Other Lists of Great Books

Great (and Good) Books

These books list not only the great books, but also good books in many subjects.

Dickinson, Asa Don. The World's Best Books, Homer to Hemingway: 3000 Books of 3000 Years, 1050 B.C. to 1950 A.D., Selected on the Basis of a Consensus of Expert Opinion. New York: Wilson, 1953. (Earlier editions under the title One Thousand Best Books)

Dickinson gives one- to two-sentence annotations for each book on his list, which actually goes up to Norman Mailer. He includes a few non-Western works, mostly spiritual classics. Arranged by author; indexes by date, nationality, and type of literature.
Downs, Robert B.
- Books That Changed America. New York: Macmillan, 1970.
- Books That Changed the South. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina, 1977.
- Books That Changed the World. Chicago: American Library Association, 1978.
- Famous American Books. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
- Famous Books, Ancient and Medieval. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1964.
- Molders of the Modern Mind: 111 Books That Shaped Western Civilization. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1961.
Downs, a librarian, isn't so much concerned with the Great Books, though many of them have landed spots on his lists. He's more concerned with books that have been influential in history.
Estell, Doug, Michele L. Satchwell, and Patricia S. Wright. Reading Lists for College-Bound Students. 3rd ed. New York: Arco/Thomson Learning, 2000.
Lists of books recommended by more than 100 colleges and universities, lists of the 10 most-recommended authors and 100 most-recommended books, and lists of books by subject and award winners. Find this in a library
Gilbar, Stephen. Good Books. New Haven, Conn.: Ticknor and Fields, 1982.
Gilbar groups his book lists into seven broad categories — the World, Nature, People, Society, Work, Culture, and Time — fiction and nonfiction mixed together. The book's eccentric organization can lead to some interesting juxtapositions. Under "Middle Ages in Europe" (within the Time section) fall Italo Calvino, Barbara Tuchman, and Sigrid Undset. Under "New York City" (within the World section), you will find the Michelin guide, Edith Wharton, and E. B. White.
Good Reading: A Guide for Serious Readers. Ed. by Arthur Waldhorn, Olga S. Weber, Arthur Zeiger. 23rd ed. New York: Bowker, 1990.
See www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtgood.html
Harvard Classics. Ed. by Charles W. Eliot. New York: P.F. Collier, 1909-1917.
The classics, as chosen for a "five-foot shelf of books" by the president of Harvard at the turn of the last century. Click on the link above to get a list of titles included and the full texts. For more information, see "The 'Five-Foot Shelf' Reconsidered" by Adam Kirsch, Harvard Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 2001. [Thanks, J Baumgart]
Outline of Great Books. Ed. by Sir J. A. Hammerton. New York: Wise and Company, 1937.
Four- to five-page summaries of 250 great books in their authors' own words.
Porter, Noah. Books and Reading, or What Books Shall I Read and How Shall I Read Them? New York: Scribner, [various editions, 1871-1887; reprinted 1972].
Porter, president of Yale, explains how to read different genres, from imaginative literature to newspapers and periodicals. It's something like a 19th century version of Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book, but with a moralistic tone. In 1881, an appendix was added listing books recommended by James M. Hubbard of Boston Public Library. The 4th edition (1877) is available online through the Making of America project; however, it does not have the appendix.
Recommended Reading: 500 Classics Reviewed from the Editors of Salem Press. Pasadena, Calif.; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1995.
This selection is based on high school and college reading lists, with an emphasis on 20th century works. For each entry, a one-sentence summary and a few paragraphs on the plot and significance of the work are provided.
Raphael, Frederic and Kenneth McLeish. List of Books. New York: Harmony Books, 1981.
A small, but judicious compendium of good books in most subjects, including the classics.

