100 Superb Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lives

We all have a few books that we especially love and appreciate. We keep coming back to them for comfort and wisdom. But every once in awhile, it’s good to branch out and try adding a few new volumes to your collection.

Look no further. We brought you a list of 100 of the most extraordinary books, compiled by the BBC. Get ready, aim, read!

A

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
• American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
• Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

B

• Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
• The Beach by Alex Garland
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
• The BFG or Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl
• Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

C

• Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
• The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

D

• Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
• The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
• The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

E

• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Emma by Jane Austen

F

• Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
• Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
• The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye
• Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews

G

• George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
• Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson
• Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson
• Girls Out Late by Jacqueline Wilson
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

H

• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I

• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson
• It by Stephen King

J

• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach
• Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

K

• Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
• Katherine by Anya Seton
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling

L

• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Clive Staples Lewis
• The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson

M

• Magician by Raymond E Feist
• The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
• The Magus by John Fowles
• Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
• Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

N

• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
• Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
• Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

O

• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac

P

• Papillon by Henri Charriere
• Perfume by Patrick Süskind
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

R

• The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
• Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• River God by Wilbur Smith

S

• Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
• The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
• Shogun by James Clavell
• Silas Marner by George Eliot
• Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

T

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• They Used to Play on Grass by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
• Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
• The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
• The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough

U

• Ulysses by James Joyce
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

V

• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson

W

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
• Watership Down by Richard Adams
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• Winnie the Pooh by Alan Alexander Milne
• The Witches by Roald Dahl
• Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• The World According to Garp by John Irving
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

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• 1984 by George Orwell