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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.
Max Frisch
Montauk is a story by Swiss writer Max Frisch. It first appeared in 1975 and takes an exceptional position in Frisch's work. While fictional stories previously served Frisch for exploring the possible behavior of his protagonists, in Montauk, he tells an authentic experience: a …
Wolfgang Koeppen
Here is an English translation of a post-war German classic. The events of the novel take place during the course of a single day in an unnamed city in occupied Germany where the endless drone of allied planes overhead increases the already heightened tension. Throughout this …
Marguerite Yourcenar
These three tales are set in the Renaissance. Nathanael, the protagonist of "An Obscure Man" is innocent and shaped by his suffering. In "A Lovely Morning" Nathanael's son Lazarus escapes his tutelage to join a group of actors. The final story, "Anna, Soror" in an account of …
Annie Ernaux
A Frozen Woman charts Ernaux's teenage awakening, and then the parallel progression of her desire to be desirable and her ambition to fulfill herself in her chosen profession - with the inevitable conflict between the two. And then she is thirty years old, a teacher married to …
Gregor von Rezzori
This is a European classic. Set in Rumania, Austria, Germany and Italy between the last century's world wars, this is a novel of great beauty about men and the histories that define them. Our hero tells of his childhood: his passion for hunting, his love of the wild landscape of …
Joann Sfar
Little Vampire has decided that despite his ability to fly, freedom to turn himself into a rat, a wolf, or a bat--even his unquestioned right to "bite little girls till they bleed, without ever getting into trouble"--that what he really wants to do is go to school. The kind with …
Marek Halter
The ancient world and its politics come to life through the eyes of a young Jewish woman, Mary of Nazareth Miriam–also known as Mary–was born into a Palestine oppressed by Herod the Great; she is accustomed to living with uncertainty and unrest. But when her beloved father is …
Prosper Mérimée
Carmen, Merimee's classic tale of passion and power, provided the inspiration for one of the world's most enduringly popular operas, and numerous films. Like Carmen, the other stories in this book, including Mateo Falcone, The Etruscan Vase, and The Venus of Ille, explore the …
Jean-Claude Izzo
"Izzo digs deep into what makes men weep."-Time Out New York In this moving investigation into the human comedy, the men aboard an impounded freighter in the port of Marseilles are divided: Wait for the money owed them, or accept their fate and abandon ship? Captain Abdul Aziz …
Lewis Trondheim
Lewis Trondheim McConey's excitable pal Richie suffers a string of bad luck and believes he's been cursed by an ancient artifact ― but is it all in his head? Or is the lack of concrete evidence all part of the curse? "Better to have doggy-doo on the sole of my foot than pigeon …
Sue Townsend
Adrian Mole: From Minor to Major is a compilation of the first three books The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole and The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole. The book also contains the specially written bonus, Adrian Mole and the Small …
A. E. van Vogt
. He was Ptath, the greatest god the mind of man had ever created. He had returned, but against his will. The goddess Ineznia, his deadly rival, had thrust him into the dangerous world of 200,000,000 A.D. in mortal form. . Could Ptath, with only the strength of a mortal, defeat …
Lydia Davis
Lydia Davis has been called "one of the quiet giants in the world of American fiction" (Los Angeles Times), "an American virtuoso of the short story form" (Salon), an innovator who attempts "to remake the model of the modern short story" (The New York Times Book Review). Her …
George Sand
A Winter in Majorca is an autobiographical travel novel written by George Sand, at the time in a relationship with Frédéric Chopin. Although published in 1842, it appeared for the first time in 1841 in the Revue des deux Mondes. In the novel, Sand relates the details of her trip …
Anatole France
Thaïs is a novel by Anatole France published in 1890. It is based on events in the life of Saint Thaïs of Egypt, a legendary convert to Christianity who is said to have lived in the 4th century. It was the inspiration for the opera of the same name by Jules Massenet.
