The 68 Most Recommended Books To Read

Let's see 68 of the most recommended books by reading lovers. I have gone through several websites in English to make a list that does not disappoint anyone. Certainly important titles will be missing but a selection had to be made. If you think that an essential title is missing, you can leave us your comment at the end of this article.

Before you see this list we are going to delight ourselves with this video that is everything a tribute to books and the simple act of READING.

A video made with great talent and that surely motivates you a lot to pick up a book and start reading:

I leave you this list of 68 highly recommended books to read: (If you know other interesting books, leave us your comment)

1) «The Lord of the Rings«By JRR Tolkien.

A book that is part of a trilogy (there are two more apart from the one you see in the image). It is an epic story in which dwarves, orcs, elves, wizards are mixed ...

Summary: A wizard entrusts a small Hobbit (a kind of dwarf) with the difficult task of destroying a powerful ring before it falls into the hands of Sauron, a dark being who rules the Dark Land.

2) «The Little Prince«By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

A children's story that is also valid for adults because of the profound teachings it contains about life.

Summary: it tells the story of an aviator who suffers an accident in the middle of the Sahara desert and there he meets a boy who comes from another planet. This Little Prince tells you stories of his encounters with other adults from other planets and what he has learned from them.

Most important of all, it raises questions that make us think deeply.

3) «The Da Vinci Code«By Dan Brown.

A book that was a real boom when it was published. Hundreds of conspiracy theories revolve around him.

Summary: A murder occurs in the Louvre Museum and the victim appears with a cryptic message written on his side. The investigator of the case must decipher this message and what is the secret that the murdered man kept, a secret that can cause an earthquake in the very foundations of the Church.

4) «The catcher in the rye«By JD Salinger.

A book published in 1951 that caused some controversy among puritan American society.

Summary: tells the tormented story of a 17-year-old boy who is a true social misfit. He dislikes everyone. You end up wandering around motels and bars. His only weakness is his little sister with whom he has some moments of happiness.

The moment in which Holden, the protagonist, metaphorically tells his sister that he only wishes to be The Rye Keeper and what that means, is masterful.

5) «The Alchemist«By Paulo Coelho.

One of the best-selling books in the world and the great masterpiece of the famous writer Paulo Coelho.

Summary: Santiago is a Spanish shepherd who has a dream every night in which he is urged to search for a hidden treasure. Santiago decides to go in search of that treasure and during that trip he will find a way to communicate with the essential elements that make up this world, acquiring great powers that will lead him to his treasure.

6) «The Name of the Rose«By Umberto Eco.

A historical setting book that revolves around the mysterious crimes committed in a XNUMXth century monastery.

7) «Guerra y paz«, By Leon Tolstoy.

One of the masterpieces of the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy.

Summary: the plot revolves around the invasion of Russia by the French Napoleonic forces. The author tells us what the Russian aristocracy is like and how they relate to each other.

8) «Ana Frank's diary«By Anne Frank.

It is the diary of a Jewish girl who had to hide from the Nazi army for two years, which she spent locked up in a house with another family. He tells us about his concerns as a teenager and how he endured that period of captivity.

9) «Who has taken my cheese?"By Spencer Johnson.

One of the best-selling books in the business world that revolves around the change of attitude at work.

Summary: it is a story that places two mice and two Lilliputians in a labyrinth (allegory of life). Everyone has to find cheese to survive. The two mice quickly set off to search for the cheese deposit but it quickly runs out and they have to keep looking continuously.

For their part, the two Lilliputians, although they find one of the cheese deposits, it is over and one of them, discouraged, does not want to undertake new searches. They are undecided until one of them decides on his own to go in search of new deposits of cheese.

In his search, he finds deposits with small pieces of cheese, but they are not enough. He keeps looking until he finally finds a huge warehouse with large reserves of cheese and in which the mice are also found.

However, the Lilliputian goes out every day to make small explorations in search of new reserves.

A story that inspires us to get out of our comfort zone.

10) «1984«By George Orwell.

A fictional political book in which terms such as "Big Brother" are coined for the first time.

Summary: the protagonist is part of a totalitarian government and presides over the "Ministry of Truth", whose main mission is to rewrite history based on lies.

Little by little he distances himself from the party and meets a young rebel with whom he falls in love. However, they end up being captured by "Big Brother" and subjected to torture in the "Ministry of Love."

