50 Books to Inspire Artists of All Kinds

1.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl with a Pearl Earring 3.93 avg rating — 768,734 ratings
2.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray 4.13 avg rating — 1,783,105 ratings
3.
The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita 4.28 avg rating — 401,130 ratings
4.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Unbearable Lightness of Being 4.11 avg rating — 524,915 ratings
5.
Cat’s Eye
Cat’s Eye 3.95 avg rating — 71,400 ratings
6.
Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities 4.10 avg rating — 93,544 ratings
7.
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind 4.31 avg rating — 1,258,056 ratings
8.
My Name Is Red
My Name Is Red 3.87 avg rating — 60,042 ratings
9.
My Name Is Asher Lev
My Name Is Asher Lev 4.24 avg rating — 42,914 ratings
10.
Letters to a Young Poet
Letters to a Young Poet 4.28 avg rating — 113,864 ratings
11.
Remainder
Remainder 3.67 avg rating — 8,330 ratings
12.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 3.99 avg rating — 116,848 ratings
13.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies 4.04 avg rating — 445,063 ratings
14.
Griffin & Sabine (Griffin & Sabine #1)
Griffin & Sabine (Griffin & Sabine #1) 4.03 avg rating — 75,216 ratings
14.
Ulysses
Ulysses 3.77 avg rating — 138,356 ratings
16.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1) 4.22 avg rating — 1,970,124 ratings
17.
House of Leaves
House of Leaves 4.09 avg rating — 191,484 ratings
18.
Flaubert's Parrot
Flaubert's Parrot 3.65 avg rating — 16,254 ratings
19.
The Goldfinch
The Goldfinch 3.96 avg rating — 1,010,614 ratings
20.
The Lover
The Lover 3.71 avg rating — 68,169 ratings
21.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay 4.18 avg rating — 209,883 ratings
22.
La carte et le territoire
La carte et le territoire 3.95 avg rating — 24,009 ratings
22.
Van Gogh's Inner Struggle: Life, Work and Mental Illness (Secrets of Van Gogh, #2)
Van Gogh's Inner Struggle: Life, Work and Mental Illness (Secrets of Van Gogh, #2) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 189 ratings
22.
Daddy, this is it. Being-with My Dying Dad
Daddy, this is it. Being-with My Dying Dad 4.35 avg rating — 17 ratings
22.
Dear Theo
Dear Theo 4.17 avg rating — 18,800 ratings
22.
Sam Maloof: 36 Views of a Master Woodworker
Sam Maloof: 36 Views of a Master Woodworker 4.35 avg rating — 20 ratings
27.
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way 4.20 avg rating — 33,663 ratings
28.
Building Stories
Building Stories 4.33 avg rating — 7,323 ratings
28.
Van Gogh: The Life
Van Gogh: The Life 4.18 avg rating — 29,732 ratings
28.
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
by: Ayn Rand
3.69 avg rating — 402,804 ratings
28.
Autoportrait
Autoportrait 4.22 avg rating — 2,916 ratings
32.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (Phaedrus, #1) 3.78 avg rating — 241,469 ratings
33.
How Should a Person Be?
How Should a Person Be? 3.33 avg rating — 16,642 ratings
34.
Outliers: The Story of Success
Outliers: The Story of Success 4.19 avg rating — 845,837 ratings
35.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference 4.01 avg rating — 844,291 ratings
36.
Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will
Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot On and Never Will 4.23 avg rating — 4,768 ratings
36.
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Confederacy of Dunces 3.89 avg rating — 291,794 ratings
38.
Ghost World
Ghost World 3.82 avg rating — 78,781 ratings
39.
Annals of the Former World
Annals of the Former World 4.36 avg rating — 4,300 ratings
40.
Bough Down
Bough Down 4.23 avg rating — 941 ratings
40.
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1) 4.56 avg rating — 222,390 ratings
42.
Point Omega
Point Omega 3.45 avg rating — 9,894 ratings
43.
Tree of Codes
Tree of Codes 3.84 avg rating — 3,793 ratings
43.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster 4.26 avg rating — 551,022 ratings
45.
Gravity’s Rainbow
Gravity’s Rainbow 4.01 avg rating — 46,900 ratings
46.
Nox
Nox 4.37 avg rating — 3,923 ratings
47.
The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy 4.09 avg rating — 93,734 ratings
48.
I Remember
I Remember 4.18 avg rating — 2,793 ratings
49.
The Recognitions
The Recognitions 4.20 avg rating — 6,164 ratings
50.
Swimming Studies
Swimming Studies 3.97 avg rating — 2,363 ratings
51.
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest 4.25 avg rating — 98,669 ratings
52.
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes
The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes 4.25 avg rating — 271,330 ratings
53.
The Moon and Sixpence
The Moon and Sixpence 4.13 avg rating — 26,377 ratings
54.
Lanark
Lanark 4.10 avg rating — 7,664 ratings
55.
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas 3.54 avg rating — 13,204 ratings
56.
Inferno (A Poet's Novel)
Inferno (A Poet's Novel) 3.89 avg rating — 2,657 ratings
57.
Role Models
Role Models 4.07 avg rating — 8,300 ratings
58.
Against Interpretation
Against Interpretation 4.14 avg rating — 10,000 ratings
59.
Lizard Music
Lizard Music 4.15 avg rating — 2,173 ratings
60.
Speedboat
Speedboat 3.76 avg rating — 7,257 ratings
61.
Theft: A Love Story
Theft: A Love Story 3.43 avg rating — 3,594 ratings
62.
This Is Not a Novel
This Is Not a Novel 4.03 avg rating — 1,578 ratings
63.
Life: A User's Manual
Life: A User's Manual 4.18 avg rating — 9,837 ratings
64.
Blood and Guts in High School
Blood and Guts in High School 3.46 avg rating — 6,856 ratings
65.
Speak, Memory
Speak, Memory 4.08 avg rating — 17,396 ratings
66.
The Emigrants
The Emigrants 4.16 avg rating — 11,062 ratings
67.
The Flamethrowers
The Flamethrowers 3.51 avg rating — 23,703 ratings
68.
Bluebeard
Bluebeard 4.07 avg rating — 43,506 ratings
69.
An Artist of the Floating World
An Artist of the Floating World 3.78 avg rating — 43,687 ratings
70.
The Family Fang
The Family Fang 3.62 avg rating — 32,204 ratings