Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with These Great Reads

Listopia > 20th Century Book Lists

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee1984 by George OrwellThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. RowlingAnimal Farm by George Orwell
Best Books of the 20th Century
7,826 books — 51,013 voters
The Book Thief by Markus ZusakThe Bronze Horseman by Paullina SimonsThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferThe Nightingale by Kristin HannahTatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons
Amazing WWII fiction (some with romance)
408 books — 644 voters

The Nightingale by Kristin HannahAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakBeneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. SullivanLilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Best WWII Historical Fiction
460 books — 559 voters
The Book Thief by Markus ZusakAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferThe Winds of War by Herman WoukThe Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Best 1940s Historical Fiction
371 books — 531 voters

1984 by George OrwellFahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyDune by Frank HerbertThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsThe Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century
563 books — 449 voters
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur GoldenKafka on the Shore by Haruki MurakamiThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki MurakamiThe Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuShōgun by James Clavell
Japanese Fiction
383 books — 328 voters

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienThe Hobbit by J.R.R. TolkienHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. RowlingThe Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. TolkienThe Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Best Fantasy of the 20th Century
544 books — 227 voters
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer102 Minutes by Jim DwyerThe Looming Tower by Lawrence WrightThe Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin HamidThe Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede
9/11 Related
248 books — 225 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeRules of Civility by Amor TowlesMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur GoldenAtonement by Ian McEwanThe Color Purple by Alice Walker
Best 1930s Historical Fiction
124 books — 215 voters
Embers by Sándor MáraiJourney by Moonlight by Antal SzerbThe Door by Magda SzabóFatelessness by Imre KertészThe Paul Street Boys by Ferenc Molnár
20th Century Hungarian Literature
144 books — 189 voters

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceThe Remains of the Day by Kazuo IshiguroBeloved by Toni Morrison
(Not) Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
100 books — 157 voters
Never Love a Highlander by Maya BanksIn Bed with a Highlander by Maya BanksSeduction of a Highland Lass by Maya BanksI Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne LongA Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare
Hottest and Most Beautiful Historical Romance Covers
266 books — 139 voters

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankIn Cold Blood by Truman CapoteThe Guns of August by Barbara W. TuchmanA Brief History of Time by Stephen HawkingThe Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century
448 books — 128 voters
Impossible Saints by Clarissa HarwoodA Time For Courage by Kathryn LaskyA Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary WollstonecraftThe Woman's Hour by Elaine F. WeissVotes for Women! by Winifred Conkling
Women's Suffrage
412 books — 117 voters

The Diviners by Libba BrayThese Violent Delights by Chloe GongBright Young Things by Anna GodbersenLair of Dreams by Libba BraySpeak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle George
YA Fiction set in the 1920s
78 books — 114 voters
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn SolomonAll-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney TaylorAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy BlumeYou'll Miss Me When I'm Gone by Rachel Lynn SolomonAll-of-a-Kind Family Downtown by Sydney Taylor
Jewish Americans in Children's Literature
453 books — 104 voters

The Price of Salt, or Carol by Patricia HighsmithOranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette WintersonThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe HallAnnie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
Lesbian novels from before 1990
238 books — 100 voters
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldBright Young Things by Anna GodbersenZ by Therese Anne FowlerSpeak Easy, Speak Love by McKelle GeorgeThe Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Jazz Age Historical Fiction
140 books — 100 voters

1984 by George OrwellThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldLolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Boston Public Library: The 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century
102 books — 85 voters
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns GoodwinJohn Adams by David McCulloughTruman by David McCulloughWashington by Ron ChernowTheodore Rex by Edmund Morris
Positively Presidential (nonfiction)
363 books — 63 voters

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria RemarqueThe Berlin Stories by Christopher IsherwoodThe Einstein Girl by Philip SingtonThe Threepenny Opera by Bertolt BrechtBefore the Deluge by Otto Friedrich
Weimar Era Arts & Culture (fiction and nonfiction)
128 books — 53 voters
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden KeefeMilkman by Anna BurnsTen Men Dead by David BeresfordGun Street Girl by Adrian McKintyTrinity by Leon Uris
Books about the Northern Irish Troubles
110 books — 53 voters

Rebecca by Daphne du MaurierSecrets of Rose Briar Hall by Kelsey JamesNine Coaches Waiting by Mary StewartShivering Sands by Victoria HoltMistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt
20th Century Gothic Romances
351 books — 52 voters
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen ChboskyAnnie on My Mind by Nancy GardenI'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip. by John DonovanHappy Endings Are All Alike by Sandra ScoppettoneHard Love by Ellen Wittlinger
20th Century YA with LGBT Themes
167 books — 51 voters

Matilda by Roald DahlHowl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne JonesAlanna by Tamora PierceMossflower by Brian JacquesRedwall by Brian Jacques
Children's Fantasy of the 1980s
171 books — 50 voters
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodThe Awakening by Kate ChopinBeloved by Toni Morrison
Feminista's 100 Great 20th Century English-language Works of Fiction by Women
100 books — 45 voters

The Feminine Mystique by Betty FriedanSet the Night on Fire by Mike DavisThe Second Sex by Simone de BeauvoirSexual Politics by Kate MillettThe Color Purple by Alice Walker
Second Wave Feminism
141 books — 45 voters
Stalking Darkness by Lynn FlewellingLuck in the Shadows by Lynn FlewellingThe Front Runner by Patricia Nell WarrenThe Persian Boy by Mary RenaultSwordspoint by Ellen Kushner
Best Gay Romance Published Before 2000
88 books — 43 voters

Listening for Lions by Gloria WhelanHattie Big Sky by Kirby LarsonAll-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney TaylorVoyage on the Great Titanic by Ellen Emerson WhiteAnastasia by Carolyn Meyer
Middle Grade Fiction set in the 1910s
174 books — 36 voters
A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie FrenchJasper Jones by Craig SilveyPlaying Beatie Bow by Ruth ParkA Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie FrenchRunner by Robert Newton
Australasia in YA & Middle Grade Historical Fiction
132 books — 33 voters

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