OKAY SO YOU'RE just making up your To Be Read list and want to add some of the best books to read ever.
You might’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately and are looking for some gripping books that will reignite your love for fiction.
Or perhaps you're a newbie who has just started to hunt out fresh reads and are looking for book recommendations on the most popular stories you've never read.
But what if you can’t fit making a TBR list into your already jam-packed schedule? Or you’re just lost and overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of books online. Or what if you really just want to read more, but don’t want to spend too much money on a book you’ll loathe then have to slog your way through it.
Well, after weeks of combing through tips, hints and recommendations here’s my list of 24 of the best books of all time. I’ve tried to add as much variety as possible, so if you’re looking for the top books you must read right now then just check out the non-affiliated links below!
The 24 Best Books To Read of all Time
A SUITABLE BOY by Vikram Seth
An epic love story set in India, this is a classic tale of nineteen-year-old Lata and her attempts to find a suitable husband in a newly independent and post-partition India.
Amidst growing Hindu-Muslim tensions, Lata is forced to make a choice between her suitors Kabir, Haresh and Amit.
Will Lata go against her Hindu family’s wishes and follow her heart, or will she follow her head and choose a good marriage?
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
In a West African world of magic and legend, Arrah is born from a long line of powerful witchdoctors. But to her mother’s disappointment she has no magic, nor can she cast the simplest spell.
When Arrah sees visions of the Demon King’s return and the kingdom’s children start to disappear, she must go through the perilous task of acquiring magic.
Will Arrah gain enough power to save her whole kingdom? Or will she pay the ultimate price?
Americanah by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie
Teenagers Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love during a military dictatorship in Nigeria. Forced to flee for their lives, Ifemulu heads to America where Obinze hopes to join her.
But as Ifemelu adjusts to her new home, a post 9/11 America prevents Obinze from following and he falls into the perilous world of undocumented status in London.
When Obinze finally finds his feet in a newly democratic Nigeria, will the young lovers see each other again?
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
In 1967, during China’s Cultural Revolution, Ye Wenjie witnessed Red Guards beating her father to death.
Four decades later as a civilization from a nearby star-system threatens earth, Beijing detective Shi Qiang and nanotech professor Wang Miao investigate a spate of inexplicable deaths.
They discover a mysterious online game set in a world ruled by the trajectories of three suns. Does it hold the key to saving the world, or will humanity be wiped out by a more advanced race?
The Shining by Stephen King
Struggling writer and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrence accepts a position as caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. His wife joins him along with his son Danny, whose psychic abilities trigger the hotel’s past.
As a blizzard cuts the hotel off, Danny starts to see terrifying visions and soon horrors from the past become immediate threats.
Will Jack break free of the hotel’s evil forces, or will ghosts of the past destroy his sanity and his family?
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Anne Elliot is 27-years-old when her family moves house to get out of debt. There she meets Captain Frederick Wentworth—a man she was engaged to seven years ago.
Anne realises she still loves him, but the captain has not yet forgiven her for breaking his heart.
As he grows closer to the lively Louisa Musgrove and Anne catches the eye of rival gentleman William Elliot, will the pair ever rekindle their love again?
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
A classic collection of twenty-six short atmospheric stories, Bradbury weaves a touching vision of the future colonisation of Mars.
From the intensely funny to the poignantly beautiful, each story serves as a snapshot of our future in space, written under the spectre of nuclear war.
Exploring the human inclination to leave the familiar for new opportunities, these stories pose the question: Will humanity make the same mistakes?
Gingerbread by Helen Oyememi
Harriet lives with her daughter Perdita, in a magical flat at the top of a London tower block. A hard-working mother, she tries to win over the Parent’s Association at school by baking her famous gingerbread.
But as Harriet is turned down and Perdita is rushed to hospital, she tells the teenager of her homeland Druhástrana.
Perdita then sets out to find her mother’s lost childhood friend. But does Druhástrana exist, or is it a figment of Harriet’s imagination?
Possession by A.S. Byatt
When a pair of young academics, Roland Michell and Maud Bailey investigate the secret love lives of two fictional Victorian poets, they follow a trail which leads them from London to Brittany’s enchanted shores.
But as they work together to find clues about the poets’ relationship, they soon uncover a web of passion, tragedy and lies.
Will they unearth the truth about the famous poets’ romance or will rival colleagues discover their secrets first?
Kulti by Mariana Zapata
It is a dream come true for professional footballer Sal Casilla when her childhood idol, international football icon Reiner Kulti, becomes the coach of her football club the Pipers.
But after training starts, disillusionment sets in when she discovers that the star has grown distant, cold and harsh.
Does Sal resign herself to sitting on the sidelines, or does she strive to surpass herself on the field to inspire the man she worships?
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
When new patient McMurphy swaggers into an Oregon State mental ward, he joins inmates numbed by medication or the threat of electroshock therapy.
So when he clashes with Nurse Ratchet who rules the ward with an iron fist, McMurphy heroically struggles to overthrow the power that keeps them under lock and key.
Seen through the eyes of the mute Chief Bromden, does McMurphy succeed in breaking free or does he break under Ratchet’s regime?