Maurice Leblanc
The Crystal Stopper is a mystery novel by Maurice Leblanc featuring the adventures of the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. The novel appeared in serial form in the French newspaper Le Journal from September to November 1912 and was released as a novel subsequently. Maurice Leblanc …
Herbert George Wells
The History of Mr. Polly is a 1910 comic novel by H. G. Wells.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov
The Original of Laura is the incomplete novel by Vladimir Nabokov, which he was writing at the time of his death in 1977. It was finally published, after 30 years of private debate, on November 17, 2009. Nabokov had requested that the work be destroyed upon his death, but his …
Samuel R. Delany
Hogg is a novel by Samuel R. Delany, often described as pornographic. It was written in San Francisco in 1969 and completed just days before the Stonewall Riots in New York City. A further draft was completed in 1973 in London. At the time it was written, no one would publish it …
V.S. Naipaul
A Turn in the South is a travelogue of the American South written by Nobel Prize-winning writer V. S. Naipaul. The book was published in 1989 and is based upon the author's travels in the southern states of the United States. Naipaul has written fiction and non-fiction about …
Jeremy Paxman
On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry into Some Strangely Related Families is a book by Jeremy Paxman examining the ways in which the British Monarchy continues to hold to the public imagination.
Michael Moorcock
The Champion of Garathorm is a book published in 1973 that was written by Michael Moorcock.
Harry Turtledove
Darkness Descending by Harry Turtledove, is the second book in the Darkness series.
James BeauSeigneur
In His Image is the first third of the Christ Clone Trilogy, by James BeauSeigneur.
P. G. Wodehouse
The Small Bachelor is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 28 April 1927 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the United States on 17 June 1927 by George H. Doran, New York. It is based upon Wodehouse and Guy Bolton's book for the 1917 musical …
Dinesh D'Souza
Letters to a Young Conservative is a book published in 2002 that was written by Dinesh D'Souza.
Isaac Asimov
Magic is a collection of short stories and essays by Isaac Asimov, all within the fantasy genre, collected and released after his death. The first seven stories are part of his Azazel series, while the remainder are three more traditional medieval fantasies and one mystery story …
Kate Chopin
The Awakening, originally titled A Solitary Soul, is a novel by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. Set in New Orleans and on the Louisiana Gulf coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers on Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox …
Lilith Saintcrow
Redemption Alley is a book published in 2009 that was written by Lilith Saintcrow.
Gore Vidal
Messiah is a thriller novel by British writer Boris Starling, published in 1999. Following the success of the novel, a sequel, Storm, was also released. The novel became the basis for the popular BBC TV series Messiah, starring Ken Stott.
Spider Robinson
Mindkiller is a 1982 novel by science fiction writer Spider Robinson. The novel, set in the late 1980s, explores the social implications of technologies to manipulate the brain, beginning with wireheading, the use of electric current to stimulate the pleasure center of the brain …
Richard McKenna
The Sand Pebbles is a 1962 novel by American author Richard McKenna about a Yangtze River gunboat and its crew in 1926. It was the winner of the 1963 Harper Prize for fiction. Prior to its publication by Harper & Row, the book was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and …
Michael Shermer
Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown is a 2004 book by Michael Shermer, a historian of science and founder of The Skeptics Society. It contains thirteen essays about "personal barriers and biases that plague and propel science, especially when scientists push …
Carrie Fisher
Delusions of Grandma is a novel by actress and author Carrie Fisher that was published in 1993. Like most of Fisher's books, this novel is semi-autobiographical and fictionalizes events seemingly from her real life.
Anthony Hope
Rupert of Hentzau is a sequel by Anthony Hope to The Prisoner of Zenda, written in 1895, but not published until 1898.
Anthony Powell
At Lady Molly's is the fourth volume in Anthony Powell's twelve novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time. A first person narrative, it is written in precise yet conversational prose. Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1957, At Lady Molly's is set in England of the …
Søren Kierkegaard
On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates is Søren Kierkegaard's university thesis paper that he submitted in 1841. This thesis is the culmination of three years of extensive study on Socrates, as seen from the view point of Xenophon, Aristophanes, and Plato. …
David Gibbins
The Last Gospel is an archaeological adventure novel by David Gibbins. First published in 2008, it is the third book in Gibbins' Jack Howard series. It has been published in more than 20 languages and was a London Sunday Times top-ten bestseller and a New York Times top-ten …
Thomas Hardy
Desperate Remedies is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published anonymously by Tinsley Brothers in 1871.
