#60-41 on the Guardian's list of all-time best novels

[Ponietz]

60 Howards End
59 Never Let Me Go
58 Disgrace
57 The Sound and the Fury
56 Mansfield Park
55 The Waves
54 Orlando
53 The Transit of Venus
52 The Golden Bowl
51 My Brilliant Friend
50 Wide Sargasso Sea
49 A Fine Balance
48 The Metamorphosis
47 Vanity Fair
46 The Leopard
45 The Golden Notebook
44 Giovanni's Room
43 Housekeeping
42 The Magic Mountain
41 Heart of Darkness

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels-of-all-time

#40-21 will be released tomorrow. Happy reading!

[Jilly_in_VA]

1. Meh

These lists are all subjective.

[Ponietz]

2. Hope you find a good book to read somewhere

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. Just finished one, in fact

it's called All the Forgivenesses, by Elizabeth Hardinger. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite books, Lamb in His Bosom, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1933 but which few people have heard of these days, I suspect. I read a lot, but I just think many of these lists are very subjective, based on the views of some critics or other, and I take a rather dim view of critics, as in, who gave them the right to decide what's good and what's not? I know what's good writing and what isn't, and also what I like and what I don't. Some books which are supposedly "great literature" I personally think are trash, one being Wuthering Heights. You probably don't want to hear my views on THAT book.

[Ponietz]

6. No worries

I use the these lists to get ideas and read new things. Every single book recommendation ever made has been a subjective one. No two people could ever hope to agree about what books are best. Don’t sweat it.

And thanks for the recommendations.

[AnotherMother4Peace]

3. I hope you post the next couple of releases. I'm curious what the top 10 are. nt

[lastlib]

5. So it may be a couple of days.......

...before we find out that The City And The Stars is #1 -- right??