author/academic · 5/10 picks in the top 100
"As I get older, I've become franker about what I value most in a novel, which is the unusual combination of artistic brilliance and love of the world. I can admire either, but I return to books that manage both. "
| # | Title | Author | Critics | Readers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Country of the Pointed Firs | Sarah Orne Jewett | — | |
| 2 | Middlemarch | George Eliot | #1 | #2 |
| 3 | Shadows on the Rock | Willa Cather | — | |
| 4 | The Summer Book | Tove Jansson | — | |
| 5 | Jane Eyre | Charlotte Brontèˆ | #8 | =26 |
| 6 | I Capture the Castle | Dodie Smith | — | |
| 7 | Mrs Dalloway | Virginia Woolf | #14 | =93 |
| 8 | The Ice Palace | Tarjei Vesaas | — | |
| 9 | Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | #34 | =14 |
| 10 | Persuasion | Jane Austen | #18 | =16 |
Voters with the most books in common.