Skip to main content

New York Public Library's Books of the Century

Based on bookaward: New York Public Library's Books of the Century

1 2

Rank Title Author Added CK Order

1

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

83,085 members

1,306 reviews

3.8

13 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

2

Nineteen Eighty-Four

by George Orwell

94,524 members

1,452 reviews

4.2

10 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, aulsmith, roby72, desertbloom, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

3

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley

61,650 members

871 reviews

3.9

11 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

4

by Ray Bradbury

63,588 members

1,142 reviews

4

11 Members: hipdeep, Rtrace, smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, lowtalker, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

5

The Metamorphosis [novella]

15,271 members

278 reviews

3.9

9 Members: smcwl, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, Saultimate, ManWithAnAgenda, MyFathersDragon

6

To Kill a Mockingbird

90,203 members

1,559 reviews

½ 4.4

9 Members: hipdeep, Rtrace, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

7

The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

77,316 members

1,199 reviews

3.8

10 Members: smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, Saultimate, ManWithAnAgenda,cej1027

8

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum

26,714 members

479 reviews

3.9

9 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, roby72, merrystar, jasmaynard, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

9

by J. R. R. Tolkien

107,778 members

1,301 reviews

½ 4.3

8 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963, lowtalker, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

10

The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

39,252 members

520 reviews

4.1

9 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, roby72, desertbloom, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, cej1027, ManWithAnAgenda

11

by George Bernard Shaw

7,722 members

95 reviews

3.9

8 Members: staffordcastle, smcwl, roby72, jasmaynard, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, lowtalker

12

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

13,576 members

245 reviews

4.1

9 Members: staffordcastle, smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, cej1027, ahef1963

13

Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

by Samuel Beckett

14,662 members

189 reviews

3.9

9 Members: hipdeep, roby72, merrystar, jasmaynard, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, MyFathersDragon

14

27,523 members

377 reviews

4

6 Members: roby72, desertbloom, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963

15

by Albert Camus

40,965 members

581 reviews

3.9

8 Members: smcwl, roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, Saultimate, ManWithAnAgenda

16

A Passage to India

by E. M. Forster

13,911 members

168 reviews

3.8

8 Members: aprille, smcwl, roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

17

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

50,253 members

782 reviews

4.2

7 Members: roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, lowtalker

18

The Cat in the Hat

25,359 members

564 reviews

4.2

8 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, merrystar, jasmaynard, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

19

The Turn of the Screw

9,458 members

296 reviews

½ 3.4

8 Members: Rtrace, roby72, jasmaynard, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, lowtalker, ManWithAnAgenda

20

Winnie-the-Pooh

16,018 members

223 reviews

½ 4.3

8 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

21

In Search of Lost Time

by Marcel Proust

4,374 members

50 reviews

½ 4.6

5 Members: aprille, roby72, desertbloom, thecoroner, alex68

22

The Age of Innocence

by Edith Wharton

15,855 members

336 reviews

4

8 Members: smcwl, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963

23

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

48,540 members

1,238 reviews

4.1

7 Members: Rtrace, roby72, desertbloom, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

24

Where the Wild Things Are

by Maurice Sendak

31,141 members

1,522 reviews

½ 4.3

7 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, merrystar, jasmaynard, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

25

To the Lighthouse

by Virginia Woolf

20,362 members

312 reviews

3.9

6 Members: roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

26

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

54,157 members

855 reviews

4.1

7 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

27

by Truman Capote

26,954 members

518 reviews

4.1

7 Members: Rtrace, roby72, desertbloom, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

28

Charlotte's Web

41,630 members

1,070 reviews

4.2

6 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, merrystar, jasmaynard, cej1027, ahef1963

29

All Quiet on the Western Front

by Erich Maria Remarque

22,134 members

441 reviews

4.1

7 Members: hipdeep, roby72, desertbloom, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1

30

The Inimitable Jeeves

by P. G. Wodehouse

3,862 members

93 reviews

4

6 Members: aprille, hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, merrystar, ahef1963

31

The Interpretation of Dreams

by Sigmund Freud

6,279 members

56 reviews

½ 3.5

6 Members: aprille, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963, MyFathersDragon

32

by Raymond Chandler

11,559 members

315 reviews

4

7 Members: roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

33

The Hound of the Baskervilles

by Arthur Conan Doyle

17,954 members

342 reviews

3.9

7 Members: staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, roby72, merrystar, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

