The 115 Best Books of All Time According to Reedsy

The folks over at Reedsy Discovery have compiled this incredible list and given us permission to share it with our readers. Check out their website to discover yet more books for your TBR list!

—∞—

The written word is a pillar of human civilization — it signals complex thinking, it’s a tool to record history, and it allows for the development of ideas. Throughout our existence, so much has been written down, whether carved into stone or printed on paper, immortalizing thrilling tales and imparting wisdom. Many are lost, weathered by time or withered in flames like in the case of the Library of Alexandria; though plenty remain for us to peruse.

Let’s take a trip through time and discover the world’s literary trends by looking at 115 of the best books of all time! It took a while to compile this list (there is simply too much great writing!) but you’ll see that there’s a bit of everything: from poetry to plays to novels, from Chinese classics to Renaissance gems.

Feel free to skip to your favorite era using this table of contents as your guide:

Page 2: Ancient civilizations
Page 3: Post-classical literature
Page 4: Literature in the modern age
Page 5: Contemporary literature

Story of Sinuhe has been hailed as ancient Egypt’s best. This epic poem follows the titular Sinuhe, an official who goes AWOL when he gets some explosive intel about the assassination of his king. His new life in Canaan brings him glorious victories, a high-society marriage, and honorable sons…. but the guilt of his exit continues to eat away at him, and he never stops longing for his homeland.

2. Epic of Gilgamesh by Sin-liqe-unninni (c. 1700 BC) 

This four thousand year-old page-turner flies under the radar compared to high school staples like the Odyssey, but the Epic of Gilgamesh is nothing short of, well, epic. It’s a must-read whether you love the redemptive power of a good bromance or have a taste for quirky math (the titular Gilgamesh is one-third moral and two-thirds divine)! Our genetically improbable protagonist begins the story as a a king who brutalizes his people — in other words, a true antihero. He rules over the city of Uruk with an iron fist until the gods themselves mold the wild man Enkidu out of clay and water to strike the wicked king down. But when Enkidu  finally confronts his target, the two destined enemies become fast friends — inspiring Gilgamesh to mend his ways and go on a monster-hunting quest with his new bestie.

3. The Odyssey by Homer (c. 700 BC) 

Speaking of the Odyssey, this timeless classic has it all: the heart-racing thrills of an adventure story and the psychological drama of a family saga. The Ithacan king Odysseus has spent the past ten years in Troy, fighting a war he never wanted to fight. Now that the enemy has been duly routed, it’s finally, finally time to go home. Too bad the journey back to Ithaca isn’t going to be smooth sailing because Poseidon is less than pleased with Odysseus after a certain… tragic incident involving the god’s Cyclops son. Meanwhile, Odysseus’ wife Penelope has spent the past decade holding a horde of pushy young suitors at arm’s length. In her husband’s long absence, all 108 of them are eager to insinuate themselves into her bed — and onto Ithaca’s throne. With gods and men standing in their way, will Odysseus and Penelope pull off a reunion?

4. Aesop’s Fables by Aesop (c. 500 BC)

City mouse and country mouse. Sour grapes. Slow and steady wins the race. Brought to life by an enslaved prisoner of war, Aesop’s Fables have shaped our everyday idioms and helped define how we see the world. These deceptively simple tales have clear moral messages that are served with a dash of darkness: in Aesop’s starkly enchanted world, anthropomorphic animals cavort, gambol, and sometimes die ignoble deaths, struck down by their own foolishness and arrogance. Whether you’re in the mood for Tweet-brief bedtime reading or hankering for a blunt reminder of life’s harshness, these timeless tales that have enriched the worlds of toddlers and philosophers alike will have you covered.

5. Oedipus the King by Sophocles (430 BC) 

This bleak masterclass in dramatic irony gave its name to the most famous of Freudian complexes, and it’s been reminding readers — and playgoers — for ages that sometimes you just can’t fight fate. The great tragedian Sophocles wrote it more than 2,000 years ago, so forgive us if we don’t issue any spoiler warnings. In any case, we all know how this story ends — with the unlucky Oedipus blinded and weeping blood, after accidentally killing his father and marrying his mother. The bitter fascination of reading Oedipus the King lies in following him to that grisly and inevitable conclusion. Trust us — the dread that grips you because you know exactly what’s coming will make your blood run colder than many a horror movie.

6. The Mahabharata by Vyasa (c. 300 BC)

If your literary tastes run towards lengthiness, this 200,000-verse epic is the perfect read for you — stitch the Odyssey and the Iliad together and you’ll only have one tenth of the Mahabharata. No wonder it’s been called the longest poem ever written. But even those who don’t gravitate towards sprawling stories shouldn’t be put off by this Sanskrit classic’s sheer bulk! It’s a rich narrative storehouse in which love transcends status, dice games cost gamblers their kingdoms, and cousins turn their weapons against each other — and you certainly don’t have to read all 18 books to be fascinated and moved.

If you’re not quite sure where to start, we recommend diving into the Bhagavad Gita. In this philosophically rich, 700-verse passage from the sixth book, the warrior prince Arjuna struggles to master his emotions on the eve of battle. His enemies, after all, are also his own kinsmen. Can his friend and charioteer — who also happens to be a reincarnated god — help him find a way out of his turmoil?

7. Adelphoe by Terence (160 BC)

This quirky Roman classic proves two things: the ancients knew how to get a laugh out of theatergoers, and bumbling fathers and rebellious sons are literally) an age-old recipe for comedy. Adelphoe kicks off with a parenting experiment: rural patriarch Demea has two sons, and he sends one to be raised by his city-dwelling brother Micio while rearing the other himself. Thus the two brothers grow up apart: Ctesipho lives it up in Athens with his indulgent uncle, while Aeschinus stays in the countryside, under his despotic father’s thumb. In short, one brother becomes repressed, and the other has become a louche. But when Ctesipho falls in love with an enslaved musician, he turns to his brother for help. When Demea and Micio find out what their boys are up to, will they finally agree on the right way to raise kids?

8. The Aeneid by Virgil (c. 20 BC)

For Odysseus, the Trojan War led to a ten-year nightmare involving six-headed monsters, vengeful sea-gods, and a scorned witch capable of turning men into pigs — and he was one of the winners! Which makes you wonder what it was like to be on the losing side. Let’s just ask the Trojan hero Aeneas, whose own post-war adventures spawned another epic poem.

The star of the Aeneid, he flees Troy just after the murder of its king. For a while, destiny seems to be on Aeneas’ side: a prophecy dictates he’ll establish a glorious nation in Rome, and his own mother is none other than Venus herself. But even with divine blood flowing through him, he can’t count on support from all the gods: Juno, in particular, seems intent on turning his journey to Italy into a real ordeal. We know that Aeneas will make it to Rome. But what will he suffer in the process — and who will suffer with him?

9. The Satyricon by Petronius (c. 90 AD) 

Film buffs likely know the Satyricon through Fellini’s 1969 adaptation, a surreal, peach-tinted fever dream filled with flower crowns and debauchery. The original Roman novel isn’t quite so reminiscent of a Lana del Rey music video, but its sharp, steamy satire still makes for a riveting read. Meet Encolpius, a famous ex-gladiator with strident literary opinions and an… active love life. He’s traveling around Greece with his friend (and ex) Asycltos when the two run into the handsome, sixteen-year-old slave Giton. Cue the love triangle, which ultimately culminates in an orgy. Things only get wilder from there, with sex cults, cannibalism, and magical cures for impotence thrown into mix. If you want some classicist-approved reading material that hits like reality TV, give the Satyricon a try.

10. The Tale of an Anklet by Unknown (c. 450 AD)

This Tamil answer to the Odyssey features one unforgettable heroine. Kannaki starts out as a long-suffering wife, but by the time the story’s done, she’s transformed into a goddess who sets cities on fire with her rage. But let’s rewind quickly to the start of The Tale of an Anklet, where she and the handsome Kovalan are married and living in bliss — as far as she’s concerned. Kovalan seems to feel differently: why else would he leave his wife at home to take up with a beautiful courtesan?

But when Kovalan faces financial ruin, Kannaki swallows her betrayal and prepares to bail him out. She offers him a jeweled anklet to pawn — but he’s falsely accused of stealing it from the queen. Can Kannaki save him from a flawed justice system, or will she be forced to seek revenge for the husband who broke her heart? From the bitterness of love to the brokenness of law, this gorgeous, heartrending drama brings age-old issues to passionate life.

Page 2: Ancient civilizations
Page 3: Post-classical literature
Page 4: Literature in the modern age
Page 5: Contemporary literature

Post-Classical Literature

11. One Thousand and One Nights by Unknown (c. 700)  

This collection of Arabic-language folk tales shows the transformative power of a good cliffhanger — used right, it can apparently save your life! Over the course of, well, a thousand and one nights, the quick-witted storyteller Scheherazade (the latest in a long succession of King Shahryar’s unfortunate brides) draws on her imagination to stave off death. Embittered by a previous wife’s infidelity, King Shahryar has been marrying a new one every night — only to put her to death the next morning. Scheherazade, though, is different from these other one-night queens: she actually volunteered for the job. Every night, she regales her paranoid husband with a story but refuses to finish it — forcing him to push back her beheading in favor of the grand finale. And then she starts another one to keep him on the hook.

One Thousand and One Nights lets you listen in on these high-stakes bedtime stories. Scheherazade’s repertoire spans the spectrum from cozy childhood favorites (Aladdin, anyone?) to historical, tragic, and erotic tales fit to stir a royal imagination. It turns out, the way to a king’s heart isn’t through his stomach — it’s through the magic of plot!

12. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (c. 1010)

Often touted as the first psychological novel, The Tale of Genji was ahead of its time. Written by a pseudonymous noblewoman in the Japanese court, it follows the political and amorous (mis)adventures of a young official. Genji, the “shining” youth at the heart of the tale, was born to one of the emperor’s most beloved consorts. But with no place for him in the line of succession, he’s forced to make his way through life using his astonishing good looks and supernatural charm. Things could be worse, right?

Unfortunately for Genji, his gifts seem to bring him more sorrow than joy: he falls in love with the worst possible woman — his own stepmother, Lady Fujitsubo. Unable to forget her, he kidnaps her niece, the preteen Murasaki, to raise as a replacement Fujitsubo — all while continuing his affair with the real Fujitsubo. Elegant, immersive, and dense, this strange and captivating classic blurs the line between truth and fiction. Did Murasaki, the author, name herself after her heroine? Or is Muraski the character a reflection of the woman who brought her to life?

14. Lais by Marie de France (c. 1100) 

If you’ve ever wanted to live out a courtly romance or daydreamed about saving lives as a dragon-slaying knight, you can thank Marie. This 12th-century poet — the first woman in French history to write verse — virtually invented chivalry through her Lais. Though we sadly don’t even know her real name today, we do know that her view of romance was subtle and even sometimes sinister — never sappy. In these twelve short narrative poems, werewolves suffer heartbreak, vassals betray their lords, and jealous husbands lash out against innocent wives with unimaginable cruelty. Love, Marie knew, could be as corrupting as it was powerful, making cunning and sophisticated beasts out of men.

15. The Knight in Panther’s Skin by Shota Rusteveli (c. 1190) 

Up to a century ago, The Knight in Panther’s Skin was a part of every Georgian bride’s dowry. In this heart-stirring epic, medieval Georgia’s premiere poet uses a fictionalized Middle Eastern setting to glorify Queen Tamar, who presided over the kingdom’s golden age.

The poem opens on the warrior Avtandil as he takes on an unusual mission. Normally tasked with commanding the Arabian king’s armies, he’s been asked to spearhead a strange manhunt. His target? A mysterious knight dressed in a panther’s skin, whom the king’s men found weeping by a river — before he killed them and disappeared. Dangerous as he is, is this shadowy stranger a friend or a foe? The answer may surprise the noble Avtandil — and force him to turn against the king he’s served so faithfully.

16. The Song of the Nibelungs by Unknown (c. 1200) 

You’ve heard of Roman epics and Greek tragedies, but have you heard of this heroic poem that shaped German nationalism centuries after being recorded? The Song of the Nibelungs tells the tale of King Gunther and his sister Kriemhild, whose marriage with foreign hero Siegfried proved troublesome for her kingdom. The siblings’ relationship soured as Kriemhild finds herself widowed and sent off to marry the ruler of the neighboring kingdom, and Kriemhild’s indignation brings the story to a tragic end.

Beyond the fascinating plot, this poem immortalized Siegfried and Hagen, Gunther’s loyal right-hand man, as the embodiment of the German spirit when the country unified in the late 1800s. Its influence on European culture attests to its status as one of the most impressive works of German Medieval literature ever created.

17. The Poetic Edda by Unknown (13th century) 

You can thank this anonymous batch of poems for The Hobbit — not to mention the superhero Thor. The Poetic Edda, one of the most important sources for Nose mythology, surfaced in Iceland sometime during the 13th century. It’s since cast a vast shadow on western literature, with writers from Tolkien to Jorge Luis Borges touting it as a major influence.

This verse collection brings the deeds of gods and heroes to life. You’ll hear a witch’s prophecy foretelling Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods, see the All-father Odin match wits with the wisest of giants, and follow Heimdall, the divine watchmen, as he journeys through the land of mortals — fathering many children along the way. In the starkly beautiful world these poems sketch out, vows are binding, honor is everything, and not even the gods are safe from a painful death.

17. Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong (c. 1300)

If this glorious tale had to be described in three words, they would be: epic, tragic, and historical. One of the pillars of Chinese classical literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a mythicized account of 80 years of political intrigue and warfare between three dynastic families over rulership of Northern China. As beloved generals and cunning strategists form leagues and battle it out, we learn of their love, their righteousness, and their camaraderie. The riveting plot ends with a twist that’s too well-crafted to be true — although the story is based on real events.

This masterpiece and its philosophical explorations transcends time and borders, and it remains one of the most well-known novels in East Asian cultures today.

18. Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1320)

Divine Comedy is a colossal three-part narrative poem that sees Dante’s odyssey from the bottom of the afterlife to the top. In Hell, he escapes from writhing beasts with the help of the knowledgeable Roman poet Virgil. In Purgatory, he learns how subtle and psychological the manifestation of the Seven Deadly Sins can be. And in Heaven, he sees how the palace of peaceful eternity is built on the sturdy pillars of virtuosity.

Dante’s lyrical and intricate depictions of immorality are pertinent throughout history, inspiring writers in the craft of storytelling while provoking reflection among readers. It’s truly one of the greatest literary works of all time.

19. Piers Plowman by William Langland (c. 1380)

Taking a large leap across France, Spain and the Channel from Italy we arrive in England, where Langland recorded his take on Christianity in a colossal, alliterated poem.

Rather than delving into death as Dante had several decades prior, this poem explores human behaviors and morality through the visions of a man called Will. In his dreamscape, Will meets all kinds of “people” who are personified virtues — from the Seven Deadly Sins to Dowel (“do well”) and Dobet (“do better”). The metafictional quality of presenting vision within vision, the complexity of Middle English literature, and the depth of theological knowledge make Piers Plowman a difficult but very rich and sophisticated text.

20. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1400)

From knights to monks to cooks — Chaucer’s elaborate collection of 24 stories unravels the journey that people make to Canterbury and its majestic cathedral. While they embark on the same journey, the protagonists of these tales are as different as can be — each hails from a different background and represents a different tier in the social hierarchy of feudal society.

The Canterbury Tales are fascinating to read on their own, providing a magical portal to medieval villages and quests that came to be the inspiration for countless Hollywood movies. These odysseys shine the most, however, when they are experienced together, because that’s when Chaucer’s brilliance at displaying the complexities of society reveals itself.

21. The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan (c. 1405)

Vexed by the unkind objectification of women in popular literature, Christine de Pizan set out to give women the representation they deserve.

In The Book of the City of Ladies,  Reason, Rectitude, and Justice appear to the narrator — Pizan herself — and ask her to build a city just for women. It turns out that building this city requires the dismantling of the narrator’s own preconceived notions of gender and societal norms.

The resulting monumental literary work includes stories of legendary female figures in history and mythology — from the Virgin Mary to Helen of Troy — as Pizan reveals to readers that women are every bit as capable as men. Elegantly written and daringly conceived, this book will be a place of refuge for believers of gender equality.

22. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (c. 1601)

Though you may be familiar with the plot by virtue of The Lion King, it’s always worth getting back to basics with the source material — inasmuch as you can call Shakespeare’s longest and arguably most influential play “basic.”

For those unfamiliar, we’ll back it up: Hamlet is the son of the recently deceased king of Denmark, whose sudden death has been hastily papered over by his brother and successor, Claudius. Hamlet, of course, is suspicious, especially after a vision of his father claims that Claudius murdered him to take the throne. To distract others from his plan of revenge, Hamlet pretends that he’s gone mad, and what follows is a tangled web of deceit, violence, and tragedy for the royal family and their compatriots — especially as it becomes increasingly difficult to tell whether Hamlet is still faking his madness, or has genuinely gone off the deep end.

23. The Plum in the Golden Vase by Unknown (c. 1610) 

Arguably the world’s most famous erotic novel, The Plum in the Golden Vase seems to shape-shift depending on the angle you view it from. It’s a lavishly illustrated handbook of sexual peccadilloes and a harshly punitive morality tale; an irreverent fanfic for a foundational novel and an eminent classic in its own right. You can think of it as the late Ming answer to Lolita: artful in its execution, perverse and learned in its tone.

The Plum in the Golden Vase shines a spotlight (or a blacklight) on a minor figure from The Water Margin, the adventuresome ancestor of Chinese martial arts fiction. This, however, is a very different novel: light on honor among thieves and heavy on steamy social satire, its characters are much more likely to die by aphrodisiac poisoning than by the sword. The fabulously wealthy, fatally dissolute merchant Ximen Qing shares his bed with a rotating cast of six lovers — and counting. Needless to say, his appetites don’t always make for the most…  harmonious of households. As the novel tracks his social life with savage wit, the women around him take center stage, in all their cruel, bawdy complexity.

24. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1615)

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to read so much you go mad? Well, Don Quixote proves the answer to that question is: yes. Inspired by tales of chivalrous adventures, Don Quixote abandons his low nobility status in a little Spanish village, this self-anointed knight travels the land to defeat giants and deliver justice. The only problem is the giants he sees are mere windmills, and his sworn enemies are typically passers-by who he provokes. His skewed view of the world takes him back and forth from home, and by the end of this voyage, you’ll be left to wonder if it’s Don Quixote who’s mad — and not the world he lives in.

Part two of the novel introduces an impostor — a writer who pretends to be Don Quixote the knight and publishes recounts of his imaginary adventures. As the metafiction develops, the lines and meanings of imagination and reality blurs even more, leaving only one thing crystal clear: Cervantes’ mastery of the art of storytelling.

25. The Imposter by Molière (1644)

The Imposter is a satirical play that stars Tartuffe, a pious and well-respected man who has won the love and adoration of Orgon, the head of a well-to-do family. As Tartuffe wines and dines with this family, it quickly comes to light that Tartuffe is not who he pretends to be; that behind his facade of civility is an array of selfish intentions. As the story goes on, Orgon’s family make many attempts to reveal Tartuffe’s true nature.

In a time when religiousness was never a quality not deserving of respect, the preachy and pretentious character of Tartuffe was so well-crafted that his name came to mean “hypocrite” in contemporary French. Molière also faced backlash from the Church and Christain community at the time, but his brilliance as a playwright refuses to be disregarded, and his play stands as a literary classic.

Page 2: Ancient civilizations
Page 3: Post-classical literature
Page 4: Literature in the modern age
Page 5: Contemporary literature