Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
Books Every Human Being Should Read
Books have played an important role in my life and honestly have helped shape my opinions and ideas about the world (not to mention my writing style!), and I think it'll be a good idea for me, both as a human and as an English major, to read some truly amazing books. The problem is, which books? And why?
So I'm hoping to compile a list, but I need your help. So, if there's been a book that you owe a lot to, a book that changed your life, or simply a novel you feel that everyone should read in their life, let me know about it! This isn't the classic 100 book list, so feel free to recommend any sort of book, no matter how obscure or childish! I'm open to everything (even children's books, nonfiction, you name it, I'll read it!), so long as it comes HIGHLY recommended.
Help shape my future- recommend your favorite book!
So I'm hoping to compile a list, but I need your help. So, if there's been a book that you owe a lot to, a book that changed your life, or simply a novel you feel that everyone should read in their life, let me know about it! This isn't the classic 100 book list, so feel free to recommend any sort of book, no matter how obscure or childish! I'm open to everything (even children's books, nonfiction, you name it, I'll read it!), so long as it comes HIGHLY recommended.
Help shape my future- recommend your favorite book!
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 401 |
|
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
by
Marie Kondō (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 387,894 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 402 |
|
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by
3.92 avg rating — 26,462 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 403 |
|
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
by
John Grisham (Goodreads Author)
3.86 avg rating — 83,244 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 404 |
|
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by
4.23 avg rating — 167,533 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 404 |
|
Orientalism
by
4.13 avg rating — 28,813 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 406 |
|
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
by
3.58 avg rating — 197,940 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 407 |
|
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
by
4.30 avg rating — 68,193 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 407 |
|
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
by
4.06 avg rating — 78,214 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 409 |
|
Hidden Figures
by
Margot Lee Shetterly (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 112,498 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 410 |
|
Leonardo da Vinci
by
Walter Isaacson (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 124,188 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 410 |
|
When Breath Becomes Air
by
4.41 avg rating — 776,563 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 412 |
|
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by
3.85 avg rating — 59,731 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 413 |
|
The World Without Us
by
3.81 avg rating — 43,061 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 414 |
|
The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
by
4.20 avg rating — 39,739 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 415 |
|
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
by
Patrick Rothfuss (Goodreads Author)
4.52 avg rating — 1,059,278 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 416 |
|
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by
4.13 avg rating — 1,806,725 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 417 |
|
The End of Your Life Book Club
by
Will Schwalbe (Goodreads Author)
3.81 avg rating — 55,667 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 418 |
|
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
by
4.20 avg rating — 87,856 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 419 |
|
The Master and Margarita
by
4.28 avg rating — 406,377 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 420 |
|
The Grapes of Wrath
by
4.02 avg rating — 977,374 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 421 |
|
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
by
3.98 avg rating — 98,129 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 422 |
|
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
by
4.01 avg rating — 32,578 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 422 |
|
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by
3.69 avg rating — 102,387 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 422 |
|
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
by
4.01 avg rating — 36,647 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 425 |
|
The Guns of August
by
4.18 avg rating — 83,190 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 426 |
|
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 158,441 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 426 |
|
You Are Not So Smart
by
3.86 avg rating — 35,968 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 426 |
|
We Should All Be Feminists
by
4.39 avg rating — 323,190 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 429 |
|
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession
by
Allison Hoover Bartlett (Goodreads Author)
3.44 avg rating — 13,782 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 430 |
|
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
by
3.93 avg rating — 50,879 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 430 |
|
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
by
Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Goodreads Author)
4.10 avg rating — 56,425 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 432 |
|
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)
by
4.03 avg rating — 1,599,964 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 433 |
|
Women & Power: A Manifesto
by
4.02 avg rating — 38,674 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 434 |
|
Capital in the Twenty First Century
by
4.06 avg rating — 34,013 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 435 |
|
Coraline
by
Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author)
4.13 avg rating — 765,477 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 436 |
|
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
by
Jen Sincero (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 282,892 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 437 |
|
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
by
3.44 avg rating — 77,007 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 438 |
|
Mort (Discworld, #4; Death, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 267,232 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 438 |
|
The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well
by
3.77 avg rating — 112,596 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 438 |
|
Letters to a Young Poet
by
4.28 avg rating — 116,098 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 441 |
|
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
by
4.15 avg rating — 434,884 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 442 |
|
Moneyball
by
4.27 avg rating — 142,274 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 443 |
|
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
by
4.06 avg rating — 372,764 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 443 |
|
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by
3.99 avg rating — 75,442 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 445 |
|
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
by
4.19 avg rating — 66,979 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 446 |
|
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
by
4.16 avg rating — 36,663 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 447 |
|
The Right Stuff
by
4.23 avg rating — 55,102 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 447 |
|
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
by
Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 41,307 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 449 |
|
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
by
4.37 avg rating — 100,165 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 449 |
|
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by
Barbara Demick (Goodreads Author)
4.46 avg rating — 97,127 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 451 |
|
Living the Best Day Ever
by
Hendri Coetzee (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 1,238 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 452 |
|
Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog
by
4.14 avg rating — 475,865 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 453 |
|
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
by
Allie Brosh (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 214,567 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 454 |
|
The 48 Laws of Power
by
Robert Greene (Goodreads Author)
4.10 avg rating — 214,183 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 455 |
|
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 216,457 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 456 |
|
Running with Scissors
by
Augusten Burroughs (Goodreads Author)
3.77 avg rating — 401,385 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 457 |
|
It's Time To Wake, Jake!
