The Top 100 Fiction Books
Are All a Matter of Opinion

Ask ten people what the top 100 fiction books are, and you'll get ten different lists. Some will include mostly "classics", some will include much more genre fiction or general interest fiction.

It's all a matter of taste and opinion. So how do you go about compiling your own list?


Asking "Authorities"

If you're trying to improve your knowledge and understanding of great literature, you should look to people you consider authorities to create your list of top 100 fiction books.

Look for lists generated by publishers (ones who aren't using current sales to create their lists), well-known book reviewers or institutions whose opinion you trust.

For example, Time Magazine has a list of all-time top 100 fiction books . Harvard University also created a fiction book list , many of which are available in their bookstore.

One I liked better, because it's two lists in one, is the classic book list at Random House . The board of Random House compiled one list, while readers compiled the second. Many of the books are on both lists, though.

Depending on who's compiling the top 100 fiction books list, there may be more literary or classic fiction books than anything else. Most of the lists I've seen tend to be heavy in this area. If you want a list more specific to a genre you enjoy, you'll need to search that genre itself. This is a great way to find books you should read to become familiar with the genre you want to write in.

Just keep in mind that what makes the best fiction book to one person can be quite different from what another person believes is best.


Name Dropping

Unless you're searching for the top ten science fiction books, or some other genre fiction list, you're liable to see some pretty familiar "classic" names on any top 100 fiction books list you find. If you want to be more wide-read, pick a few of these up and read them. If you're learning how to write a novel, it's always a good practice to read at least some of the classics.

Search out Shakespeare (even if his are plays), Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain. (The list is much larger than that, but those are a start.) Read one or a few of the titles you find under each author's name. Pay special attention to how they characterize their main cast, how they use description, how they construct their plots.

Dissecting some of the most renowned authors' works will help you understand myriad ways to write your own. To me, that's the biggest value of reading these classic fiction authors. Maybe they can help me turn my novels into classics.


Old Versus New

Something to keep in mind while you're on the hunt for the top 100 fiction books: Does the list you found include novels written in a certain era only, or is it an "all-time" list? Depending on why you're searching, you may want to steer more toward either modern-day writers, or much older classics.

If you're broadening your horizons and deepening your literary education, go with the "all-time" top 100 fiction books lists. If you're researching what's newer in the field, what's been done and what's been missed in your market, stick to specific lists such as "top twentieth century fiction books for teens."

Ask your librarian, if you're reading to gain insight into what's working nowadays. Librarians are on top of which books are most popular in which fiction genres. They may not be able to list specific top 100 fiction books, for you, but they'll be able to get you started in the right direction.


My Favorite Fiction Books List

I'll leave you with a few of my suggestions for fantastic fiction. Please keep in mind, these are books I enjoyed reading a great deal, not all of them classics, some of them fiction books for kids.

And no, I don't have one hundred to recommend, at least not all at once. I'll give you a few dozen with my reasons for liking them, and let you explore from there.

Remember, when choosing the top 100 fiction books that matter to you, it's your opinion that counts the most!

In no particular order, here are my first ten recommendations for a top 100 fiction books list:

1. The Three Musketeers, Alexander Dumas - Dumas created both compelling plot and characters and a humorous jab at aristocratic life during the 17th century.
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - I love seeing a female author from this era become a "classic", when many women of the era felt they had to publish under a male pseudonym.
3. Harry Potter series, J.K.Rowling - What an incredible "what if" to pursue. I dreaded the seventh book, for fear she wouldn't finish it well, but my hat's off to her.
4. Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, Under Orders, the Sid Halley quartet, Dick Francis - My love of horses first got me to read Dick Francis. He was a jockey before becoming a writer, and his books all tie into the racing world in some way. This is my favorite character of his. He does a great job of characterization, without overdoing it. His plots leave you guessing till near the end (as all good mysteries should).
5. Dragonriders of Pern series, Anne McCaffrey - Anne McCaffrey is one of my favorite fantasy/sci fi authors. I love the worlds she creates and how believable they are.
6. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card - I don't read as much science fiction as I read fantasy, but this one stuck with me a long time. You feel for Ender right through to the end, and I, at least, was fooled into not knowing what was really happening until late in the book.
7. The Color Purple, Alice Walker - It's been years since I read this one, but I remember finding it difficult to get through sometimes, both because of the way it's written and the hard life it describes. I still enjoyed it.
8. Charlotte's Web, E.B. White - A nice tale of friends in odd places.
9. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne - More comforting friends to lean on.
10. Little House series, Laura Ingalls Wilder - What better way to understand what life was really like on the American frontier than to read a firsthand account of someone who lived through it.


