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DeutschThe most popular books in English.
What books are currently the most popular and which are the all time classics? Here we present you with a mixture of those two criteria. We update this list once a month.
Walt Whitman
Considered by many to be the quintessential American poet, Walt Whitman (1819-92) exerted a profound influence on all the American poets who came after him. And it was with this inspired, oceanic medley, "Song of Myself" (which in the first editions of Leaves of Grass was still …
John Collier
Fancies and Goodnights is a collection of fantasy short stories by John Collier, first published by Doubleday Books in hardcover in 1951. A paperback edition followed from Bantam Books in 1953, and it has been repeatedly reprinted over more than five decades, most recently in …
Alice Ferney
Pauline is young and coquettish. She is also happily married to Marc and has a child. Gilles, kind and self-confident, is twenty years older and a recent divorcee. After he watches Pauline one morning, he asks to meet her. In spite of herself, Pauline agrees. Alice Ferney …
Anthony Burgess
Tremor of Intent: An Eschatological Spy Novel, by Anthony Burgess, is an English espionage novel. Burgess conceived it as a reaction both to the heavy-handed and humourless spy fiction of John le Carré, and to Ian Fleming's James Bond, a character Burgess thought an imperialist …
Olivier Adam
Etretat, Normandy. On the balcony of a hotel room, a man is keeping watch. His gaze is fixed on the cliffs from which his mother jumped to her death twenty years earlier. During the course of a single night, the narrator reflects on his life, searching for traces of his mother, …
Paul Verlaine
Poèmes saturniens is the first collection of poetry by Paul Verlaine, first published in 1866. Verlaine was linked with the Parnassien movement in French poetry. He published his first poem in their journal, Revue du Progrès moral, littéraire, scientifique et artistique, in …
Jérémy Rifkin
The most significant domestic issue of the 2004 elections is unemployment. The United States has lost nearly three million jobs in the last ten years, and real employment hovers around 9.1 percent. Only one political analyst foresaw the dark side of the technological revolution …
Jean-Paul Sartre
The Condemned of Altona is a play written by Jean-Paul Sartre, known in Great Britain as Loser Wins. It was first produced in 1959 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris. It was one of the last plays Sartre wrote, followed only by his adaptation of Euripides' The Trojan …
Iris Murdoch
Edmund has escaped from his family into a lonely life. He returns home for his mother's funeral and finds himself involved in the same awful problems he left behind, together with some new ones. He also rediscovers the eternal family servant, the ever-changing "Italian girl".
Henning Mankell
Daniel is a novel by Swedish writer Henning Mankell first published in Swedish in 2000 under the title Vindens son. The English translation by Steven T. Murray was published in September 2010.
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Wandering Star is a novel by French Nobel laureate writer J. M. G. Le Clézio. The novel tells the story of two teenage girls on the threshold and in the aftermath of World War II. Esther, a French Jew who flees for Jerusalem with her mother just after Italy's occupation of a …
Henry Handel Richardson
The Getting of Wisdom is a novel by Australian novelist Henry Handel Richardson. It was first published in 1910, and has almost always been in print ever since.
Meindert DeJong
The House of Sixty Fathers is a children's novel by Meindert DeJong first published in 1956. Illustrations were provided by Maurice Sendak. The novel was based on the author's own experiences as a military flier in China during the second world war. The book won the Josette …
Jack Vance
The Gray Prince is a science fiction novel by Jack Vance, first published in two parts in Amazing Science Fiction magazine with the title The Domains of Koryphon. Given that the novel's setting, the planet Koryphon, is integral to the plot, The Gray Prince may be said to belong …
Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy's Op-Center: Acts of War is a technothriller by Tom Clancy
Jean Giono
Joy of Man's Desiring is a 1936 novel by the French writer Jean Giono. The story takes place in an early 20th-century farmer's community in southern France, where the inhabitants suffer from a mysterious disease, while a healer tries to save them by teaching the value of joy. …
Louise Gluck
Averno is Louise Glück's eleventh collection of poetry published in 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It was a National Book Award Finalist for Poetry that year.
M. M. Kaye
Death in Berlin is a mystery novel by M. M. Kaye. The story, set in post World War II Berlin, focuses on Miranda Brand who goes on a one month vacation to Berlin. Brigadier Brindley relates to Miranda Brand, a story of a fortune in lost diamonds, transforming the vacation into …
Barry Unsworth
The Ruby in Her navel is a historical novel by Barry Unsworth first published in 2006. It was long listed for the Booker Prize that year. The story is set in 12th century Sicily and is centered on the Christianization of the Norman kingdom of Sicily under King Roger II. The book …
Helen Garner
Monkey Grip is a novel by Australian writer Helen Garner, her first published book. It initially received a mixed critical reception, but has now become accepted as a classic of modern Australian literature. A film based on the novel, also titled Monkey Grip, was released in …
César Aira
Ghosts by César Aira was first published under the title Los fantasmas in 1990. Chris Andrews’ English translation was published by New Directions in 2009. It was nominated for the 2010 Best Translated Book Award shortlist.
Daisy Ashford
The Young Visiters or Mister Salteena's Plan is a 1919 novel by English writer Daisy Ashford.
Herbert George Wells
Tono-Bungay /ˌtɒnoʊˈbʌŋɡi/ is a realist semiautobiographical novel written by H. G. Wells and published in 1909. It has been called "arguably his most artistic book".
Steve Erickson
Days Between Stations is the first novel by Steve Erickson. Upon publication in 1985 it received notable praise from Thomas Pynchon and has been cited as an influence by novelists such as Jonathan Lethem and Mark Z. Danielewski. It has been translated into French, Italian, …
Peter Ackroyd
The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde is a 1983 novel by Peter Ackroyd. It won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1984.
Errol Flynn
My Wicked, Wicked Ways is an autobiography written by Australian actor Errol Flynn with the aid of ghostwriter Earl Conrad. It was released posthumously following the sudden death of the actor and became immensely popular for its cynical tone and candid depiction of the world of …
Kim Stanley Robinson
A Short, Sharp Shock is a 1990 fantasy novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. The story deals with a man who awakens without memory in a strange land and journeys through it to find the woman he woke alongside. His journey takes him along the narrow strip of land, surrounded by ocean, …
George Martin
A Song for Lya is the first collection of stories by science fiction and fantasy writer George R. R. Martin, published as a paperback original by Avon Books in 1976. It was reprinted by different publishers in 1978 and in 2001. The title is sometimes rendered A Song for Lya and …
George Eliot
The Lifted Veil is a novella by George Eliot, first published in 1859. Quite unlike the realistic fiction for which Eliot is best known, The Lifted Veil explores themes of extrasensory perception, the essence of physical life, possible life after death, and the power of fate. …
Louis Hémon
Maria Chapdelaine is a novel written in 1913 by the French writer Louis Hémon, who was then residing in Quebec.
Walter Abish
How German Is It is a novel by Walter Abish, published in 1980. It received PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 1981. It is most often classified as a postmodern work of fiction. The novel revolves around the Hargenau brothers, Ulrich and Helmut, and their lives in and around the …
George Plimpton
Paper Lion, published in 1966, is a non-fiction book by American author George Plimpton. In 1960, Plimpton, not an athlete, arranged to pitch to a lineup of professional baseball players in an All-Star exhibition, presumably to answer the question, "How would the average man off …
Austin Tappan Wright
Islandia is a classic novel of utopian fiction by Austin Tappan Wright, a U. C. Berkeley Law School Professor. Written as a hobby over a long period, it was posthumously edited down by a third by his wife and daughter, and first published in hardcover by Farrar & Rinehart in …
James P. Hogan
The Proteus Operation is a science fiction novel written by James P. Hogan and published in 1985. The plot concerns time travel by one group which brings Adolf Hitler to power who then wages and wins World War II; and then another group which tries to prevent the Axis Powers's …
James White
Hospital Station is a 1962 science fiction book by author James White and is the first volume in the Sector General series. The book collects together a series of five short stories previously published in New Worlds magazine between 1957 and 1960.
Colin Fletcher
The Man Who Walked Through Time is Colin Fletcher's chronicle of the first person to walk a continuous route through Grand Canyon National Park. When Fletcher conducted the trip in 1963, the park did not encompass the entire length of the canyon; it was later expanded so it did. …
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Pellucidar is a 1915 fantasy novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the second in his series about the fictional "hollow earth" land of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a four-part serial in All-Story Weekly from May 8–29, 1915. It was first published in book form in hardcover by A. C. …
Lloyd Alexander
The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha is a standalone novel written by Lloyd Alexander in 1978. It follows the adventures of a young man named Lukas-Kasha who finds himself in another world after paying a street magician to perform a magic trick.
J. G. Ballard
Rushing to Paradise is a novel by British author J. G. Ballard, first published in 1994. The novel relates the fictional tale of a small and eccentric group of environmentalists attempting to save the albatross on the Pacific island of St.Esprit from nuclear tests by the French …
Robert Anton Wilson
Coincidance: A Head Test is a book by Robert Anton Wilson, published in 1988. It consist of series of essays in four parts prefaced by a foreword from the author. It covers familiar Wilson territory such as the writings of James Joyce, Carl Jung, linguistics and coincidence. As …
Michael Swanwick
Jack Faust is the fifth published novel by the American author Michael Swanwick. It was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award in 1997, and for both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1998.
Barton Gellman
Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency is a book by Washington Post investigative reporter Barton Gellman, published in 2008. Presenting information in a narrative fashion, Gellman asserts that United States Vice President Dick Cheney misled Republican leaders about the threat of …
Carol Topolski
Monster Love is the debut novel of English author Carol Topolski, published in 2008 by Fig Tree, an imprint of Penguin and was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction. According to The Guardian it 'shocked and impressed in equal measure' and has been compared to Lionel …
Alvin Toffler
Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century is the third book in a trilogy written by the futurist Alvin Toffler, following on from Future Shock and The Third Wave. The hardcover first edition was published October 1, 1990. ISBN 0-553-05776-6.
Newt Gingrich
Grant Comes East: A Novel of the Civil War is a New York Times bestseller written by former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen, and Albert S. Hanser. It was published in 2004 and is the sequel to Gettysburg: A Novel of the …
Romesh Gunesekera
Reef is a love story set in a spoiled paradise. It is told by Trtion, who at the age of eleven goes to work as a houseboy to Mister Salgado, a marine biologist obsessed by swamps, sea movements and the island's disappearing reef. Triton learns to polish silver; to mix a love …
Sterling E. Lanier
Hiero's Journey is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Sterling Lanier first published in 1973. The novel follows the adventures of a priest by the name of Per Hiero Desteen as he explores the mutant-infested wilderness of Canada and North America five …
Guy Debord
The Society of the Spectacle is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord. In this important text for the Situationist movement, Debord develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. Debord published a follow-up book Comments on the Society of the …
John Banville
Kepler is a novel by John Banville, first published in 1981. In Kepler Banville recreates Prague despite never having been there when he wrote it. A historical novel, it won the 1981 Guardian Fiction Prize.
Colin Wilson
The Mind Parasites is a science fiction horror novel by author Colin Wilson. It was published by Arkham House in 1967 in an edition of 3,045 copies. It was Wilson's first and only book published by Arkham House. The book is based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
Patrick McGrath
The Grotesque is a 1989 gothic fiction novel by British author Patrick McGrath. It was adapted into a 1995 film starring Alan Bates, Lena Headey, Theresa Russell and Sting.
Eduard Limonov
It's Me, Eddie is the first novel by Russian writer and politician Eduard Limonov. The novel was written in New York in 1976, and published in Paris in 1979. When it was first published in Russia in 1991, it sold over a million copies. The novel was repeatedly published in …
Michael Dibdin
A Long Finish is a novel by Michael Dibdin, and is the sixth entry in the popular Aurelio Zen series.
Doris Lessing
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 is a 1982 science fiction novel by Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing. It is the fourth book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series and relates the fate of a planet, under the care of the benevolent galactic empire …
Frank Herbert
The Heaven Makers is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert. It was originally serialized in Amazing Stories magazine in 1967.
George Ritzer
The McDonaldization of Society is a 1993 book by sociologist George Ritzer. In the book, Ritzer took central elements of the work of Max Weber, expanded and updated them, and produced a critical analysis of the impact of social structural change on human interaction and …
Ross Macdonald
The Way Some People Die is a detective mystery written in 1951 by Ross Macdonald, the third book featuring his private eye, Lew Archer.
Bill James
Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?: Baseball, Cooperstown, and the Politics of Glory is a book by baseball sabermetrician and author Bill James. Originally published in 1994 as The Politics of Glory, the book covers the unique history of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the …
Erich Fromm
The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness is a book written by Erich Fromm.
