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People seem to enjoy making up lists about the 100 best books and films.

• The 100 Top Books of all Time - A worldwide list of fiction books selected by 100 authors from 54 countries. By the Guardian, 2002
• Top 100 Books in World Literature - By Norwegian Book Clubs with the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
• The Library 100 - The 100 novels most often found on library shelves around the world. By OCLC, 2019
• 100 Must Read Classics, as Chosen by our Readers - This list is from Penguin Books, May 2022.
• The 100 Best Novels Written in English - Selected by Robert McCrumb of The Guardian, August, 2015.
• The 100 Novels That Everyone Should Read - From The Telegraph, October, 2020.
• 100 Books to Read Before You Die - This BBC list was chosen by authors and "book experts". This is a very readable list and you should enjoy your reading. It also has audio commentaries on the books. 2018
• Time's List of 100 Best Novels in the English Language from 1923 to the Present (2010)
• The 100 Greatest British Novels - From BBC Culture. These novels were selected by 82 book critics from outside of the United Kingdom. Dec., 2015.
• The Hundred Greatest American Novels - 1891 - 1991. This list is by Jeff O'Neil of Book Riot.
• The 100 Best Novels of the 20th century - From Good Reads.
• The 100 Best Books of the 21 Century - Selected by The Guardian, Sept. 2019
• Books for the Ages - This site gives you 100 books and the age at which each should be read. At age 1, one should read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and at age 60, you should be reading The Five Years Before You Retire. You can check and see what you should read at age 100.
• The Big Read - The 100 "most-loved' novels in the United Kingdom as compiled by the BBC. 2003
• 100 Novels That Make You Proud to be a Canadian - Selected by CBC.
• From 0 to Well-Read in 100 Books - Suppose you have never read any literature and wanted to become "well-read". The author of this list, Jeff, has selected 100 books to achieve "well-read". You might want to argue with some of the selections. Maybe you and/or your book group might want to come up with a better list.
• The 100 Best Selling Books of All Time - From The Guardian, August 2012.
• 1001 Books to Read Before You Die - This list is from the book of the same title. The list was developed by literary critics and edited by Peter Boxall
• The 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read - Selected by the Guardian, Jan. 2009.
• The 100 Best First Lines of Novels - Selected by the editors of the American Book Review.
• The 100 Best Closing Lines from Books - Chosen by The Stylist.
• The 50 Greatest Villians in Literature - So it is not 100, but it still is interesting. And the most villainous is - well, you will have to read this article from the Telegraph.

Genre Fiction

• The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of all Time - If you are new to reading mysteries this is a great place to start. It gives you old and new mystery novels, and mystery novels from countries other than the US and England. It is from the New York Times and was selected by noted mystery authors. Even if you have been reading mystery novels for years this list may introduce you to new authors.
• 100 Best Mystery Novels - by The Mystery Writers of America
• The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time - Selected by the UK Crime Writers Association.
• 100 Killer Thrillers - The best books of suspense and adventure. This list was the result of votes by listeners of NPR in August, 2010.
• Golden Age Science Fiction - This is a list of 75 books from the Golden Age (1934 - 1963). These books seem to be omitted or overlooked in lists of best SF, but they are the foundation upon which modern SF rests.
• The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time - Chosen by writers of fantasy books. Time Magazine, October, 2020.
• Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books - From a poll conducted by NPR in August, 2011.
• 15 Recent SciFi Books That Forever Shaped the Genre - OK, it is not 100 books, but it is a good list of recent books that should be read if you want to know the shape of current SF. This article is by Andrew Liptak, Oct. 15, 2020.
• Worlds Without End - At this web site, look at the submenu under the heading Books. There are many, many 100 best lists of science fiction books.
• 100 Great Works of Dystopian Fiction - Chosen by Vulture, 2017
• 100 Best Fantasy Books - From Worlds Without End.
• Horror: 100 Best Books - From Worlds Without End.
• Click if You Dare, 100 Favorite Horror Stories - From a NPR Reader's poll, 2018.
• Happy Ever After: 100 Swoon-worthy Romances - This list is from NPR, July, 2015.
• We Did it for the LOL's, 100 Favorite Funny Books - An NPR readers poll, 2019.
• 100 Must Read Books of US Historical Fiction - This list is by Rachel Manwell, July 7, 2017 for Book Riot

Mix of Fiction and Nonfiction

• The Best Books of the 21st Century - This is from Good Reads. Note the menu on this page which will take you to best books of various historical periods.
• The 100 Most Influential Books ever Written - Compiled by Martin Seymore-Smith. 1998
• The 100 Most Influential Books of the Twentieth Century - by the Boston Public Library.
• Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century - The list is by the African Studies Centre, Leiden.

Nonfiction

• The 100 Best Nonfiction Books - From the Modern Library.
• The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of all Time - This list is from The Guardian, 2017.
• The 100 All-Time Best Popular Science Books - Books for the general reader; you do not need a Ph. D. in quantum mechanics to understand them. This list is by the Online Education Database.
• The 100 Best Political Books - Chosen by The Observer, 2017.
• National Geographic's 100 Adventure Books
• 100 Best American Revolution Books of all Time - This list is by the Journal of the American Revolution. 2017
• The 100 Must-Read Best Books on Writing and the Writer's Life - From Book Riot, July. 2017.

Books for Children and Teens

• 100 Best Books for Young Readers - NPR, August, 2020.
• The 100 Best Books for Children - Selected by Book Trust in 2021.
• The 100 Books Every Child Should Read - by Michael Murporgo of the Telegraph UK. There are actually 300 books divided in sections of 100 each for early years, middle years, and early teens.
• The 100 Best Picture Books - From a poll conducted by School Library Journal, 2012.
• The 100 Best Chapter Books - From a poll by School Library Journal, 2012.
• 100 Great Books for an Ambitious Teenage Reader - By Dan Kois for Slate, July 23, 2019.
• The Top 100 Teen Books - From a survey conducted by NPR in 2012.

Films and TV

• The Greatest Films - When you are not reading, you might want to watch a movie. This site has a large collection of best 100 films lists.
• The 50 Best Plays of the Last 100 Years - As selected by Entertainment Weekly in 2013.
• 100 Best Films of the 21 Century - From The Guardian, Sept, 2019.
• The 100 Best TV shows of the 21st century - From The Guardian, Sept. 2019
• The 100 Best TV Shows of all Time - As selected by the Writers Guild of America. June 3, 2013.
• The Best 100 Lists - Here is where you can vote on the best novels, movies, and many other things.

Best Books of the Year

• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2023
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2021
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2020
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2019
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2018
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2017
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2016
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2015
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2014.
• New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2013
• New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2012.
• New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2011
• The Best Books of 2011 - By the Toronto Globe and Mail.
• New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2010
• New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2009
• New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2008 - There are also links to the 100 notable lists of previous lists.
• The Best 20 Books of the Millennium - By The Millions, October, 2009.

This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, school librarian, Philadelphia, PA. Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to info@sldirectory.com