Willa Cather
Alexander's Bridge is the first novel by American author Willa Cather. First published in 1912, it was re-released with an author's preface in 1922. It also ran as a serial in McClure's, giving Cather some free time from her work for that magazine.
Pierre Louys
The Songs of Bilitis is a collection of erotic, essentially lesbian, poetry by Pierre Louÿs published in Paris in 1894. The poems are in the manner of Sappho; the collection's introduction claims they were found on the walls of a tomb in Cyprus, written by a woman of Ancient …
Mary Chesnut
Mary Chesnut's Civil War is an annotated collection of the diaries of Mary Boykin Chesnut, an upper-class planter who lived in South Carolina during the American Civil War. The diaries were extensively annotated by historian C. Vann Woodward and published by Yale University …
Troy Denning
The Verdant Passage is a book published in 1991 that was written by Troy Denning.
Louis Althusser
Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays is one of the chief works of Louis Althusser. First published in 1968, it was published in English translation in 1971.
Søren Kierkegaard
The Book on Adler is a work by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, written during his second authorship, and was published posthumously in 1872. The work is partly about pastor Adolph Peter Adler who claimed to have received a revelation. After some questionable acts, …
Berkeley Breathed
The Last Basselope is a children's book by Berkeley Breathed published in 1992. The 32 page story depicts Breathed's Outland characters, led by Opus the Penguin, hunting the last remaining specimen of a purportedly fierce beast called a Basselope. Once found, the beast—named …
Robert Holdstock
Gate of Ivory, Gate of Horn is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Holdstock. It was originally published in the United States in 1997 The story is a prequel to Mythago Wood and explores Christian Huxley's quest into Ryhope Wood and the apparent suicide of his mother, …
Gina B. Nahai
Caspian Rain is the fourth novel from Gina B. Nahai and takes place in the decade before the Islamic Revolution. The book was published in 2007 by MacAdam/Cage in the United States and has been published in 15 languages.
Peter Goldsworthy
Maestro is a 1989 novel written by Australian author Peter Goldsworthy. It is a bildungsroman which deals with the themes of art and life. The novel was shortlisted for the 1990 Miles Franklin Award. It has been translated into German, and is a set text on year-twelve syllabuses …
Della Van Hise
Killing Time is a Star Trek: The Original Series novel written by Della Van Hise and published by Pocket Books in 1985. The original manuscript had Kirk/Spock slash fiction elements, and these were requested to be removed by Paramount. However, they were not removed, and 250,000 …
Harlan Ellison
Stalking the Nightmare is a 1982 collection of short stories and nonfiction pieces by Harlan Ellison. The short stories are interspersed with "Scenes from the Real World" sections, which are essays on a variety of topics. Although most of the stories had not previously appeared …
Hans Christian Andersen
The Princess and the Pea is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal identity is established by a test of her physical sensitivity. The tale was first published with three others by Andersen in an inexpensive booklet on 8 May 1835 in …
Jacqueline Wilson
The Bed and Breakfast Star is a children's novel by British author Jacqueline Wilson.
Stendhal
Vie de Henri Brulard is an unfinished autobiography by Stendhal. It was begun on November 23, 1835 and abandoned March 26, 1836 while the author was serving as the French Consul in Civitavecchia. Stendhal had severe doubts about contemporary interest in his autobiography, so he …
James Fox
White Mischief is a novel by British journalist James Fox, first published in hardback 1982 by Jonathan Cape and in paperback in 1984 by Penguin. It is the fictionalized account of the unsolved murder in 1941 of Josslyn Hay, the Earl of Erroll, a British expatriate in Kenya. The …
Paul Fleischman
Weslandia is a novel by Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman, with illustrations by Kevin Hawkes. It was published in 1999 by Candlewick Press.