Here are my next ten recommendations for a top 100 fiction books list:
11. The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks - This one really tore at my heart. I hope to never be in the position these two spouses are.
12. The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain - Wouldn't you like to trade places with someone on the "opposite" end of the spectrum from you to understand what it's really like?
13. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown - While controversial, I really enjoyed some of the ideas about Christianity it raises.
14. Misery, Stephen King - I generally avoid reading Stephen King's books. No offense, Mr. King, but I don't need help with my nightmares. But when I heard about this one, and it being about an author...
15. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - My daughter told me everything is too perfect in this tale. But that's one of the things I like about it. Idealistic me.
16. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery - More sweetness and light to read, when you need it.
17. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle - I liked that the mom in this worked at home in a era when mom's didn't usually do that. It's a great fantasy tale, too.
18. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin - I'm sure parts of this inspired parts of my own writing. Another good fantasy.
19. The Princess Bride, William Goldman - This one's fun if only because he pokes fun at fairy tales with it.
20. The Crystal Cave (and other Merlin series books), Mary Stewart - I know this one influenced my writing quite a lot. Merlin is one of my favorite characters to explore.


Ten more recommendations for a top 100 fiction books list:
21. The Chanur series, C.J. Cherryh - Another science fiction/fantasy. I love this one because she makes the human seem like the alien!
22. The Fairy Godmother, Mercedes Lackey - A delightful twist and mix of old fairy tales.
23. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon - Believable time travel and a great romance combined.
24. Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson - I think this one was assigned in freshman English class, and I don't remember it in detail except that I really liked it. Partially because it's about a Scotsman, and I'm one, too.
25. The Black Stallion, Walter Farley - A wonderful tale of great horses for horse-lovers.
26. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare - I know. This is a play. But it's a great story, too, and I'm sure it's influenced my writing numerous times.
27. The Crucible, Arthur Miller - Another play, but the story is excellent.
28. The Golden Goblet, Eloise Jarvis McGraw - This is on my list because when my children were younger, I dug deep to find good historical fiction to read to them when I homeschooled them. This one depicts ancient Egypt nicely.
29. Follow My Leader, James B. Garfield - I read this one near the same time I read about Helen Keller. Both stories helped me understand what it's like to be without sight.
30. The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner - The ultimate "orphan children" story for kids.


Yet another ten recommendations for a top 100 fiction books list:
31. The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes - This one makes us look at how we view people and treat people, depending on our assumptions about them.
32. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken - An adventure about children where they children prevail in the end. Mostly without adult aid.
33. Chronicles of the Deryni, Katherine Kurtz - Probably my favorite fantasy series in many ways, this mix of swords and magic inspires lots of my own ideas.
34. The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman - Another tale that puts you back in time, helping you feel what it was really like.
35. The Second Mrs. Giaconda, E.L. Konisburg - A fun look at Leonardo Da Vinci.
36. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens - For the darker side of life, Charles Dickens is a master.
37. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell - A poignant story, beautifully told from the horse's viewpoint. That must have caused the publisher pause...
38. The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale - A much lesser known Grimm Fairy Tale, retold with good characters and compelling plot.
39. A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett - I like the ending in the new version of this on film better than the one in the book, but maybe that's because I lost my dad when I was a kid. Still a wonderful story.
40. Arrows of the Queen series, Mercedes Lackey - Ending with a fantasy, for now. I love the Companions she created, making something new and unusual out of horses.





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