by
Amanda Beth Connolly (Goodreads Author)
4.51 avg rating — 45 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 457 |
|
Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution
by
Brené Brown (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 87,679 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 457 |
|
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
by
4.37 avg rating — 218,469 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 457 |
|
A Grief Observed
by
4.22 avg rating — 92,755 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 461 |
|
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 312,216 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 462 |
|
The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help
by
Amanda Palmer (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 36,490 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 463 |
|
The Prince
by
3.84 avg rating — 374,589 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 463 |
|
Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage
by
Gleb Tsipursky (Goodreads Author)
4.40 avg rating — 55 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 465 |
|
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
by
3.92 avg rating — 290,925 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 465 |
|
My Life on the Road
by
4.07 avg rating — 36,414 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 467 |
|
The Kite Runner
by
Khaled Hosseini (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 3,425,754 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 468 |
|
The Man Without Qualities
by
4.19 avg rating — 7,235 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 468 |
|
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture
by
4.43 avg rating — 22,463 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 470 |
|
Not My Father's Son
by
4.05 avg rating — 46,867 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 471 |
|
The Stand
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 819,574 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 471 |
|
The Lovely Bones
by
3.86 avg rating — 2,445,621 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 473 |
|
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
by
Mark Manson (Goodreads Author)
3.87 avg rating — 1,353,605 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 474 |
|
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
by
Kay Redfield Jamison (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 84,614 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 475 |
|
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
by
Amy Schumer (Goodreads Author)
3.72 avg rating — 129,518 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 476 |
|
The Fire Next Time
by
4.55 avg rating — 116,585 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 476 |
|
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by
4.01 avg rating — 846,976 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 478 |
|
The Bookstore Sisters
by
Alice Hoffman (Goodreads Author)
3.99 avg rating — 99,425 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 479 |
|
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
by
Angela Duckworth (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 138,728 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 479 |
|
Floating in Darkness - A Journey of Evolution
by
Ron Garan (Goodreads Author)
4.38 avg rating — 727 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 481 |
|
Schindler’s List
by
4.34 avg rating — 164,720 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 481 |
|
Hammered (Legacy of Magic, #1)
by
Lindsay Buroker (Goodreads Author)
4.26 avg rating — 8,052 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 483 |
|
The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times
by
4.19 avg rating — 77,851 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 484 |
|
The Things They Carried
by
4.14 avg rating — 339,346 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 485 |
|
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
by
Michael Finkel (Goodreads Author)
3.90 avg rating — 82,959 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 486 |
|
Triumph: Life on the Other Side of Trials, Transplants, Transition and Transformation
by
Gregory S. Works (Goodreads Author)
4.27 avg rating — 7,248 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 487 |
|
A Clockwork Orange
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 757,649 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 488 |
|
Columbine
by
Dave Cullen (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 100,509 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 489 |
|
Inspired by The Holy Ghost
by
Aimee Cabo Nikolov (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 417 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 490 |
|
Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life...
by
3.87 avg rating — 504,122 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 491 |
|
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
by
3.94 avg rating — 67,648 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 492 |
|
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by
3.96 avg rating — 616,724 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 492 |
|
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
by
Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author)
4.06 avg rating — 58,856 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 494 |
|
Men Explain Things to Me
by
3.83 avg rating — 85,788 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 495 |
|
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by
4.17 avg rating — 570,786 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 496 |
|
Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
by
Blaine Harden (Goodreads Author)
4.01 avg rating — 71,208 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 496 |
|
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
by
4.18 avg rating — 30,750 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 498 |
|
Survival in Auschwitz
by
4.34 avg rating — 84,556 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 499 |
|
The Opposite of Loneliness: Essays and Stories
by
3.85 avg rating — 51,404 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 499 |
|
The Biographies of Jesus' Apostles: Ambassadors in Chains
by
James Allen Moseley (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 398 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
Allison
1863 books
63 friends
63 friends
Iva-Marie
2555 books
363 friends
363 friends
Ski
437 books
11 friends
11 friends
League of Native Nations
12 books
3 friends
3 friends
Loren
460 books
62 friends
62 friends
Tiffany
80 books
25 friends
25 friends
Bevin
2227 books
57 friends
57 friends
Jasmine
104 books
0 friends
0 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-13 of 13 (13 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Allison
(new)
Feb 28, 2009 01:30AM
Please please please recommend your favorites! I need to do some heavy duty reading this summer!
reply
|
flag
omg! i haven't heard of any of these books! jeez! i am desperate for recommendations too!
lol! A ton of vonnegut on this list! Some of these I've read, and some I've never even heard of!Thanks for all the input guys!
I loved "The Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay. I recommend it!
There's already a list just like this. but I went ahead a threw in a few votes.
Allison wrote: "Please please please recommend your favorites! I need to do some heavy duty reading this summer!"Try Something Missing by Matthew Dicks.
Maybe be you'd like to check this interesting new novel, Zero Defect, by an indie author. The books is currently available on amazon kindle - Top Indian Fiction
Brief: A harrowing struggle of a young man with life, a beautiful love story and an unexpected ending.
(view spoiler)[
For the detailed summary go to GoodReads book page... Click on the cover below - (hide spoiler)]
I've voted for 99 books which are definitely worth a read. 27 of them were already on the list, the others I've added. All of the books added are either in English or have been translated into English. (Although I have to admit I'm not completely sure about one of the children's books I've added. But I know there is a French and a German translation, so I'm guessing there is an English one as well).@Allison
You said "Help shape my future- recommend your favorite book!". Well, I've certainly done the last bit by adding 72 books to your list, and who knows, maybe I've also done the first bit... :-)
Getbanking wrote: "Its one of best book to read"What is?
I read what I wanna read and not what people tell me too.
Allison wrote: "Please please please recommend your favorites! I need to do some heavy duty reading this summer!"Salvation war by stuart slade
red rising pierce brown
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