Great Books Lists on the Web

100 Greatest Novels of All Time
Compiled by the Observer (U.K.) in 2003. This article explains how they did it.
Access the Great Books
Based on the Great Books of the Western World set; copious links
Best in the West:
The San Francisco Chronicle asked readers to choose the top 100 Western fiction and top 100 Western nonfiction titles of the 20th century. Originally published Nov. 21, 1999.
Big Read
Top 100 books nominated in the BBC's 2003 competition to select the U.K.'s best-loved novel.
Great Books of Western Civilization
Based on lists from Mercer University, plus the Great Books of Western Civilization Café and good list of links
Guardian Essential Library
The Guardian newspaper asked experts to choose 10 essential books in each of the following subjects: fiction, history, memoir, biography, science, classic poetry, fiction in translation, travel, politics, and art & music.
Internet Classics Archive [MIT]
Archives of works from the classical literature of Greek, Latin, Persian, and Chinese — all in English translation
Malaspina Great Books, Malaspina University, Nanaimo, British Columbia
A database of great authors, dramatists, artists, musicians, scientists, film directors, and historical figures, all searchable by name, art form, and time period, plus chat room
100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women
Another response to the Modern Library list.
Outstanding Books for the College Bound (and Lifelong Learners)
Lists from the American Library Association. Most are good recent books, not classics per se.
Redwood Couch Orchids
A reading group in Humboldt County, California, reading the Great Books together since 1993. Their reading lists are available at the site.
Reading Rat by Terrence Berres
What to read, who says so, where to find it, what of it. Berres adds new texts and links frequently.
A Reading List for English Majors
Major works of English and American Literature (Rutgers)

Great Books Index: Book Links

Links to more Great Books sites

Bookspot: Lists
Award winners and various best books lists
See also Reader's Advisory for book lists compiled by libraries for their users.

Great Books Schools

The reading lists of St. John's College and Thomas Aquinas College are included on my main Great Books Page.

Gutenberg College, Eugene, Oregon

Great Books Reading List

Malaspina University-College, Nanaimo, B.C., Canada

Great Books Program

Mercer University, Atlanta

Great Books program

New Saint Andrews College, Moscow, Idaho

Curriculum

St. John's College, Annapolis, Md., and Santa Fe, N.M.

Reading list
Eastern Classics Curriculum - Masters program at the Santa Fe campus

Shimer College, Waukegan, Ill.

Core Curriculum

Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.

Curriculum

Publishers' Series

Everyman's Library (Random House)
Loeb Classical Library - The great works of ancient Greek and Latin, in English and in the original languages. A new series, I Tatti, will cover the Latin classics of the Italian Renaissance (Harvard University Press)
Modern Library (Random House)
Norton Critical Editions
Penguin Classics
World's Classics (Oxford University Press)
Library of America - The great American writers in nice uniform editions
Bohn's Library - 1909 title list from a publishers whose titles lean toward classical (i.e., Greek and Roman) classics

Accounts of Autodidacts

An autodidact is one who is self-taught. Autodidacts often give themselves a better education than is received by those who attend the best schools. These books should inspire anyone with any amount of formal schooling.

Hirschberg, Cornelius. The Priceless Gift. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960.
Hirschberg, a salesman with little formal education, writes about how he learned about history, literature, art, music, mathematics, and science through reading. This book was an inspiration to me and should be read by anyone who embarks on a life of self-education and reading the great books. No matter how much education you've had, you can learn something from this book. There are reading lists throughout the book and in two appendices (the St. John's reading list of 1960 and some recommended novels), which are worth checking, but in areas such as science and history, they are dated.
Graham, Sheilah. College of One. New York: Viking, 1967.
A Hollywood writer in the 1930s, Graham was the "college of one" studying with her teacher and lover, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Includes some reading lists — weighted towards novels — that are somewhat dated now.
Hailey, Kendall. The Day I Became an Autodidact: And the Advice, Adventures, and Acrimonies that Befell Me Thereafter. New York: Delacorte, 1988.
Kendall Hailey, the teenaged daughter of writers Oliver Hailey and Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, decides to become an autodidact. Her account is a little breathless at times, but it may inspire younger readers.

Personal Lists

These books don't claim to be the Great Books, but good books strongly recommended by certain readers. Some of the choices in these books are a little obscure or eccentric, but that only results in serendipitous discoveries for you, the reader.

