100 Essential BooksLike this list

100 items

1. 1. 1984

   a Novel

   Orwell, George, 1903-1950

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   Winston Smith toes the Party line, rewriting history to satisfy the demands of the Ministry of Truth. With each lie he writes, Winston grows to hate the Party that seeks power for its own sake. But Winston can't escape the fact that Big Brother is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

2. 2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

   Alexie, Sherman 1966-

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   Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

3. 3. The Age of Innocence

   Wharton, Edith, 1862-1937

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   A scathing portrayal of class, wealth, and love in late 19th Century New York.

4. 4. Alice in Wonderland

   Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898

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   A little girl falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world of nonsensical and amusing characters.

5. 5. All the President's Men

   Bernstein, Carl, 1944-

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   Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters, Bernstein and Woodward report on a series of events that brought about Nixon's scandalous downfall.

6. 6. All Quiet on the Western Front

   Remarque, Erich Maria, 1898-1970

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   A essential novel about humanity and war laid against the backdrop of Germany in WWI.

7. 7. Americanah

   a Novel

   Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 1977-

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   An electric "coming to America" tale that follows Ifemelu as she struggles to make it in her new, and often hostile, country while trying to remain connected to those she left behind.

8. 8. And Then There Were None

   Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976

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   The most well-known and influential locked-room mystery ever written.

9. 9. Angela's Ashes

   a Memoir

   McCourt, Frank

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   The moving story of an Irish immigrant's poverty-stricken childhood.

10. 10. Anna Karenina

    a Novel in Eight Parts

    Tolstoy, Leo, graf, 1828-1910

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    This tale follows the life, loves, scandals and tragedy of Anna, a Russian princess.

11. 11. The Art of War

    [Sunzi Bing Fa]

    Sunzi, active 6th century B.C.

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    This work is the most famous study of military strategy ever written and has had an extraordinary influence on the history of warfare.

12. 12. The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    X, Malcolm, 1925-1965

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    The controversial leader of the Black Muslims tells the story of his life and his part in the civil rights movement.

13. 13. Bel Canto

    a Novel

    Patchett, Ann

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    Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of Mr. Hosokawa. It is a perfect evening -- until a band of gun-wielding terrorists breaks in through the air-conditioning vents…Read moreRead more of this annotation

14. 14. The Bell Jar

    Plath, Sylvia

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    This influential, devastating, and semi-autobiographical novel explores the insidious nature of mental illness against the backdrop of post-war New York City.

15. 15. Beloved

    Morrison, Toni

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    Sethe, an escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio with her daughter and mother-in-law, is persistently haunted by the ghost of her dead baby girl.

16. 16. The Book Thief

    Zusak, Markus

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    Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

17. 17. A Brief History of Time

    Hawking, Stephen, 1942-2018

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    A landmark volume in science writing - it was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the origins and nature of the universe. But the ensuing years have seen extraordinary advances in the technology--observations that have confirmed many of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

18. 18. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

    Díaz, Junot, 1968-

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    Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love.

19. 19. Brighton Rock

    Greene, Graham, 1904-1991

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    In this classic novel of murder and menace, Graham Greene lays bare the soul of a boy of seventeen who stalks Brighton's tawdry boardwalk with apathy on his face and murder in his heart.

20. 20. The Brothers Karamazov

    a Novel in Four Parts With Epilogue

    Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881

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    The violent lives of three sons are exposed when their father is murdered and each one attempts to come to terms with his guilt.