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
During a civil war in twelfth century England, mason Tom Builder meets monk Philip and they embark on a quest for power in a world torn apart by strife.
Their joint ambition is to build a mighty cathedral in Kingsbridge, but rivals, poverty and even natural forces conspire to thwart their plans.
Will the pair struggle to make their dream become a reality or will their towering vision finally crumble and fall?
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
Two high-schoolers, Sonny and Duane, are friends who live in a small 1950s town in Texas.
With nothing else to do but kill time at the picture house, they are soon drawn towards temptations of the adult world.
As the teenagers take their first steps towards maturity, joined by Jacy whose mother struggles to keep her on the straight and narrow, will the teens make the right choices or learn from the school of hard knocks?
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
In a Korean fishing village, a club-footed and cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year old girl and they have a daughter called Sunja.
But when Sunja falls pregnant by a married Yakuza the family faces disgrace, until Isak a Christian minister offers Sunja a new life in Japan as his wife.
She follows her husband abroad but unable to speak the language and with no friends or home, what fate lies in store for Sunja and her family?
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Fifty years ago,Fermina Daza turned down the lovestruck Florentino Ariza and married Dr. Juvenal Urbino instead. Florentino has wooed many a heart since but his own still belongs to Fermina.
However when her husband dies trying to rescue his pet parrot, Florentino seizes the opportunity to confess his undying love.
But as Fermina and Florentino approach their twilight years, will love dawn afresh or will his passion remain forever unrequited?
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Wallerton
In Madison County during the sixties, farmer’s wife Francesca Johnson meets Robert Kincaid, a photographer from Washington while her family are away at the State Fair.
The couple fall in love in the midst of an Iowan summer and must deal with the guilt and desperation of their affair.
Does Francesca leave her husband and children to face the county’s scorn or do everyday commitments threaten to tear the lovers apart?
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Miryem is daughter to a moneylender too soft-hearted to collect his debts. As her family faces poverty, she collects in his place but as her success grows draws the attention of the Fairy King.
Meanwhile a duke schemes to wed his daughter Irina to a dashing tsar who is not all he seems.
Joined by a farmer’s daughter trying to escape her drunken father, the three must make deadly choices, but will they succeed against impossible odds?
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Whenever Toru Watanabe hears the favourite Beatles song of his first love Naoko, it takes him back to his student days in Tokyo.
Unfortunately Naoko was also the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki and Toru finds himself having to navigate love and loss, until he meets an impulsive young woman called Midori.
Toru is then forced to make the ultimate choice: Either stride towards the future or remain haunted by the ghosts of the past.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield is staying in a Californian institution, having been expelled from boarding school due to failing his classes.
After dealing with disappointments, troubled relationships and humiliations, he finally seeks out his sister Phoebe—the only person he feels comfortable revealing his true feelings to.
But does Holden ever get over his aimlessness and general disdain about life, or does he finally find something to care about?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jeanette
Reclusive fifties’ Hollywood star, Evelyn Hugo, is ready to lift the veil on a life filled with glamour and scandal. But why does she choose unknown journalist Monique Grant and why now?
Monique’s husband has just left her and her career has reached a dead end, so she dare not let this opportunity slip through her fingers.
But as she hears the star’s story, does Monique discover who Hugo’s true love is or how their worlds collide?
Blindness by Jose Saramago
A man in traffic is struck by a sudden white blindness, which goes on to spread rapidly in a city-wide epidemic.
Soon a group of characters, from a doctor’s wife to her husband and his patients are thrown together as society starts to unravel.
As they are forced to band together against widespread panic, does the impromptu family survive the government’s repressive attempts to keep order? Or do they start to turn on each other?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
When Elizabeth Bennet meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, he strikes her as being proud and arrogant. Meanwhile he remains unmoved by her attractive looks and quick wit.
Then she discovers Mr. Darcy has thwarted the blossoming relationship between her sister Jane and Mr. Bingley. Worse still, he then has the nerve to propose to Elizabeth!
Does she turn down Mr. Darcy’s hand in marriage or will the gentleman atone for his errors and finally win her around.
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
As a child, crown princess Anidora-Kiladra listened to her aunt’s amazing stories and learned the language of the swans.
However when her mother sends her abroad to be married, Anidora is overthrown by a treacherous lady-in-waiting who launches a revolt that leaves the princess vulnerable and alone.
Anidora works as a royal goose girl to survive but as her forbidden powers grow, will she reclaim her throne or tend geese for the rest of her life?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger vanished from a gathering held on an island owned by her powerful family. Although her body was never found, her uncle is convinced that she was murdered.
When journalist Mikael Blomkvist and punk hacker Lisbeth Salander investigate, they link her disappearance to a series of gruesome murders.
As they uncover the Vanger family’s sinister history, will Blomkvist and Salander discover the truth or will they face a macabre fate?
Now that was my list of the 24 best books of all time. Hopefully you’ve found at least a book or two to sprinkle into your TBR list that will spur you on to read more.
Or perhaps you didn’t see your favourite book listed here. If you think I’ve missed out an awesome book that should’ve made the cut, then let me know your favourite reads in the comments below so that future bookworms can get hold of another great novel.
Happy reading!
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