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Best Fiction Books

Explore the pinnacle of storytelling with these critically acclaimed fiction masterpieces, as frequently featured in top book blogs and publications.

Recommendations from 62 articles, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and 242 others.
Best Fiction Books
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Pachinko book cover
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee - 2017-02-07
Goodreads Rating
Experience a breathtaking journey of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty in this novel. Set in the early 1900s, follow Sunja, a young girl who falls for a wealthy stranger and becomes pregnant. Deciding to marry a gentle sickly minister instead, Sunja's decision sets off a dramatic saga that spans generations. With complex and passionate characters, this novel takes you on a journey through bustling markets, the halls of prestigious universities, and the criminal underworld. Richly told and profoundly moving, this is a tale of strong women, devoted siblings, and fathers struggling with moral crisis against the backdrop of history.
The Underground Railroad book cover
The Underground Railroad
A Novel
Colson Whitehead - 2016-08-02
Goodreads Rating
Follow Cora's journey through the Underground Railroad, a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath Southern soil. As she flees from state to state, she encounters iterations of her own world at each stop. Colson Whitehead's book is a harrowing tale of one woman’s escape from the horrors of bondage while weaving in the saga of our nation from the brutal abduction of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, this powerful meditation on history is not to be missed.
Ender's Game book cover
Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card - 2004-09-30 (first published in 1985)
Goodreads Rating
Child prodigy Ender Wiggin has spent his entire life training for one purpose: to save humanity from an impending alien invasion. But the pressure and isolation of Battle School, where he is taught to be a tactical and strategic mastermind, may be taking its toll on him. Can Ender lead Earth's military to victory in a real-life battle against the enemy? This bestselling sci-fi novel is now a major motion picture event, starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, and Ben Kingsley.
Beloved book cover
Beloved
Toni Morrison - 2004-06-08 (first published in 1987)
Goodreads Rating
Explore the haunting and innovative world of a former slave in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Sethe may have escaped to Ohio, but memories of the beautiful yet tragic Sweet Home still hold her captive. A destructive ghost and a mysterious teenage girl, both named Beloved, only add to the weight of her past. Discover how Sethe navigates the horrors of slavery and the consequences it has on her family in this unforgettable classic.
Recommended by
Shonda RhimesAmy Cuddy
Frankenstein book cover
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley - 2018-03-08 (first published in 1818)
Goodreads Rating
This Gothic thriller is a cautionary tale about the dangers of science. It tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a science student obsessed with discovering the cause of life. Upon bringing his creation to life, Frankenstein recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by loneliness, the creature turns to evil and seeks revenge against his creator. This bestseller raises thought-provoking questions on the meaning of humanity, our responsibilities to each other, and how far we should tamper with nature.
Recommended by
Guillermo del Toro
The Handmaid's Tale book cover
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood - 1998-04-01 (first published in 1985)
Goodreads Rating
This feminist dystopian novel explores life in the Republic of Gilead - a future United States where a monotheocracy takes the Book of Genesis literally, leading to bizarre consequences for the population. Follow the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids living under the new social order, as she reveals dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade. With scathing satire, a dire warning, and poignant prose, this unforgettable classic is Margaret Atwood at her best.
Recommended by
Emma WatsonJenn Im
The Lord of the Rings book cover
The Lord of the Rings
50th Anniversary, One Vol. Edition
J. R. R. Tolkien - 2005-10-12 (first published in 1955)
Goodreads Rating
Embark on a perilous quest with hobbit Frodo and his companions as they journey across Middle-earth to destroy the powerful One Ring, which threatens to fall into the hands of the evil Dark Lord, Sauron. Follow the journey of the Fellowship of the Ring, made up of a wizard, hobbits, dwarves, elves, and soldiers, as they battle through forests, mountains, and dark towers to save their world. Discover the epic tale of good versus evil, courage, friendship, and sacrifice in this timeless classic.
The Testaments book cover
The Testaments
The Sequel to The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood - 2019-09-10
Goodreads Rating
Experience the explosive and highly anticipated sequel to the classic novel, The Handmaid's Tale. In The Testaments, Margaret Atwood explores the inner workings of Gilead through the testimony of three female narrators, providing answers to the questions readers have been asking for decades. Atwood draws on the world we live in today as well as the inspiration of her devoted readers to deliver a thrilling and unforgettable sequel.
Women Talking book cover
Women Talking
Miriam Toews - 2019-04-02 (first published in 2018)
Goodreads Rating
A group of Mennonite women face a life-changing decision in this gripping novel based on real events. After learning they were drugged and repeatedly violated, the women must choose between staying within the only world they've ever known, or daring to escape. Through the "minutes" of their all-female symposium, the novel explores themes of collective responsibility, cultural determinism, and forgiveness. This National Bestseller and Governor General's Award nominee has been hailed as "amazing, sad, shocking, but touching" by Margaret Atwood.
Dune book cover
Dune
Deluxe Edition
Frank Herbert - 2019-10-01 (first published in 1965)
Goodreads Rating
Explore a unique and captivating world in this bestselling science fiction novel, now available in a deluxe hardcover edition. Set on the harsh desert planet Arrakis, the story follows the young Paul Atreides as he navigates a treacherous political landscape where the only valuable resource is a coveted drug called "spice." As Paul's family is betrayed and destroyed, he embarks on a journey that will lead him to a destiny beyond his wildest dreams. With a stunning blend of adventure, mysticism, and politics, Dune is a triumph of the imagination and a true masterpiece of science fiction.
1984 by George Orwell
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Martian by Andy Weir
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Shining by Stephen King
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Foundation by Isaac-Asimov
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Nuestra parte de noche by Mariana Enríquez
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Odyssey of Homer by Homer
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. le Guin
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Exhalation by Ted Chiang
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Charlotte's Web by E. B White
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros