100 books to read in a lifetime
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100 Books to Read in a Lifetime

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  1. 1984: 75th Anniversary
    1984: 75th Anniversary
    George Orwell, Erich Fromm
    Mass Market Paperback
    $9.65 $10.99
    117,396
  2. A Brief History of Time
    A Brief History of Time
    Stephen Hawking
    Paperback
    $9.99 $18.00
    11,203
  3. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Pulitzer Prize Finalist
    A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Pulitzer Prize Finalist
    Dave Eggers
    Paperback
    $11.15 $19.00
    2,799
  4. Long Way Gone
    Long Way Gone
    Ishmael Beah
    Paperback
    $8.13 $16.00
    7,551
  5. The Bad Beginning: Or, Orphans! (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)
    The Bad Beginning: Or, Orphans! (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)
    Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist
    Paperback
    $7.79 $9.99
    9,684
  6. Wrinkle in Time, A (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, 1)
    Wrinkle in Time, A (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, 1)
    Madeleine L'Engle
    Paperback
    $7.43 $8.99
    28,297
  7. Selected Stories, 1968-1994
    Selected Stories, 1968-1994
    Alice Munro
    Paperback
    $17.40
    528
  8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Bantam Classics)
    Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Bantam Classics)
    Lewis Carroll
    Paperback
    $5.53
    5,945
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  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1
    Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 1
    Jeff Kinney
    Hardcover
    $11.24 $13.95
    30,155
  2. Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
    Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
    Frank Herbert
    Paperback
    $7.76 $18.00
    100,154
  3. Fahrenheit 451
    Fahrenheit 451
    Ray Bradbury
    Paperback
    $8.00 $17.00
    55,406
  4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
    Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Steadman
    Paperback
    $9.98 $18.00
    10,810
  5. Gone Girl
    Gone Girl
    Gillian Flynn
    Paperback
    $11.46 $18.00
    165,700
  6. Goodnight Moon
    Goodnight Moon
    Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd
    Hardcover
    $12.59 $21.99
    4,431
  7. Great Expectations (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
    Great Expectations (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
    Charles Dickens
    Paperback
    $5.29 $8.00
    860
  8. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
    Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
    Jared Diamond Ph.D.
    Hardcover
    $12.53 $29.95
    13,990
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  1. Me Talk Pretty One Day
    Me Talk Pretty One Day
    David Sedaris
    Paperback
    $10.99 $19.99
    9,343
  2. Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
    Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
    Jeffrey Eugenides
    Paperback
    $9.68 $20.00
    12,773
  3. Midnight's Children: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
    Midnight's Children: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
    Salman Rushdie
    Paperback
    $10.99 $19.00
    6,568
  4. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
    Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
    Michael Lewis
    Paperback
    $4.56 $17.95
    7,181
  5. Of Human Bondage (Bantam Classics)
    Of Human Bondage (Bantam Classics)
    W. Somerset Maugham, Jane Smiley
    Mass Market Paperback
    $5.53
    3,403
  6. Out of Africa (Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books)
    Out of Africa (Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books)
    Isak Dinesen
    Hardcover
    $14.89 $26.00
    1,842
  7. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
    Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
    Marjane Satrapi
    Paperback
    $8.44 $16.00
    6,350
  8. Portnoy's Complaint
    Portnoy's Complaint
    Philip Roth
    Paperback
    $14.71 $16.95
    3,096
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  1. The Corrections: A Novel
    The Corrections: A Novel
    Jonathan Franzen
    Paperback
    $13.68 $20.00
    6,682
  2. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
    The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
    Erik Larson
    Paperback
    $7.68 $19.00
    28,911
  3. The Diary of a Young Girl
    The Diary of a Young Girl
    Anne Frank, Otto H. Frank, Mirjam Pressler, Susan Massotty, Francine Prose
    Hardcover
    $20.37 $28.00
    50,559
  4. The Fault in Our Stars
    The Fault in Our Stars
    John Green
    Paperback
    $8.18 $14.99
    162,028
  5. The Giver
    The Giver
    Lois Lowry
    Paperback
    $17.84
    43,457
  6. The Great Gatsby: The Only Authorized Edition
    The Great Gatsby: The Only Authorized Edition
    F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Paperback
    $7.08 $17.00
    18,012
  7. The Handmaid's Tale
    The Handmaid's Tale
    Margaret Atwood
    Paperback
    $8.95 $18.00
    166,620
  8. The House at Pooh Corner (Winnie-the-Pooh)
    The House at Pooh Corner (Winnie-the-Pooh)
    A. A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard
    Paperback
    $6.76 $8.99
    1,275
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  1. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel
    The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel
    Barbara Kingsolver
    Paperback
    $16.60 $22.99
    18,190
  2. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
    The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
    Robert A. Caro
    Paperback
    $18.81 $27.00
    2,630
  3. The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
    The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
    Cormac McCarthy
    Paperback
    $7.57 $18.00
    33,830
  4. The Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick
    The Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick
    Donna Tartt
    Paperback
    $9.08 $18.00
    45,966
  5. The Shining
    The Shining
    Stephen King
    Mass Market Paperback
    $7.50 $9.99
    48,419
  6. The Stranger
    The Stranger
    Albert Camus, Matthew Ward
    Paperback
    $6.06 $16.00
    13,470
  7. The Sun Also Rises: The Authorized Edition
    The Sun Also Rises: The Authorized Edition
    Ernest Hemingway
    Paperback
    $8.89 $17.00
    14,877
  8. The Things They Carried
    The Things They Carried
    Tim O'Brien
    Paperback
    $9.99 $18.99
    15,309
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100 books to read in a lifetime
100 children's books to read in a lifetime
100 science fiction and fantasy books
100 biographies and memoirs
100 young adult books
100 mysteries and thrillers
100 cookbooks
100 leadership and success books

So many books, so little time. With this in mind, the Amazon Books editors set out to compile a list of 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime. We had a few goals when we started out: We wanted the list to cover all stages of a life (which is why you'll find children's books in here), and we didn't want the list to feel like homework. Of course, no such list can be comprehensive – our lives, we hope, are long and varied – but we talked and argued and sifted and argued some more and came up with a list, our list, of favorites. What do you think? How did we do?