They eventually nullify any rebellious feelings and destroy the love that existed between them.

11) «The Godfather«By Mario Puzo.

A great book by the Italian-American writer Mario Puzo that was brought to the cinema screens with great success.

Summary: tells the story of the Sicilian mafia based in the United States. He tells us with great success how they operated and the war that was fought between the different clans.

12) «Sofia's world«By Jostein Gaarder.

A book that tells us how a girl receives letters from a mysterious philosopher in which he asks her questions that make her rethink who she really is. In successive letters, the philosopher reviews the main Western philosophers and the essence of their thought.

A recommended book for those who want to start in an entertaining way in the world of philosophy.

13) «The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People"By Stephen Covey.

One of the best-selling self-help books so far.

Summary: the book contains 32 guidelines that we can implement in our personality. These guidelines, if they become habits, we will have guaranteed success in any aspect of our lives.

14) «The pillars of the earth«By Ken Follett.

A book that has been considered one of the great masterpieces of British literature. It consists of 1000 pages.

Summary: it is a story set in the Middle Ages that revolves around a cathedral that you want to build in a town. However, they have to gather architects, masons, carpenters, ... Around this cathedral there are a lot of stories that happen around different characters, such as the story of the chief builder.

It is a very complete story full of stories: romances, wars, ecclesiastical influences, ... Highly recommended for anyone and a must-read for architects.

15) «Tuesday with my old teacher«By Mitch Albom.

It all starts when Mitch, who is the author of the book, sees his former teacher Morrie on a television show. This teacher was key in Mitch's life and college education.

Mitch decides to visit his old teacher and resume that relationship. When he finally gets home to his teacher, he finds that he has terminal cancer.

Morrie ends up giving his former student Mitch some great life lessons.

16) «Divine Comedy«By Dante Alighieri.

What is after life? Dante describes it very well through three scenarios.

It is an allegorical epic that is divided into three parts:

1) Hell: Dante wakes up in a dark jungle and enters a cave where he meets a character who explains what hell consists of. Dante meets different famous people in hell.

2) Purgatory: it is described as a pyramid of 7 divisions which correspond to each of the 7 deadly sins.

3) Paradise: it is divided into the orbits of each planet. Each orbit is ruled by a saint. At the end of the planets there is a great circle of light that in turn divides into three other circles (the Holy Trinity).

The most interesting part is the one where you describe God.

17) «The Exorcist«By William Peter Blatty.

Most of you will know the movie but very few of you will have read this book. The experience of reading this book is terrifying.

The book goes deeper than the movie and if by chance you haven't seen the movie, I advise you to read the book first.

18) «Brief history of time"By Stephen Hawking.

It is a relatively short informative book in which he tells us in a simple way about the great mysteries of the universe such as black holes or the theory of superstrings.

19) «Think and become rich«By Napoleon Hill.

It is a truly extraordinary book that contains a fascinating story. Napoleon Hill interviewed over 500 successful people and encapsulated in this book the 13 principles behind successful people.

It is a book that makes you think and that has already sold more than 30 million copies

20) «Song of ice and fire«By George RR Martin.

It is a book saga of seven books and a prequel. However, only five of the seven books have been published.

Thanks to these books we will be able to know the wonderful world created by George RR Martin contained in the 5000 pages that make up the saga. It is the world's largest fantasy literature phenomenon since Tolkien.

21) "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus", by John Gray.

One of the books that caused a stir because it reaffirms many of the stereotypes associated with men and women. It has many detractors, but nonetheless, many of the claims in the book are supported by scientific studies.

22) «The Dark Tower"By Stephen King.

It is a great saga written by the master of horror literature, Stephen King.

The story begins with the first book entitled "The Dark Tower: The Gunman." A gunman is searching for a dark man to guide him to the Dark Tower as his town has been devastated.

Throughout the 7 volumes we will discover what the Dark Tower is.

23) «Rich father poor father«By Robert Kiyosaki.

It is a book that greatly develops your entrepreneurial mindset. This book tells of the education Robert Kiyosaki received from his poor father and wealthy adoptive father.

24) «Don Quijote of La Mancha«, By Miguel de Cervantes.

