Top 100 reader novels

After critics and authors picked their top 100 novels we asked for your favourites. From Uruguay to the Isle of Skye, more than 3,000 readers cast their votes. Here’s your list – topped by a new number 1 William Wood, Alberta, Canada, 68, retired art historian: “A series of novels that concerns several specific tiers of English society in the first three-quarters of the 20th century – upper class, bohemian, military, political – with comic brio, melancholy and knowing social analyses.” Heather, Sydney, Australia, 40, engineer: “Devastating. I never want to read this again, yet I will never forget it.” Roger Paine, Boulder, Colorado, US, 84, retired: “History is brought fully to life in the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, the storytelling is vivid, the tears are real.” Jenny Lundy, London, UK, 47: “Reading this as a teen was my entry-level book to socialism. It opened my eyes to injustice, oppression and abuse of power. My parents always blamed my ‘communist’ English teachers for introducing me to Orwell!” Adam Glasser, London, UK, 70, musician: “Unsurpassable literary achievement depicting the psychological and emotional reality of passionate love. A

Jun 6, 2026 → Jun 6, 2026