Brown, Rita Mae. Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
Novelist Rita Mae Brown's writing guide includes "an annotated reading list" (pp. 215-254) of books she believes will be useful for aspiring writers. It's in chronological order, from Caedmon and Beowulf to Anthony Burgess and Alice Walker.
Garfunkel, Art. Library
Singer Art Garfunkel lists all the books he's read since 1968. On another page, he lists his favorites
Harvard Guide to Influential Books: 113 Distinguished Harvard Professors Discuss the Books That Have Helped to Shape Their Thinking. Ed. by C. Maury Devine, Claudia M. Dissel, Kim D. Parrish. New York: Harper and Row, 1986.
There are some high-powered people here — such as John Kenneth Galbraith, W. V. Quine, and E. O. Wilson — as well as lesser known Harvard-ites. It's fascinating to see what books inspired these academics to aim for the tops of their fields.
Jefferson, Thomas. Letters In: Writings. New York: Library of America, 1984.
Acting as a mentor, Jefferson in these letters advises younger men on reading for their educations. His lists emphasize Classics, history, and philosophy; his literary recommendations often have a didactic purpose (e.g., King Lear to teach "filial duty").
Miller, Henry. The Books in my Life. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1950?
A series of essays on books and reading, including "Reading in the Toilet" (Miller doesn't recommend it), followed by lists of "The Hundred Books Which Influenced Me Most" and "Books I Still Intend to Read."
Pearl, Nancy. Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 2003. A sequel: More Book Lust (Sasquatch Books, 2005).
Librarian Nancy Pearl recommends books under more than 100 categories, from "A ... My Name is Alice" (fiction writers named Alice) to "Zero: This Will Mean Nothing to You" (books on the origin of the zero in mathematics). Includes a number of lesser-known authors who are "too good to miss." The book comes across like tips from a well-read friend.
Perrin, Noel. Reader's Delight. Hanover, N.H.: Dartmouth College, University Press of New England, 1988.
Perrin writes that there is "a large category of books just short of classic status that are known only to handful of lucky readers. Almost anyone who reads a lot is apt to have come across at least one such book — something not in the canon, not famous, probably not even in print — but all the same sheer delight to read." This is his list of such books. Some fascinating discoveries: Essays in Idleness by Kenko, A Casual Commentary by Rose Macaulay, "The Exequy" by Henry King.
Pound, Ezra. ABC of Reading. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934.
In this cranky little book, the modernist poet presents his views on literature and the best authors. True to form, some of Pound's opinions are at odds with those of most critics (e.g., that Chaucer was a greater writer than Shakespeare), and specialists reject his translations of Chinese poetry. But who can argue with his formulation, "Literature is news that STAYS news" (ch. 2)?
Sabine, Gordon and Patricia. Books That Made the Difference: What People Told Us. Hamden, Conn.: Library Professional Publications, 1983.
The Sabines, a husband-and-wife team working for the Library of Congress, interviewed 1,382 Americans to find out what books made a difference in their lives. Excerpts from the best of these interviews make up the bulk of this book. Indexes by author and title of books and by hometown and occupation of interviewees; tips for librarians who want to conduct similar surveys.
There have been some similar books published recently:
- The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them. Ed. by Roxanne J. Coady and Joy Johannessen. New York: Gotham Books, 2006. Find it in a library
- For the Love of Books: 115 Celebrated Writers on the Books They Love Most. Ed. by Ronald B. Shwartz. New York: Putnam, 1999.
- I Hear America Reading: Why We Read What We Read. Ed. by Jim Burke. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1999.
- Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission. Ed. by Michael Ondaatje, et al. New York: Knopf, 2000.
- McCrossan, John A. Books and Reading in the Lives of Notable Americans: A Biographical Sourcebook. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000.
- The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. Ed. by Michael Dorris and Emilie Buchwald. Minneapolis, Minn.: Milkweed Editions, 1997.
- Remarkable Reads: 34 Writers and Their Adventures in Reading. Ed. by J. Peder Zane. New York: Norton, 2004.

Larger Bibliographies

Reader's Catalog: An Annotated Selection of More Than 40,000 of the Best Books in Print in Over 300 Categories. 2nd ed. New York: Reader's Catalog, 1997.
The size of a small phone book, the Reader's Catalog is just what its subtitle says it is. Invaluable and worth owning for any serious reader.
Reader's Adviser. 14th ed. New Providence, N.J.: Bowker, 1994.
At six volumes, this is strictly something to consult at the library. Use it to find the best editions and translations or to get a book list when beginning to read in a new subject area.
Waterstone's Guide to Books. 2nd ed. London: Waterstone & Co., Ltd., 1988.
The British bookshop chain Waterstone's issued a big book catalog before the first edition of the Reader's Catalog. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have been updated since 1988.