Sonya Hartnett
The Silver Donkey is a young-adult fiction book written by Sonya Hartnett, set during World War I. The book traces the journey of an English soldier who deserts the war and comes across two young girls in the French countryside, Marcelle and Coco. The girls help the soldier, who …
Barbara Emberley
Drummer Hoff is the title and main character of a children's book by Barbara and Ed Emberley. Ed Emberley won the 1968 Caldecott Medal for the book's illustrations. Written by Barbara Emberley, it tells a cumulative tale of seven soldiers who build a cannon named the "Sultan", …
Ingri D'Aulaire
Abraham Lincoln is a book by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire about Abraham Lincoln. Released by Doubleday Publishers, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1940.
Joseph Krumgold
Onion John is a novel written by Joseph Krumgold and published in 1959. It was the winner of the 1960 Newbery Medal. The story is set in 1950s New Jersey, and tells the story of 12-year-old Andy Rusch and his friendship with an eccentric hermit who lives on the outskirts of the …
Edwin O'Connor
The Last Hurrah is a 1956 novel written by Edwin O'Connor. It is considered the most popular of O’Connor's works, partly because of a significant 1958 movie adaptation starring Spencer Tracy. The novel was immediately a bestseller in the United States for 20 weeks, and was also …
Robert Kirkman
The Walking Dead, Book 4 is a book written by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn.
Warren Fellows
The Damage Done is a book by Australian Warren Fellows. It portrays his time in the notorious Bangkwang prison, nicknamed "Big Tiger". Fellows was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978, convicted of heroin trafficking between Bangkok, Thailand and Australia.
James A. Owen
The Indigo King, released on October 21, 2008, is the third book of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, a series of books begun by Here, There Be Dragons, by James A. Owen. It follows The Search for the Red Dragon and precedes The Shadow Dragons, which was released in …
Colin Harrison
Manhattan Nocturne is a crime novel by Colin Harrison set in Manhattan, first published in 1996. The novel was published in America in hardcover by Crown and remains in print by Picador in trade paperback. Fifteen foreign, paperback, and bookclub editions were published and the …
Jon Scieszka
Baloney (Henry P.) is a children's picture book written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. It was published in 1991 by Viking Press.
Julian Stockwin
Kydd, first published in 2001, is a historical novel by Julian Stockwin. This first instalment in Julian Stockwin's series of novels set during the Age of Fighting Sail tells the story of young Kydd, who is pressed into service on a British ship in 1793. The book is unusual in …
Julie Anne Peters
Rage: A Love Story is a young adult novel by Julie Anne Peters. It was first published in hardback in 2009. The story follows Johanna who falls in love with Reeve who has suffered much abuse in her life. When their relationship struggles, Reeve begins to physically abuse Johanna …
Henning Mankell
Secrets in the Fire is a children's novel by Swedish author Henning Mankell. It was published in 1995 and was translated into English by Anne Connie Stuksrud. Secrets in the Fire was based on the true story of land mine victim Sofia Alface. The book has won the 2002 Sankei …
Patricia McKissack
Friendship For Today is an award nominated book written by Patricia McKissack.
Clive Cussler
The Spy is an Isaac Bell adventure tale, the third in that series. The hardcover edition was released June 1, 2010. Other editions were released on different dates.
Pope John Paul II
The Jeweler's Shop is a three-act play, written by Pope John Paul II in 1960, that looks at three couples as their lives become intertwined and mingled with one another. The play looks at humanity's ideas and expectations of romantic love and marriage. It is a truthful and …
Bill Willingham
The next collection in the New York Times best selling series.Rose Red, sister of Snow White, has finally hit rock bottom. Does she stay there, or is it time to start the long, tortuous climb back up? The Farm is in chaos, as many factions compete to fill the void of her missing …
Jay Asher
The Future of Us is a 2011 contemporary fiction novel written by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. The novel was published on November 21, 2011 by Razorbill, a division of Penguins Young Readers Group.
Ally Condie
The highly anticipated second book in the Matched trilogy Chasing down an uncertain future Cassia makes her way to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky-taken by Society to his certain death-only to find that he has escaped into the majestic but treacherous canyons On this wild …
James S. A. Corey
The explosive third novel in James S.A. Corey's New York Times bestselling Expanse series. Now a major television series! For generations, the solar system -- Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt -- was humanity's great frontier. Until now. The alien artifact working through its …