10 Best Books of All Time to add to your reading list or share with others, you’ll enjoy this list of top ten books of all time, as voted by famous authors.
Sir Francis Bacon once said “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”
- Miss Lulu Bett
- The Heritage of the Desert
- Riders of the Purple Sage
- Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems
- The Moon and Sixpence
- The Magician
- Of Human Bondage
- Liza of Lambeth
- Vanity Fair
- The History of Henry Esmond
- Stubbs’s Calendar or The Fatal Boots
- Barry Lyndon
But with so little time to read so many books, how do we avoid reading bad books and find the great few books to read that “should be chewed and digested thoroughly?”
In the early 2000s, John Peder Zane—an American journalist—set out to answer this question.
Over a period of several years, Zane asked 125 famous authors to provide “a list, ranked, in order, of what you consider the ten greatest works of fiction of all time—novels, story collections, plays, or poems.” A few also picked some non-fiction works.
The illustrious group of famous authors who cast their votes included Stephen King, David Foster Wallace, Peter Carey, Kate Atkinson, Tom Wolfe, Carl Hiaasen, Norman Mailer, Annie Proulx, and more
Afterwards, each book was assigned points based on their ranking, and an overall ranked list was created and published in Zane’s book, Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books.
Whether you’re looking for great books to add to your reading list or share with others, you’ll enjoy this list of top ten books of all time, as voted by famous authors.
(Note: At the end, you’ll find the 10 greatest authors of all time. And btw Number one isn’t William Shakespeare).
The 10 Best Books of All Time
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, top 10 Best Books of All Time
Winner: Audible’s Best of 2016 – Classic
“Anna Karenina is one of my favorite books. But when I agreed to read it for Audible, I had no idea how much work it would be, how intense it would be, and how deeply I would fall in love with it. There were places where I thought ‘if I don’t give Alexey Alexandrovitch the respect that he deserves in my reading of this scene, a critical part of the book will be ruined. If I don’t give EVERYONE the utmost respect and understanding, I’m not doing justice to this brilliantly compassionate book.’ But at the same time, I also wanted to have a light touch in the way I played the different characters, so that the magnificence of the novel could shine through. I feel like performing this novel is one of the major accomplishments of my work life – it was so challenging and so deep, a real pleasure.” (Narrator Maggie Gyllenhaal)
Leo Tolstoy’s classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky. Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight, The Honourable Woman) cites Tolstoy’s epic as one of her favorite books of all time, and her love for the literature permeates her performance. Anna Karenina is a masterpiece not only because of the unforgettable woman at its core and the stark drama of her fate but also because it explores and illuminates the deepest questions about how to live a fulfilled life.
2. Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert
For daring to peer into the heart of an adulteress and enumerate its contents with profound dispassion, the author of Madame Bovary was tried for “offenses against morality and religion.” What shocks us today about Flaubert’s devastatingly realized tale of a young woman destroyed by the reckless pursuit of her romantic dreams is its pure artistry: the poise of its narrative structure, the opulence of its prose (marvelously captured in the English translation of Francis Steegmuller), and its creation of a world whose minor figures are as vital as its doomed heroine. In reading Madame Bovary, one experiences a work that remains genuinely revolutionary almost a century and a half after its creation.
3.The 10 Best Books of All Time – War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
* Beautifully illustrated with atmospheric paintings by renowned artists, Tolstoy’s epic masterpiece is considered one of the world’s greatest works of literature. Set in the early nineteenth century, War and Peace offers a deeply engrossing portrayal of the fortunes of five aristocratic families during the era of Napoleon’s catastrophic invasion of Russia.
* Just as accessible and enjoyable for today’s readers as it would have been when first published over a century ago, the novel continues to be widely read throughout the world.
* This meticulous digital edition is a faithful copy of the English language version of War and Peace translated by the Maude sisters and published in 1922.
4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov one of 10 Best Books of All Time
When it was published in 1955, Lolita immediately became a cause celebre because of the freedom and sophistication with which it handled the unusual erotic predilections of its protagonist. But Vladimir Nabokov’s wise, ironic, elegant masterpiece owes its stature as one of the 20th century’s novels of record not to the controversy its material aroused but to its author’s use of that material to tell a love story that is shocking in its beauty and tenderness.
Awe and exhilaration, along with heartbreak and mordant wit, abound in this account of the aging Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. But most of all, it is a meditation on love – as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Audible is pleased to announce the premiere of an exciting new series, Audible Signature Classics, featuring literature’s greatest stories, performed by accomplished stars handpicked for their ability to interpret each work in a new and refreshing way. The first book in the series is Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, performed by Elijah Wood.
Ernest Hemingway said, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn“. One hundred years after its author’s death, this classic remains remarkably modern and poignantly relevant. In this brand new edition, Elijah Wood reads Huck in a youthful voice that may be the closest interpretation to Twain’s original intent. His performance captures the excitement and confusion of adolescence and adventure. Best of all, the immediacy of Wood’s energetic reading sweeps listeners up and makes them feel as though they’re along for the ride, as Huck and Jim push their raft toward freedom.
Stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors Kenneth Branagh, David Hyde Pierce, Leelee Sobieski, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.
- Bedroom Book for Couples: 2 Books in 1 Dirty Talk and Sex Games
- Premature Ejaculation Goodbye: The 14 Most Effective Exercises
- Premature Ejaculation: The Ultimate Guide to Overcome PE Without Anxiety
- Learn How to Last Longer in Bed Cure PE
- How to Get Bigger Boobs: The Simple Things That Work
- How Not to Diet: The Science of Healthy, and Weight Loss
- Come, the Dark: A New Adult Paranormal Romance Novel
- The Kiss (Widows Club, Book 2) Kindle Edition
- The Duke Diaries (Royal Entourage Book 3)
- The Art of Duke Hunting (Royal Entourage Book 2)
- Never Be Alone Your heart will hurt, but this book will change you
6. The 10 Best Books of All Time Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Folger Shakespeare Library, The World’s Leading Center for Shakespeare Studies
The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, brings Hamlet to life with this new full-length, full-cast dramatic recording of its definitive Folger Edition.
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fizgerald
Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2014
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal’s performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby’s lavish West Egg parties – and of his undying love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.
After meeting and losing Daisy during the war, Gatsby has made himself fabulously wealthy. Now, he believes that his only way to true happiness is to find his way back into Daisy’s life, and he uses Nick to try to reach her. What happens when the characters’ fantasies are confronted with reality makes for a startling conclusion to this iconic masterpiece.
This special audio edition joins the recent film – as well as many other movie, radio, theater, and even video-game adaptations – as a fitting tribute to the cultural significance of Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age classic, widely regarded as one of the greatest stories ever told.
8. In Search of Lost Time (Dramatized)
A BBC Radio six-part dramatisation of Marcel Proust’s groundbreaking series of novels, tracing the extraordinary story of the author’s own life. Starring James Wilby and Jonathan Firth, and with a distinguished cast including Harriet Walter, Imogen Stubbs, and Corin Redgrave, this rich, multi-layered adaptation brings out all the variety and subtlety of Proust’s magnificent masterpiece.
Featuring a fictional version of himself – ‘Marcel’ – and a host of friends, acquaintances, and lovers, In Search of Lost Time is Proust’s search for the key to the mysteries of memory, time, and consciousness. As he recalls his childhood days, the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy, his transition to manhood, the tortures of love and the ravages of war, he realises that the simplest of discoveries can lead to astonishing possibilities.
9. The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, (1860-1904), was born in Russia at Taganrog on the Sea of Azov. His name has become synonymous with a certain literary style much admired and widely copied since his death. Typically, a Chekhov story is a “mood”, a state of mind, usually with regard to relations between one person and another. Under the influence of the constant, infinitesimal, and unforeseen pinpricks of life, there occurs a gradual transformation of that state of mind. His writing is at once fluid and precise. Most of his stories end on a minor note, instead of the dramatic flourish. Today, Chekhov is regarded as Russia’s greatest writer, and his narrative works continue to attract an ever wider circle of readers worldwide.
This volume includes the following unabridged works with music and sound effects:
- The Kiss
- The Two Volodyas
- The Lady with the Dog
- Fear
- The Darling
- Chameleon
- Oysters
Finally, “An Essay On The Life of Chekhov”, by Dimitri Mirsky, takes us on a tour of Chekhov’s life and career. This critically acclaimed work of scholarship is clearly and concisely written to bring into perspective the life
10. Middlemarch George Eliot
Exclusively from Audible
George Eliot’s most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community.
Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past.
As their stories interweave, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as ‘one of the few English novels written for adult people’. Middlemarch explores nearly all matters of concern to modern life, portraying an entire community and every class within it. Full of irony and suspense and even richer in character it shows how individual lives are shaped by and shape the community. Within Middlemarch, we find Eliot’s ability to expand the audience’s compassion and imagination.
George Eliot was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological insight. When Middlemarch was released Eliot was considered England’s finest living novelist with many critics still regarding this novel as the finest in English.
A BAFTA winning adaptation of Middlemarch aired as a television series in 1994.
Narrator Biography
Maureen is an English actress and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in Doctor Who where she starred alongside the original Doctor, William Hartnell. She then went on to appear in The Legend of King Arthur, Casualty, The Duchess of Duke Street, Taggart, Cracker, A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat and Jonathan Creek. In 1985 she made a rare film appearance in the comedy She’ll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas opposite Julie Walters.
Maureen has also appeared in a number of stage productions, for example, The Relapse (Old Vic), The Merchant of Venice (Old Vic), The Archbishop’s Ceiling (Bristol Old Vic) and Othello (Bristol Old Vic).