There are many lists on the internet and we always curious what books came out on top. Today, we will be looking at Goodreads best books ever list and see what books made their top ten!
From what I have learned from browsing hundreds of lists is that no two lists are alike. It always comes down to preference and one’s favorite novel can be another person’s least favorite novel. There are no right or wrong answers here. Ultimately, this list is to help us narrow down what the populace agrees on as the best books of all time.
A person’s favorite books list tells you a lot about them. And it is a great way to find new books or reaffirm that your taste is books is superior. And today, we are looking at Goodreads best books ever list. With over a 100,000 votes, it gives us a good sample size. We will be looking at the top ten but it contains a 100 books overall.
Goodreads Best Books Ever List
- The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1) by Stephenie Meyer
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Chronicles of Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia, #1-7)
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Hunger Games Tops The List
And what a start we have to this. The first novel and officially deemed as the best book ever by this list is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. What I take away from this information is that this is a much younger demographic than I expected. But a little older and Harry Potter would have come in first.
That that is verified by the second book on the list, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling. The list finally starts making sense as the third novel on the list is Pride and Prejudice followed by To Kill a Mockingbird and The Book Thief.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Like many readers, I first read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school and couldn’t put the novel down even if I wanted to. The story is told by the viewpoint of Jean Louise Finch and tells the story of Atticus Finch defending Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a white woman in Maycomb, Alabama.
The Book Thief
One of my favorite novels of all time is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It tells a chilling story about a family that hides a Jewish man in Germany during World War II. The writing is incredible but what I love the most is using death as a narrator. If you haven’t read this timeless classic, then you are missing out.
A Popularity Contest
But the list gets weird again as Twilight takes the 6th spot. There is no reason for Twilight to be ranked higher than The Lord of the Rings trilogy. While this may infuriate many people, I already expected chaos when I saw The Hunger Games at the top of the list.
Conclusion
This is an interesting list and shows why we can’t always trust a voting system to determine the best books of all time. You have to account for the age of the voters as well as what books were even selected to be voted for. What do you think of this list? Let us know in the comments below!