34

by Margaret Wise Brown

23,017 members

751 reviews

4.2

6 Members: staffordcastle, merrystar, jasmaynard, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

35

Stranger in a Strange Land

by Robert A. Heinlein

12,175 members

180 reviews

3.8

6 Members: aprille, staffordcastle, Rtrace, smcwl, merrystar, ManWithAnAgenda

36

by Jorge Luis Borges

8,902 members

134 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: roby72, merrystar, thecoroner, alex68

37

The Magic Mountain

11,261 members

195 reviews

4.2

4 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, MyFathersDragon

38

41,522 members

685 reviews

4

6 Members: hipdeep, staffordcastle, Rtrace, Bretzky1, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

39

by Ezra Jack Keats

19,755 members

798 reviews

4.2

5 Members: hipdeep, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

40

Six Characters in Search of an Author

by Luigi Pirandello

1,658 members

38 reviews

3.8

5 Members: aprille, roby72, thecoroner, alex68, ahef1963

41

Sarah, Plain and Tall

by Patricia MacLachlan

13,905 members

307 reviews

3.8

5 Members: aprille, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

42

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

23,421 members

461 reviews

3.8

5 Members: roby72, Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

43

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

28,740 members

416 reviews

4

5 Members: Rtrace, roby72, alex68, ahef1963, MyFathersDragon

44

Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version

2,595 members

13 reviews

4

5 Members: hipdeep, smcwl, desertbloom, cej1027, ahef1963

45

The Complete Maus

by Art Spiegelman

10,787 members

286 reviews

½ 4.5

4 Members: hipdeep, cej1027, ManWithAnAgenda, MyFathersDragon

46

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

by Beatrix Potter

15,230 members

193 reviews

4.1

5 Members: staffordcastle, smcwl, merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963

47

by Vladimir Nabokov

35,382 members

636 reviews

4.1

5 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1, ManWithAnAgenda,cej1027

48

by Simone de Beauvoir

2,951 members

22 reviews

4.1

4 Members: aprille, roby72, thecoroner, alex68

49

by Ralph Ellison

18,452 members

232 reviews

4

6 Members: hipdeep, roby72, desertbloom, thecoroner, alex68, Bretzky1,merrystar

50

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

by Agatha Christie

11,040 members

352 reviews

3.8

4 Members: aprille, staffordcastle, merrystar, ahef1963

51

by Joseph Heller

44,453 members

579 reviews

4.1

4 Members: hipdeep, roby72, thecoroner, Bretzky1

52

The Golden Notebook

by Doris Lessing

6,010 members

99 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: smcwl, roby72, thecoroner, alex68

53

The Meaning of Relativity

by Albert Einstein

848 members

5 reviews

3.9

4 Members: aprille, smcwl, desertbloom, MyFathersDragon

54

2,435 members

47 reviews

4.1

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, desertbloom, cej1027

55

1,179 members

25 reviews

4

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

56

by John Dos Passos

1,709 members

14 reviews

4

4 Members: aprille, roby72, thecoroner, alex68

57

And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

by Randy Shilts

3,271 members

63 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, smcwl, jasmaynard

58

For Whom the Bell Tolls

by Ernest Hemingway

21,619 members

223 reviews

3.9

5 Members: staffordcastle, desertbloom, merrystar, Bretzky1, ahef1963,thecoroner

59

The Time Machine

20,290 members

385 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: Rtrace, roby72, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,thecoroner

60

Wide Sargasso Sea

9,497 members

274 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: Bretzky1, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

61

Portnoy's Complaint

8,039 members

160 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: smcwl, roby72, thecoroner, ahef1963

62

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

18,484 members

482 reviews

½ 4.3

4 Members: smcwl, desertbloom, merrystar, ahef1963,thecoroner

63

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

10,498 members

149 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: aprille, desertbloom, MyFathersDragon

64

My Fight for Birth Control

by Margaret Sanger

15 members

4

2 Members: aprille, ManWithAnAgenda

65

by Marguerite Duras

6,108 members

168 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: thecoroner, alex68, ManWithAnAgenda

66

24,698 members

429 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: aprille, jasmaynard, Bretzky1

67

12,951 members

240 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: Bretzky1, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

