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Ultimate Best Books

All :: Novels

    Don Quixote

    Don Quixote

    Miguel de Cervantes

    4.89 (9)

    Idle reader, you can believe without any oath of mine that I would wish this book, as the child of my brain, to be the most beautiful, the liveliest and the cleverest imaginable.Prologue: Idle reader: I don't have to swear any oaths to persuade you that I should like this book, since it is the son of my brain, to be the most beautiful and elegant and intelligent book imaginable.Chapter 1: In a village in La Mancha, the name of which I cannot quite recall, there lived not long ago one of those country gentlemen or hidalgos who keep a lance in a rack, an ancient leather shield, a scrawny hack and a greyhound for coursing.

    #78
    RANK
    9,969
    POINTS
    As I Lay Dying

    As I Lay Dying

    William Faulkner

    3.25 (11)

    Jewel and I come up from the field, following the path in single file.

    #115
    RANK
    7,149
    POINTS
    His Dark Materials

    His Dark Materials

    Philip Pullman

    4.36 (14)

    Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen. (Northern lights)Will tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Come on, come on..." (The subtle knife)In a valley shaded with rhododendrons, close to the snow line, where a stream milky with melt-water splashed and where doves and linnets flew among the immense pines, lay a cave, half-hidden by the crag above and the stiff heavy leaves that clustered below. (The amber spyglass)

    #77
    RANK
    9,972
    POINTS
    Brideshead Revisited

    Brideshead Revisited

    Evelyn Waugh

    4.44 (9)

    When I reached C Company lines, which were at the top of the hill, I paused and looked back at the camp, just coming into full view below me through the grey mist of early morning.

    #155
    RANK
    4,825
    POINTS
    The Golden Notebook

    The Golden Notebook

    Doris Lessing

    4.0 (4)

    The two women were alone in the London flat.

    #244
    RANK
    2,678
    POINTS
    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    Mark Twain

    4.0 (28)

    You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but that ain't no matter.You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.

    #14
    RANK
    25,540
    POINTS
    Things Fall Apart

    Things Fall Apart

    Chinua Achebe

    4.08 (12)

    Okonkwo was well-known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat.

    #86
    RANK
    9,513
    POINTS
    Tom Jones

    Tom Jones

    Henry Fielding

    4.0 (3)

    An author ought to consider himself, not as a gentleman who gives a private or eleemosynary treat, but rather as one who keeps a public ordinary, at which all persons are welcome for their money.

    #194
    RANK
    3,676
    POINTS
    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    J. K. Rowling

    4.53 (45)

    Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

    #4
    RANK
    36,627
    POINTS
    Song of Solomon

    Song of Solomon

    Toni Morrison

    4.14 (7)

    The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance agent promised to fly from Mercy to the other side of Lake Superior at three o'clock.

    #166
    RANK
    4,535
    POINTS