If you go to the article, you can sort the books alphabetically, by date, and generally play. This was written before the final selection was made of the top vote getter — “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/the-100-books-on-the-great-american-read-list/
The 100 Books on the Great American Read List

America’s Best-Loved Novel will be chosen by viewers like you based on The Great American Read top 100 books list. The top 100 books were chosen through a survey of Americans conducted by PBS, The Great American Read and a polling service (more on that selection process below). The books chosen could be from anywhere in the world as long as they were published in English – the only requirement was that they be fiction. From beloved world literature to contemporary bestsellers, the list contains a broad range of novels, authors, time periods, countries, genres and subject matter.
Let us know what you think of the list in the comments below and share your favorite novel. Vote for your favorite on the list here.
America’s Best-Loved Books
You can sort this list by title, last name of author, year published, or genre by clicking the arrow above the upper righthand corner of each column. Download a printable checklist of the 100 books.
|
Title
|
Author
|
Year
|
Genre
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Orwell, George | 1949 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| A Confederacy of Dunces | Toole, John Kennedy | 1980 | Literary |
| A Prayer for Owen Meany | Irving, John | 1989 | Literary |
| A Separate Peace | Knowles, John | 1959 | Young Adult |
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Smith, Betty | 1943 | Classic |
| Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The | Twain, Mark | 1876 | Classic |
| Alchemist, The | Coelho, Paulo | 1988 | Inspirational |
| Alex Cross Mysteries (series) | Patterson, James | 1993 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Alice in Wonderland | Carroll, Lewis | 1865 | Classic |
| Americanah | Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi | 2013 | Literary |
| And Then There Were None | Christie, Agatha | 1939 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Anne of Green Gables | Montgomery, Lucy Maud | 1908 | Young Adult |
| Another Country | Baldwin, James | 1962 | Classic |
| Atlas Shrugged | Rand, Ayn | 1957 | Classic |
| Beloved | Morrison, Toni | 1987 | Classic |
| Bless Me, Ultima | Anaya, Rudolfo | 1972 | Classic |
| Book Thief, The | Zusak, Markus | 2005 | Young Adult, Historical |
| Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, The | Diaz, Junot | 2007 | Literary |
| Call of the Wild | London, Jack | 1903 | Young Adult, Adventure |
| Catch 22 | Heller, Joseph | 1961 | Classic |
| Catcher in the Rye, The | Salinger, J.D. | 1951 | Classic |
| Charlotte’s Web | White, E. B. | 1952 | Classic |
| Chronicles of Narnia, The (series) | Lewis, C.S. | 1950 | Classic, Adventure |
| Clan of the Cave Bear | Auel, Jean M. | 1980 | Historical |
| Coldest Winter Ever, The | Sister Soulja | 1999 | Literary |
| Color Purple, The | Walker, Alice | 1982 | Classic |
| Count of Monte Cristo, The | Dumas, Alexandre | 1844 | Classic |
| Crime and Punishment | Dostoyevsky, Fyodor | 1866 | Classic |
| Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, The | Haddon, Mark | 2003 | Young Adult |
| Da Vinci Code, The | Brown, Dan | 2003 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Don Quixote | de Cervantes, Miguel | 1605 | Classic |
| Doña Bárbara | Gallegos, Romulo | 1929 | Classic |
| Dune | Herbert, Frank | 1965 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Fifty Shades of Grey (series) | James, E.L. | 2011 | Romance |
| Flowers in the Attic | Andrews, V.C. | 1979 | Horror |
| Foundation (series) | Asimov, Issac | 1951 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Frankenstein | Shelley, Mary | 1818 | Classic, Horror |
| Game of Thrones (series) | Martin, George R. R. | 1996 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Adventure |
| Ghost | Reynolds, Jason | 2016 | Young Adult |
| Gilead | Robinson, Marilyn | 2004 | Literary |
| Giver, The | Lowry, Lois | 1993 | Young Adult |
| Godfather, The | Puzo, Mario | 1969 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Gone Girl | Flynn, Gillian | 2012 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Gone With the Wind | Mitchell, Margaret | 1936 | Classic |
| Grapes of Wrath, The | Steinbeck, John | 1939 | Classic |
| Great Expectations | Dickens, Charles | 1861 | Classic |
| Great Gatsby, The | Fitzgerald, F. Scott | 1925 | Classic |
| Gulliver’s Travels | Swift, Jonathan | 1726 | Classic, Adventure |
| Handmaid’s Tale, The | Atwood, Margaret | 1985 | Literary |
