Boston Public Library: The 100 Most Influential Books of the 20th Century

1.
1984
1984 4.20 avg rating — 5,226,078 ratings
2.
The Diary of a Young Girl
The Diary of a Young Girl 4.20 avg rating — 4,073,023 ratings
3.
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye 3.80 avg rating — 3,800,404 ratings
4.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby 3.93 avg rating — 5,731,271 ratings
5.
Lolita
Lolita 3.87 avg rating — 919,193 ratings
6.
Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf 4.13 avg rating — 206,732 ratings
7.
The Trial
The Trial 3.94 avg rating — 377,295 ratings
8.
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front 4.10 avg rating — 505,032 ratings
9.
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
by: Ayn Rand
3.69 avg rating — 402,783 ratings
10.
Catch-22
Catch-22 3.99 avg rating — 873,320 ratings
11.
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath 4.02 avg rating — 971,574 ratings
12.
Ulysses
Ulysses 3.77 avg rating — 138,338 ratings
13.
On the Road
On the Road 3.61 avg rating — 438,500 ratings
13.
The Stranger
The Stranger 4.03 avg rating — 1,315,451 ratings
15.
The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises 3.79 avg rating — 482,020 ratings
16.
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness 3.43 avg rating — 545,727 ratings
17.
2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1) 4.17 avg rating — 330,495 ratings
18.
Silent Spring
Silent Spring 4.05 avg rating — 53,314 ratings
19.
The Jungle
The Jungle 3.78 avg rating — 152,235 ratings
19.
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Lady Chatterley's Lover 3.50 avg rating — 134,614 ratings
21.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude 4.12 avg rating — 1,069,959 ratings
22.
A Room of One’s Own
A Room of One’s Own 4.22 avg rating — 246,440 ratings
23.
The Second Sex
The Second Sex 4.18 avg rating — 45,862 ratings
24.
On Aggression
On Aggression 4.04 avg rating — 1,663 ratings
25.
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 753,908 ratings
26.
The Interpretation of Dreams
The Interpretation of Dreams 3.84 avg rating — 79,563 ratings
27.
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time 4.34 avg rating — 13,695 ratings
28.
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique 3.87 avg rating — 30,215 ratings
29.
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory 4.20 avg rating — 22,702 ratings
30.
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956 4.33 avg rating — 33,404 ratings
31.
Babbitt
Babbitt 3.69 avg rating — 24,525 ratings
32.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family
Roots: The Saga of an American Family 4.45 avg rating — 163,546 ratings
33.
Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning 4.37 avg rating — 832,404 ratings
34.
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf 3.17 avg rating — 43,176 ratings
35.
Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
Cybernetics: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 746 ratings
36.
The Magic Mountain
The Magic Mountain 4.13 avg rating — 56,593 ratings
37.
The Double Helix
The Double Helix 3.84 avg rating — 19,751 ratings
38.
Native Son
Native Son 4.04 avg rating — 103,287 ratings
39.
Baby and Child Care
Baby and Child Care 3.80 avg rating — 2,212 ratings
40.
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money 3.85 avg rating — 5,679 ratings
41.
The Joy of Sex
The Joy of Sex 3.62 avg rating — 3,006 ratings
42.
The Montessori Method
The Montessori Method 4.03 avg rating — 1,681 ratings
43.
Psychology of the Unconscious
Psychology of the Unconscious
by: C.G. Jung
4.16 avg rating — 1,469 ratings
44.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Mastering the Art of French Cooking 4.25 avg rating — 75,789 ratings
45.
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain 4.05 avg rating — 78,204 ratings
46.
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves 4.37 avg rating — 7,461 ratings
47.
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard 3.69 avg rating — 44,046 ratings
48.
The Decline of the West
The Decline of the West 4.06 avg rating — 2,170 ratings
49.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous 4.49 avg rating — 11,594 ratings
50.
Prufrock and Other Observations
Prufrock and Other Observations 4.32 avg rating — 22,467 ratings
51.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
How to Win Friends & Influence People 4.22 avg rating — 1,110,717 ratings
52.
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 4.03 avg rating — 29,124 ratings
53.
Being and Nothingness
Being and Nothingness 3.99 avg rating — 34,131 ratings
54.
Darkness at Noon
Darkness at Noon 4.12 avg rating — 32,886 ratings
55.
The Golden Notebook
The Golden Notebook 3.77 avg rating — 24,228 ratings
56.
The History of the Standard Oil Company (Unexpurgated Edition)
The History of the Standard Oil Company (Unexpurgated Edition) 3.91 avg rating — 246 ratings
57.
How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York
How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York 3.73 avg rating — 3,046 ratings
58.
In the Shadow of Man
In the Shadow of Man 4.36 avg rating — 8,857 ratings
59.
The Seven Storey Mountain
The Seven Storey Mountain 4.08 avg rating — 20,435 ratings
60.
Howl and Other Poems
Howl and Other Poems 4.13 avg rating — 117,398 ratings
61.
I and Thou
I and Thou 4.07 avg rating — 11,691 ratings
62.
Being and Time
Being and Time 4.05 avg rating — 27,067 ratings
63.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung
Quotations from Chairman Mao Tsetung 3.49 avg rating — 3,850 ratings
64.
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male 3.62 avg rating — 285 ratings
65.
Conditioned Reflexes
Conditioned Reflexes 4.14 avg rating — 169 ratings
66.
Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation
Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation 3.55 avg rating — 3,149 ratings
67.
The Encyclicals and Other Messages of John XXIII
The Encyclicals and Other Messages of John XXIII it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
68.
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough 4.02 avg rating — 8,609 ratings
68.
Man's Fate
Man's Fate 3.75 avg rating — 6,323 ratings
70.
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking 3.90 avg rating — 3,880 ratings
71.
Intelligent Life in the Universe
Intelligent Life in the Universe 4.27 avg rating — 372 ratings
72.
Happiness in Marriage
Happiness in Marriage 3.44 avg rating — 9 ratings
73.
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author 3.83 avg rating — 22,011 ratings
74.
Brave New World
Brave New World 3.99 avg rating — 2,015,625 ratings
74.
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot 3.84 avg rating — 217,101 ratings
76.
The Function of the Orgasm (Discovery of the Orgone #1)
The Function of the Orgasm (Discovery of the Orgone #1) 4.03 avg rating — 623 ratings
77.
Judgement and Reasoning in the Child
Judgement and Reasoning in the Child 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings
78.
Creatures That Once Were Men
Creatures That Once Were Men 3.74 avg rating — 382 ratings
79.
Patterns of Culture
Patterns of Culture 3.82 avg rating — 1,626 ratings
80.
Genetics and the Origin of Species (The Columbia Classics in Evolution)
Genetics and the Origin of Species (The Columbia Classics in Evolution) 4.14 avg rating — 37 ratings
81.
The School and Society/The Child and the Curriculum
The School and Society/The Child and the Curriculum 3.74 avg rating — 602 ratings
82.
Ten Days that Shook the World
Ten Days that Shook the World
by: John Reed
3.94 avg rating — 7,549 ratings
83.
Study of Organ Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation: A Contribution to Clinical Medicine
Study of Organ Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation: A Contribution to Clinical Medicine 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
84.
Art and Culture: Critical Essays
Art and Culture: Critical Essays 3.87 avg rating — 562 ratings
85.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism 3.73 avg rating — 107 ratings
86.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity
Beyond Freedom and Dignity 3.75 avg rating — 2,379 ratings
87.
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior 4.16 avg rating — 367 ratings
88.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
by: John Gray
3.58 avg rating — 197,191 ratings
89.
Motivation and Personality
Motivation and Personality 4.19 avg rating — 1,677 ratings
90.
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution 4.18 avg rating — 11 ratings
91.
The Engineering of Consent
The Engineering of Consent 3.81 avg rating — 75 ratings
92.
The Raw and the Cooked (Mythologiques, Vol 1)
The Raw and the Cooked (Mythologiques, Vol 1) 4.03 avg rating — 364 ratings
93.
Satyagraha in South Africa: The Making of Mahatma Gandhi
Satyagraha in South Africa: The Making of Mahatma Gandhi 4.02 avg rating — 171 ratings
94.
Syntactic Structures
Syntactic Structures 3.83 avg rating — 885 ratings
95.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men 3.97 avg rating — 3,971 ratings
96.
Looking at the Dance
Looking at the Dance 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
97.
The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory
The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory 4.08 avg rating — 158 ratings
98.
The Masters And The Slaves: A Study In The Development Of Brazilian Civilization
The Masters And The Slaves: A Study In The Development Of Brazilian Civilization 4.17 avg rating — 749 ratings
99.
Philosophy of New Music
Philosophy of New Music 3.80 avg rating — 358 ratings
100.
The Power Elite
The Power Elite 4.15 avg rating — 1,631 ratings
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