Arthur Miller
After the Fall is a play by the American dramatist Arthur Miller. The original performance opened in New York City on January 23, 1964, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Barbara Loden and Jason Robards, Jr., along with Ralph Meeker and an early appearance by Faye Dunaway. …
Frankie Boyle
My Shit Life So Far is a comedic observational autobiography by comedian and topical panelist Frankie Boyle. The book details Frankie's working class childhood in Pollokshaws in Glasgow to his rampant teenage sex drive, and his first job, working in a mental hospital. In order …
Adam Roberts
Gradisil is an epic space opera of family revenge and the birth of a nation. Not very long from now, if you are wealthy, space can be yours, space to grow. New technology has seeded a rebirth of the pioneer spirit. A new breed of adventurer has slipped the bonds of gravity and …
Ruth Rendell
A Sleeping Life is a crime-novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1978. It features her popular investigator Detective Inspector Wexford, and is the tenth novel in the series. It was shortlisted for the Mystery Writers' Of America Edgar Award, making it one of …
Russell Hoban
The Medusa Frequency is a 1987 novel by Russell Hoban. Written in a lyrical, often magic realist style, it crosses a number of genres including comedy and fantasy without fitting easily into any. Its themes include loss, fidelity, mythology, perception and creativity.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Mr. Bliss is a children's picture book by J. R. R. Tolkien, published posthumously in book form in 1982. One of Tolkien's least-known short works, it tells the story of Mr. Bliss and his first ride in his new motor-car. Many adventures follow: encounters with bears, angry …
Jean-Paul Sartre
Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions is a 1939 book by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Jan T. Gross
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland is a 2001 book by Princeton University historian Jan T. Gross exploring the July 1941 Jedwabne massacre committed against Polish Jews in the Jedwabne village in Nazi-occupied Poland by their non-Jewish …
Jim Butcher
Storm Front is a 2000 novel by science fiction and fantasy author Jim Butcher. It is the first novel in The Dresden Files, his first published series, and it follows the character of Harry Dresden, professional wizard. The novel was later adapted into a pilot for a SyFy channel …
Eric Van Lustbader
White Ninja is a book published in 1990 that was written by Eric Van Lustbader.
Gene Wolfe
Exodus from the Long Sun is a book published in 1996 that was written by Gene Wolfe.
David Wellington
Vampire Zero is a 2008 vampire novel written by David Wellington.
Randall Jarrell
The Animal Family is a 1965 children's novel by American poet and critic Randall Jarrell and illustrated by noted children's book illustrator Maurice Sendak. It is a 1966 Newbery Honor book and has a significant following among adult readers.
Stephen Hunter
I, Sniper is a novel by Stephen Hunter, published by Simon and Schuster in 2009. It is Hunter's sixth novel whose hero is Bob Lee Swagger, a U. S. Marine Corps sniper who first appears in Point of Impact which is partially set in the Vietnam War. It is tenth in order of …
Martin Handford
Where's Wally? The Fantastic Journey was the third Wally book, first released in 1989. In the book Wally travels to fantasy lands in search of Wizard Whitebeard's magical scrolls. The book introduces the second recurring Where's Wally character, Wizard Whitebeard. Readers are …
Flann O'Brien
The Hard Life: An Exegesis of Squalor is a comic novel by Flann O'Brien. Published in 1961, it was O'Brien's fourth novel and the third to be published.. Set in turn-of-the-century Dublin, The Hard Life is a satirical Bildungsroman that deals with the education and upbringing of …
R. L. Stine
The Haunted Mask is the eleventh book in Goosebumps, the series of children's horror fiction novellas created and authored by R. L. Stine. The book follows Carly Beth, a girl who buys a Halloween mask from a store. After putting on the mask, she starts acting differently and …
John Ringo
Watch on the Rhine is a military science fiction novel by John Ringo and Tom Kratman, the seventh entry in Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series. The novel focuses on the invasion of Europe by the alien Posleen, with an emphasis on Germany. Part of the technology brought to …
Herman Raucher
Summer of '42 is a book written by Herman Raucher. In 2002 TCPalms interview, Herman Raucher mentions that the 1971 film with the same title gave birth to the book Summer of '42. Raucher wrote the screenplay for the 1971 film version. In 2002 TCPalms interview, Raucher revealed …
David Weber
Torch of Freedom is a science fiction novel by American writers David Weber and Eric Flint, published on November 3, 2009. It is the second book in the Wages of Sin series which runs parallel to the main Honor Harrington series. It is the sequel to the 2003 novel Crown of …
Jules Feiffer
A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears is a children's book written and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1995 by HarperCollins. The first edition was a library binding with 180 pages. WorldCat Identities contains records of seven editions of this book in 765 …
Richard Laymon
The Midnight Tour is a 1998 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon, originally released by Feature Publishing. It is the third chapter in the author's "Beast House Chronicles" series, preceded by The Cellar in 1980 and The Beast House in 1986, and followed in 2001 by the …
Eric Van Lustbader
The Testament is a 2006 thriller novel by Eric Van Lustbader.