| Harry Potter (series) | Rowling, J.K. | 1997 | Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Hatchet (series) | Paulsen, Gary | 1987 | Young Adult, Adventure |
| Heart of Darkness | Conrad, Joseph | 1902 | Classic |
| Help, The | Stockett, Kathryn | 2009 | Historical |
| Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy | Adams, Douglas | 1979 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Hunger Games, The (series) | Collins, Suzanne | 2008 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Young Adult |
| Hunt for Red October, The | Clancy, Tom | 1984 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller/ |
| Intuitionist, The | Whitehead, Colson | 1999 | Literary |
| Invisible Man | Ellison, Ralph | 1953 | Classic |
| Jane Eyre | Bronte, Charlotte | 1847 | Classic, Romance |
| Joy Luck Club, The | Tan, Amy | 1989 | Literary |
| Jurassic Park | Crichton, Michael | 1990 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Left Behind (series) | LaHaye, Tim / Jenkins, Jerry B. | 1995 | Inspirational, Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Little Prince, The | de Saint-Exupery, Antoine | 1943 | Classic |
| Little Women | Alcott, Louisa May | 1868 | Classic |
| Lonesome Dove | McMurtry, Larry | 1985 | Adventure |
| Looking for Alaska | Green, John | 2005 | Young Adult |
| Lord of the Rings, The (series) | Tolkien, J.R.R. | 1954 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Lovely Bones, The | Sebold, Alice | 2002 | Literary |
| Martian, The | Weir, Andy | 2014 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Memoirs of a Geisha | Golden, Arthur | 1997 | Literary |
| Mind Invaders | Hunt, Dave | 1989 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Inspirational |
| Moby Dick | Melville, Herman | 1851 | Classic |
| Notebook, The | Sparks, Nicholas | 1996 | Romance |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude | Garcia Marquez, Gabriel | 1967 | Classic |
| Outlander (series) | Gabaldon, Diana | 1991 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Outsiders, The | Hinton, S.E. | 1967 | Young Adult |
| Picture of Dorian Gray | Wilde, Oscar | 1890 | Classic |
| Pilgrim’s Progress, The | Bunyan, John | 1678 | Classic |
| Pillars of the Earth | Follett, Ken | 1989 | Historical |
| Pride and Prejudice | Austen, Jane | 1813 | Classic |
| Ready Player One | Cline, Ernest | 2011 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Rebecca | du Maurier, Daphne | 1938 | Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Shack, The | Young, William P. | 2007 | Inspirational, Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| Siddhartha | Hesse, Hermann | 1922 | Classic |
| Sirens of Titan, The | Vonnegut, Kurt | 1959 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Stand, The | King, Stephen | 1978 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror |
| Sun Also Rises, The | Hemingway, Ernest | 1926 | Classic |
| Swan Song | McCammon, Robert R. | 1987 | Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Tales of the City (series) | Maupin, Armistead | 1978 | Literary |
| Their Eyes Were Watching God | Hurston, Zora Neale | 1937 | Classic |
| Things Fall Apart | Achebe, Chinua | 1958 | Classic |
| This Present Darkness | Peretti, Frank E. | 1986 | Inspirational, Mystery/Crime/Thriller |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | Lee, Harper | 1960 | Classic |
| Twilight Saga (series) | Meyer, Stephanie | 2005 | Young Adult, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance |
| War and Peace | Tolstoy, Leo | 1869 | Classic |
| Watchers, The | Koontz, Dean | 1987 | Mystery |
| Wheel of Time, The (series) | Jordan, Robert | 1990 | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Where the Red Fern Grows | Rawls, Wilson | 1961 | Young Adult |
| White Teeth | Smith, Zadie | 2000 | Literary |
| Wuthering Heights | Bronte, Emily | 1847 | Classic |
How the Novels Were Chosen
The novels on the top 100 list were chosen by the American public in a specially commissioned, demographically and statistically representative survey conducted by public opinion polling service YouGov. The Great American Read’s advisory panel, composed of 13 literary professionals, used their collective expertise to establish basic ground rules, break ties and maximize list variety. Panel members were not permitted to add books not already included in the larger survey results book list.
Read, share and Vote for Your Favorite Novel
People across America are re-visiting their favorite books on The Great American Read top 100 books list, and using the list for reading recommendations. We’ve put some of titles into six summer reading lists, based on the different ways people like to spend the season.