There are few bookstores that have established themselves like Barnes & Noble over the decades. Now, they are one of the best places to find books. But the retail bookstore also curates lists and we will be looking at Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of All Time that you must read. Keep reading to see what made their list!
Over the years, Barnes & Noble has turned around and changed their reputation. Now, they are regarded with respect and authority when it comes to books and bookstores. Still, not everyone is a fan of the retail bookstore. Let’s put aside our feelings and judge their list without any bias. You can see the full list below.
Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of All Time
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez , Edith Grossman
- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion , David Thomson
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Jules Feiffer
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
- The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
- Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor, Margot Livesey
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
- The Hustler by Walter Tevis
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (George Smiley Series) by John le Carré
- Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Castle Series #1) by Diana Wynne Jones
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
- The Bell Jar (P.S. Series) by Sylvia Plath
- Life of Pi: A Novel by Yann Martel
- Things Fall Apart (African Trilogy #1) by Chinua Achebe
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- 1984 by George Orwell
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- Watchmen by Alan Moore
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide Series #1) by Douglas Adams
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Talented Mr. Ripley
A classic thriller that I loved is The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. It is a fun novel that follows the descent into madness of Ripley and what he will do to keep his new life going. Highsmith is a unique character that explores the true nature of a person and what people are capable of. Few authors can make characters as morally corrupt as Highsmith but it is impossible to look away nonetheless.
Beloved
A powerful novel that everyone should read is Beloved by Toni Morrison. It is a story of a former Kentucky slave that is haunted by her past life. The novel went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It is considered one of the best works of fiction and there is no other novel like it.
1984
1984 is a classic dystopian novel by George Orwell that imagines a future where the government watches and controls our every movement. The novel is based on Soviet Union in the era of Stalinism, and Nazi Germany. But when Americans realized that their government was secretly spying on them, this novel soared in popularity.
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.
The Kite Runner
A novel that has stayed with me ever since I read it is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is a powerful novel about two unlikely friends that takes place in Afghanistan, where the regime is collapsing. Hosseini tackles heavy subjects as love, betrayal, family, identity, and redemption. Find out yourself why this novel is one of the best selling historical fiction novels of all time.
Conclusion
What did you think of Barnes & Noble’s best books of all-time list? How many of these books have you read? What other books would you have added to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
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If you are interested in Oleg Gordievsky, John le Carré or Kim Philby you should have heard of Pemberton’s People in MI6 by now. Colonel Alan Pemberton CVO MBE knew all of them and features as a leading protagonist in Beyond Enkription in The Burlington Files series.
The book “Beyond Enkription” by Bill Fairclough is the first stand-alone fact-based espionage novel of six autobiographical tomes in The Burlington Files series. As the first book in the series, it provides a gripping introduction to the world of British intelligence and espionage. It is an intense electrifying spy thriller that had me perched on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. The twists and turns in the interwoven plots kept me guessing beyond the epilogue. The characters were wholesome, well-developed and intriguing. The author’s attention to detail added extra layers of authenticity to the narrative.
In real life Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington (MI6 codename JJ) was one of Pemberton’s People in MI6; for more about that see a brief News Article dated 31 October 2022 published in TheBurlingtonFiles website. The series follows the real life of Bill Fairclough (and his family) who worked not only for British Intelligence, but also the CIA et al for several decades. The first tome is set in 1974 in London, Nassau and Port au Prince: see TheBurlingtonFiles website for a synopsis.
Fairclough is not a professional but his writing style is engaging and fast-paced, making it difficult to put the book down as he effortlessly glides from cerebral issues to action-packed scenes which are never that far apart. Beyond Enkription is the stuff memorable spy films are made of. It’s raw, realistic, punchy, pacy and provocative. While the book does not feature John le Carré’s “delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots” it remains a riveting and delightful read.
This thriller is like nothing we have ever come across before. Indeed, we wonder what The Burlington Files would have been like if David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) had collaborated with Bill Fairclough whom critics have likened to “a posh Harry Palmer”. They did consider collaborating but did not proceed as explained in the aforementioned News Article. Nonetheless, critics have lauded Beyond Enkription as being ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
Overall, Beyond Enkription is a brilliantly refreshing book and a must read, especially for espionage cognoscenti. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the future. In the meantime, before reading Beyond Enkription do visit TheBurlingtonFiles website. It is like a living espionage museum and breathtaking in its own right.
Wuthering Heights Needs to be in there by Emily Bronte
In reference to your best books list, The Great Gatsby most certainly belongs on your list as does The Catcher in the Rye.Shame on you.
Hmm. Great list. I love that “Mixed Up Files…” is included. But…The Hobbit would top my list. I’d have to
add The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Odyssey, Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, Treasure Island, Camus’ The Stranger, Wizard of Oz. And the list could go on- Christie, Conan Doyle, Khayyam, Seuss, Sartre’s Antigone, Charlotte’s Web, Asimov, Poe,….
No Gravity’s Rainbow?
Some of the books I have not heard of and some I have seen the movie, but have not read the book. The list is eclectic, which I like. A lot of the books I have read are the classics, which I read thru out high-school. I might give some I f them a try, but I already own so many books, and borrow a lot from the library. But I do like to try something very different sometimes.
Any “Best of” list of books that does not include Lord of the Rings is biased bollocks.
Not a very comprehensive list for best books too many mediocre and leaving out a massive amount of true classics!
Best books of all time. Only, what? 3 books written before 1900? Surely there is a mistake somewhere here.
How about A Gentleman in Moscow. Confessions of Nat Turner. Sophie’s Choice…I could come up with many different ones.
That’s the problem with Best Books lists. They leave out selection criteria. The first criteria is endurance. Books which become classics, like The Great Gatsby, or Dickens’ Great Expectations. I doubt if many of these Books will survive a single generation. Will anyone be reading Maya Angelou in 20 or 30 years. Or Sylvia Plath. I highly doubt it. But Poe survives. As does Wordsworth, Yeats & Cheever. T.S.Eliot endures. W.H. Auden. JAMES Joyce not on the list?? But Marquez is?? This makes no sense. But, of course, many lists confuse best with popular. As tastes change, I suspect a good number of these entries will simply vanish.
The Books you mentiin are narrow. Popular with some people. But best, hardly.
Sorry to see missing from such a list but not surprised Manchild in the Promiseland by Claudde Brown, The Color of Water by James McBride,Monster by Walter Dean Myers or maybe Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates , The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison!
I have read 8 on the list. There were a dozen I have never heard about . The overall list was not very impressive.
I have only read 5 or 6 of them. However I now have a fantastic list to work on !! Thank you
Was very surprised more “classics” were not on the list. Many I have not even heard of. Have read 8.
Surely The Great Gatsby belongs on your list as does The Catcher in the Rye.Shame on you.
To Kill a Mockingbird needs to be on any list. One of the most important books of the Twentieth Century.
What an ignorant list from a bookseller obviously trying to sell books.
I am curious… I don’t see HOW this list was made. Is it based off sales receipts? Employee input? Just some random person coming up with a list??
Interesting choices. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but not The Haunting of Hill House? Love in the Time of Cholera, but not One Hundred Years of Solitude? Curious….
Glad to see The Book Thief in there! And I think it’s missing To Kill A Mockingbird.
I read Watchmen for the first time not too long ago. I loved it so much that I had to write a blog about it. Feel free to read it if you find yourself inclined.