critics, from Australia to Zimbabwe – but none from the UK. This list includes no nonfiction, no plays, no narrative or epic poems (no Paradise Lost or Beowulf), no short story collections (no Morte D’Arthur) – novels only, by British authors (which means no James Joyce). https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20151204-the-100-greatest-british-novels

BBC Big Read
In 2003 the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) started the Big Read with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS, and telephone. The show attracted controversy for adopting an allegedly sensationalist approach to literature, but supporters praised it for raising the public awareness of reading. The British public voted originally for any novel that they wished. From this, a list of 200 was drawn up, with the highest 21 then put forward for further voting, on the provision that only one book per author was permitted in the top 21.
Best 25 Irish books of the 21st century: how readers voted
The Irish Times assembled a panel of 60 experts – authors, critics, academics, festival curators, booksellers and journalists – to decide the best Irish novels and short story collections of the years 2000-2025. The result was a ranked list of 100 works of fiction, with Milkman by Anna Burns (2018) decided as the best Irish book of the 21st century. We then asked readers to have their say on what they consider to be the best books from the top 25 – the result of which was quite different from our experts’ ranking.
Best American Fiction, 1981-2006
The Book New York Times Review's editor, Sam Tanenhaus, sent out a short letter to a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages, asking them to please identify "the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years."
Between Two Books
Between Two Books was started in 2012, when an Irish teen tweeted Florence with the idea that she should have her own book club. She was quickly joined by a small group of Florence and the Machine fans from all over the world. Florence loved the idea, started recommending books immediately, and BTB was born.
Biblioteca Argentina
The city of Buenos Aires asked 35 Argentine authors to mention their 10 favorite books. Authors include Roberto Fontanarrosa, Rodolfo Fogwill and Angelica Gorodischer. This list includes all books with more than one vote, ordered by total votes. Since 2016 the website is no longer maintained by the government, but can be accessed via Waybackmachine. The government has been promising to categorize all their audiovisual content related to literature and make it freely available, but it doesn't seem to be a priority.

Big Jubilee List
The Big Jubilee Read was a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of experts and announced by the BBC and The Reading Agency on 18 April 2022.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. Often considered to be one of the greatest songwriters in history, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. He rose to prominence in the 1960s, when songs such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. Initially modeling his style on Woody Guthrie's folk songs, Robert Johnson's blues and what he called the "architectural forms" of Hank Williams's country songs, Dylan added increasingly sophisticated lyrical techniques to the folk music of the early 1960s, infusing it "with the intellectualism of classic literature and poetry". His lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture. In 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. https://www.bobdylan.com/books/?filter=books-interest https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/bob-dylan-the-beat-generation-and-allen-ginsbergs-america
Bokkluben World's Library
In 2002 the editors of the Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute, polled a panel of 100 authors from 54 countries on what they considered the “best and most central works in world literature.” Among the authors polled were Milan Kundera, Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney, Salman Rushdie, Wole Soyinka, John Irving, Nadine Gordimer, and Carlos Fuentes. The list of 100 works appears alphabetically by author. Each writer had to select his or her own list of ten books. The books selected by this process and listed here are not ranked or categorized in any way; the organizers have stated that "they are all on an equal footing," with the exception of Don Quixote which was given the distinction "best literary work ever written."

Booker International
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland

Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, which was published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. In 2014, eligibility was widened to any English-language novel. https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/full-list-of-booker-prize-winners-shortlisted-and-longlisted-authors

Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel
The Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in horror writing for novels. https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/winners-nominees/

Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material

Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material