Simon Kernick
The Business of Dying is a novel written by Simon Kernick. His first novel, Kernick introduces the character Dennis Milne who becomes the lead character in several novels. The story is a crime thriller which follows Milne, a full-time police officer and part-time hitman whose …
Rex Stout
If Death Ever Slept is a Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout, published by the Viking Press in 1957 and collected in the omnibus volume Three Trumps.
John Updike
Pigeon Feathers is an early collection of short stories by John Updike, published in 1962. It includes the stories "Wife-Wooing" and "A&P", which have both been anthologized.
W. E. B. Griffin
Behind the lines is a book published in 1996 that was written by W. E. B. Griffin.
Helen Doss
The Family Nobody Wanted is a 1954 memoir by Helen Doss. It retells the story of how Doss and her husband Carl, a Methodist minister, adopted twelve children of various ethnic backgrounds besides White Americans. The couple appeared on a 1954 episode of You Bet Your Life with …
Glen Cook
Red Iron Nights is the sixth novel in Glen Cook's ongoing Garrett P.I. series. The series combines elements of mystery and fantasy as it follows the adventures of private investigator Garrett.
Lloyd C. Douglas
Magnificent Obsession is a 1929 novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was one of four of his books that were eventually made into blockbuster motion pictures, the other three being The Robe, White Banners and The Big Fisherman.
Matthew Stover
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is a standalone novel that chronicles the Battle of Mindor, a fictional event in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The novel was written by Matthew Stover, and was released in December 2008. The novel is set shortly after Return of the …
Glenda Larke
The Aware is the first book in The Isles of Glory by Glenda Larke, in the style of an interview that took place much later than the events in the book. The Aware was a finalist in the 2003 Aurealis Awards fantasy division.
Herman Wouk
City Boy: The Adventures of Herbie Bookbinder is a 1948 novel by Herman Wouk first published by Simon and Schuster. The second novel written by Wouk, City Boy was largely ignored by the reading public until the success of The Caine Mutiny resurrected interest in Wouk's writing. …
V. C. Andrews
Irish Crystal is the ninth of the Nuala Anne McGrail series of mystery novels by Roman Catholic priest and author Father Andrew M. Greeley.
Gregory A. Boyd
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church is a 2007 book by theologian Greg Boyd on the relationship between politics and Christianity. Following the book's release, Boyd, who was already a noteworthy theologian before the book's …
Angus Donald
Outlaw is the first novel of the eight-part Outlaw Chronicles series by British writer of historical fiction, Angus Donald, released on 10 July 2009 through Little, Brown and Company. The début novel was relatively well received.
Nathan Wilson
Dandelion Fire is a 2009 children's fantasy novel by N. D. Wilson. It is the second installment in the 100 Cupboards trilogy, followed by The Chestnut King.
Danielle Steel
Coming Out is a novel by Danielle Steel, published by Random House in June 2006. The book is Steel's sixty-ninth novel.
Hilary Duff
Elixir is the debut young adult novel co-written by American entertainer Hilary Duff with Elise Allen. It was available at booksellers on October 12, 2010. It is the first in a series of books that Duff became committed to write. Elise Allen collaborated on the first book with …
Robyn Young
Crusade is a novel by Robyn Young set during the end of the ninth and final crusade. It was first published by Dutton in 2007.
Ian Irvine
The Way Between the Worlds is the fourth novel in The View from the Mirror quartet, by Ian Irvine.