68

How to Win Friends & Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

16,517 members

200 reviews

4

3 Members: aprille, smcwl, jasmaynard

69

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

9,310 members

127 reviews

½ 4.3

4 Members: desertbloom, cej1027, ahef1963, MyFathersDragon,roby72

70

The Innocence of Father Brown

by G. K. Chesterton

2,254 members

62 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: merrystar, cej1027, ahef1963

71

Cry, the Beloved Country

10,601 members

193 reviews

4

2 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963

72

The Good Soldier Švejk

by Jaroslav Hašek

3,970 members

72 reviews

4

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, alex68

73

Joy of Cooking [1931]: A Facsimile of the First Edition 1931

by Irma S. Rombauer

129 members

1 review

3.9

3 Members: hipdeep, desertbloom, merrystar

74

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA

by James D. Watson

3,306 members

50 reviews

3.8

3 Members: smcwl, ahef1963, MyFathersDragon

75

by Kahlil Gibran

16,423 members

193 reviews

4.1

3 Members: aprille, roby72, ahef1963

76

by Rudyard Kipling

10,234 members

219 reviews

3.8

4 Members: aprille, staffordcastle, desertbloom, ahef1963,thecoroner

77

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

11,434 members

144 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: hipdeep, smcwl, ahef1963

78

Gone with the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

26,101 members

477 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: roby72, desertbloom, merrystar

79

by Jack Kerouac

30,489 members

425 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: roby72, thecoroner, Bretzky1

80

The Story of My Life

by Helen Keller

5,997 members

64 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, smcwl, merrystar

81

Coming of Age in Samoa

by Margaret Mead

1,510 members

19 reviews

½ 3.5

3 Members: aprille, staffordcastle, ahef1963

82

by Anton Chekhov

1,180 members

19 reviews

3.8

3 Members: aprille, roby72, merrystar

83

Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care

by Benjamin Spock

1,215 members

8 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: aprille, staffordcastle, ahef1963

84

by Grace Metalious

1,853 members

40 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: aprille, ManWithAnAgenda

85

by James Hilton

4,475 members

109 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aprille, ManWithAnAgenda

86

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

22,653 members

370 reviews

4.1

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

87

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

26,785 members

320 reviews

4.1

3 Members: hipdeep, smcwl, ahef1963,thecoroner

88

The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

6,180 members

165 reviews

½ 4.4

2 Members: hipdeep, jasmaynard

89

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Other Writings

723 members

1 review

½ 3.7

2 Members: aprille, jasmaynard

90

Shadows on the Rock

by Willa Cather

1,022 members

27 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aprille, desertbloom

91

The Portable Faulkner: Revised and Expanded Edition

by William Faulkner

687 members

6 reviews

4.2

2 Members: aprille, desertbloom

92

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Maya Angelou

17,597 members

260 reviews

4

2 Members: desertbloom, merrystar

93

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories [Dover]

1,861 members

11 reviews

4

2 Members: ahef1963, MyFathersDragon

94

Dust Tracks on a Road

by Zora Neale Hurston

1,590 members

19 reviews

4

2 Members: hipdeep, smcwl

95

by Joseph Conrad

10,184 members

128 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: roby72, desertbloom

96

by Stephen King

17,301 members

342 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963

97

The Day of the Locust

by Nathanael West

2,082 members

58 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

98

The Wild Swans of Coole and other poems

by William Butler Yeats

98 members

5 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963

99

The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales

by Bruno Bettelheim

3,531 members

33 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: smcwl, ahef1963

100

The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon

by Siegfried Sassoon

111 members

2 reviews

3.9

2 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963

1 2

About This List

Started: roby72
October 2013
Type: Numbered and unnumbered

Related Lists

Great Short Books: A Year of Reading-Briefly

Classics Reading List

Le Monde - Les 100 livres du siècle

My list of 100 books to read next

Best First Lines

Readable Classics

1,001 BYMRBYD Concensus

Recommended Literary Books

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

20th century (13,989) American (6,839) American literature (11,518) biography (4,880) children's (7,321) classic (33,029) classics (33,534) dystopia (12,487) fantasy (26,589) fiction (141,818) historical fiction (7,084) history (10,113) horror (5,805) literature (24,389) mystery (4,878) non-fiction (17,484) novel (24,103) own (6,427) philosophy (7,757) picture book (4,849) read (20,660) science fiction (23,245) to-read (69,797) unread (4,885) WWII (6,296)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson