Next Read Club
Book Lists8 min read · September 5, 2026

25 Books Everyone Should Read at Least Once

There's no universal list of books everyone "must" read. Still, these twenty-five have earned their lasting reputation.

There is no universal list of books that everyone "must" read.

Reading isn't homework.

Still, there are certain books that have had such a lasting impact on literature and culture that they're worth experiencing at least once.

Here are twenty-five.

Classics

Cover of 1984 by George Orwell

1.

1984

George Orwell

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Cover of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Cover of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee

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Cover of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

4.

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

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Cover of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

5.

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

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Cover of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

6.

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger

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Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

7.

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

Cover of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

8.

The Hobbit

J.R.R. Tolkien

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Animal Farm

George Orwell

9.

Animal Farm

George Orwell

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

10.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Modern classics and contemporary fiction

Cover of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

11.

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

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Cover of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

12.

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

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Cover of Beloved by Toni Morrison

13.

Beloved

Toni Morrison

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Cover of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

14.

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

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The Road

Cormac McCarthy

15.

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

Cover of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

16.

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

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Cover of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

17.

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig

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Cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

18.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid

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Science fiction and fantasy

Cover of Dune by Frank Herbert

19.

Dune

Frank Herbert

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The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman

20.

The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman

Cover of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

21.

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

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Nonfiction and ideas

Cover of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

22.

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

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Cover of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

23.

Sapiens

Yuval Noah Harari

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Cover of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

24.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

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Cover of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

25.

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

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But don't read them because you "have to"

If a book doesn't work for you, that's okay.

A list like this is a map, not a checklist.

The best book for you isn't necessarily the most famous book. It's the one you actually want to read.