# What is the best book of all time?

> Explore a thrilling face-off between timeless classics and contemporary treasures, where iconic narratives clash with daring hidden gems, each vying for the ultimate title. Dive in and share your perspective—what's your pick for the best book of all time?

*By YouPickBest · Published December 12, 2025 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-best-book-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (267 votes)

1. **1984**
   Dystopian novel by George Orwell, published in 1949
2. **To Kill a Mockingbird**
   Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from 1960
3. **The Great Gatsby**
   F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel set in the 1920s
4. **Pride and Prejudice**
   Jane Austen's romantic novel published in 1813
5. **Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**
   First book in J.K. Rowling's fantasy series, released in 1997
6. **The Lord of the Rings**
   Epic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1954
7. **The Catcher in the Rye**
   Novel by J.D. Salinger, exploring teenage angst, published in 1951
8. **One Hundred Years of Solitude**
   Magical realism novel by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1967
9. **The Hobbit**
   Children's fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in 1937
10. **Brave New World**
   Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel published in 1932
11. **Animal Farm**
   Allegorical novella by George Orwell, published in 1945
12. **Crime and Punishment**
   Psychological novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1866
13. **War and Peace**
   Epic historical novel by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1869
14. **The Brothers Karamazov**
   Philosophical novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1880
15. **Don Quixote**
   Classic Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1605
16. **Moby-Dick**
   Herman Melville's novel about obsession, published in 1851
17. **Ulysses**
   Modernist novel by James Joyce, published in 1922
18. **The Odyssey**
   Ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer
19. **The Divine Comedy**
   Dante Alighieri's epic poem, completed in the 14th century
20. **Hamlet**
   Shakespeare's tragedy exploring themes of revenge and madness
21. **The Iliad**
   Ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer
22. **Jane Eyre**
   Gothic novel by Charlotte Brontë, published in 1847
23. **Wuthering Heights**
   Emily Brontë's novel about love and revenge, published in 1847
24. **The Picture of Dorian Gray**
   Oscar Wilde's philosophical novel about vanity, published in 1890
25. **Frankenstein**
   Mary Shelley's novel about creation and monstrosity, published in 1818
26. **Dracula**
   Gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897
27. **The Count of Monte Cristo**
   Adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, published in 1844
28. **Les Misérables**
   Victor Hugo's historical novel about justice, published in 1862
29. **The Little Prince**
   Philosophical tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, published in 1943
30. **Catch-22**
   Satirical novel by Joseph Heller, published in 1961
31. **Slaughterhouse-Five**
   Science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut, published in 1969
32. **The Handmaid's Tale**
   Dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, published in 1985
33. **The Road**
   Post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy, published in 2006
34. **Beloved**
   Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison, published in 1987
35. **The Grapes of Wrath**
   John Steinbeck's novel about the Great Depression, published in 1939
36. **Of Mice and Men**
   Novella by John Steinbeck about friendship and dreams, published in 1937
37. **The Sound and the Fury**
   William Faulkner's modernist novel, published in 1929
38. **As I Lay Dying**
   Novel by William Faulkner about a family's journey, published in 1930
39. **Heart of Darkness**
   Joseph Conrad's novella exploring imperialism, published in 1899
40. **Lord of the Flies**
   William Golding's novel about stranded boys, published in 1954
41. **The Stranger**
   Existential novel by Albert Camus, published in 1942
42. **The Metamorphosis**
   Franz Kafka's novella about transformation, published in 1915
43. **The Trial**
   Novel by Franz Kafka about a man facing an incomprehensible legal system
44. **Lolita**
   Controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1955
45. **On the Road**
   Jack Kerouac's defining work of the Beat Generation, published in 1957
46. **The Bell Jar**
   Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel, published in 1963
47. **A Clockwork Orange**
   Dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962
48. **Fahrenheit 451**
   Ray Bradbury's novel about a future without books, published in 1953
49. **Foundation**
   Isaac Asimov's science fiction series beginning in 1951
50. **Dune**
   Epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, published in 1965
51. **The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy**
   Comic science fiction series by Douglas Adams, first published in 1979
52. **Ender's Game**
   Science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card, published in 1985
53. **The Name of the Rose**
   Historical mystery novel by Umberto Eco, published in 1980
54. **The Alchemist**
   Philosophical novel by Paulo Coelho, published in 1988
55. **Life of Pi**
   Novel by Yann Martel about survival and faith, published in 2001
56. **The Kite Runner**
   Khaled Hosseini's novel about friendship and betrayal, published in 2003
57. **The Book Thief**
   Historical novel by Markus Zusak, narrated by Death, published in 2005
58. **The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time**
   Mystery novel by Mark Haddon, published in 2003
59. **Gone with the Wind**
   Historical novel by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1936
60. **Rebecca**
   Gothic novel by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938
61. **Memoirs of a Geisha**
   Historical novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997
62. **The Lovely Bones**
   Novel by Alice Sebold about loss and the afterlife, published in 2002
63. **The Da Vinci Code**
   Thriller novel by Dan Brown, published in 2003
64. **The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo**
   Crime novel by Stieg Larsson, published in 2005

Tags: books