Novel by Miguel de Cervantes about a man with a passion for chivalric books who decides to become a knight. Don Quixote's misadventures as he travels through the Spanish countryside have entertained and captivated generations of readers.

Some sources suggest that more than 500 million copies of this book have been sold, although there is no way to know for sure.

25) «harry potter and the Philosopher's Stone«By JK Rowling.

It is the first volume in JK Rowling's hit series about young wizards living in a magical modern world. It was first published in 1997.

26) «Robinson Crusoe«By Daniel Defoe.

The story is about a shipwrecked man named Robinson Crusoe and ends up on a desert island where he spends many years reflecting on important aspects of life: ignorance, fear, faith, loneliness ...

Both believers and non-believers will find the subject of faith very interesting.

The story is told in the first person.

27) «A happy world"By Aldous Huxley.

It is one of those books that you have to read in life. It was published in 1932. It is a novel that makes a lot of criticism of consumerism.

It focuses on a dystopian society divided by five different castes. The alpha caste are the most important and wear gray. Alphas are slim, handsome, and intelligent… quite the opposite of the lower caste. Within the Alphas there are also different categories.

All the characters have a link with a real historical character (Marx, Mussolini, Lenin ...).

28) «Lord of the Flies"By William Golding.

It is the story of a group of children who suffer a plane crash and are isolated on a desert island. They form a kind of society in which they end up forming two large groups.

The children are between six and thirteen years old. The dialogues are incredible. The book talks about the loss of innocence.

29) «Rebelion on the farm«By George Orwell.

He tells us in an allegorical way the Russian revolution and the triumph of Stalinism.

The story tells us about three pigs on the farm: an old one, Lenin; a younger one, Stalin; and the youngest pig, Trotsky. The rest of the farm animals represent the Russian people.

It is a book with which you learn a lot.

30) «The book Thief«By Markus Zusak.

Set in the framework of World War II. A book with many surprises like when one realizes who the narrator of the story is.

31) «Dracula«By Bram Stoker.

In this blog we already published an excellent review of this book. You can read it here.

32) «The odyssey«By Homer.

The Odyssey is a classic of literature. It is an epic poem referring to Greek mythology. He tells us about the adventures of Ulysses on his journey to Ithaca, his home.

The book is divided into three parts.

33) «Frankenstein«By Mary Shelley.

It is about the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his passion for anatomy. As a result of that passion, he travels to London to carry out his experiments and from there his creature arises, which he baptizes as Frankenstein.

34) «One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest«By Ken Kesey.

It is narrated in the first person by an ancient Indian chief, who is a minor character in the novel. It tells the story of some men who are confined in a psychiatric institution.

One day, a psychiatrist, Randle Patrick McMurphy, arrives at that institution, a person who has taken her there without being crazy.

35) «The old man and the sea"By Ernest Hemingway.

It is an epic novel of intropection that makes you put yourself in the role of a fisherman. The novel has an important quality: the sensory one. It makes you feel fully that you are with an old fisherman named Santiago who has not caught anything for 80 days. The novel manages to convey all the sensations associated with fishing.

36) «Metamorphosis«By Franz Kafka.

The protagonist of this book is called Gregor Samsa who works in the textile industry and is the economic support of his entire family since neither his parents nor his sister work. The whole family is totally dependent on Gregor's work.

The problem is that one day Gregor gets up to work and finds himself with a surreal problem: he has turned into a giant cockroach.

37) «El conde de montecristo«By Alexander Dumas.

It was published in 1844. It tells us about the misfortunes suffered by the young Edmond Dantès, who has a whole life ahead of him full of happiness with his fiancée. However, for reasons of envy he is imprisoned for 14 years.

After his release from prison he cannot find his girlfriend, his father has died and it is at that moment that he decides to adopt the name of El Conde de Montecristo.

38) «Man's Search for Meaning«By Viktor E. Frankl.

Viktor E. Frankl tells us of the brutal experience he suffered while imprisoned in a Nazi death camp. A very inspiring book with a very positive message.

39) «Tale number thirteen«By Diane Setterfield.

This book unfolds through two characters: Margaret, a book lover and Vida Winter, a very famous older writer who has a rather strange and murky past.

The writer contacts Margareth to write her biography, including that past that no one knows about her.

40) «Kill a nightingale"By Harper Lee.

The story is told from a girl's point of view. He tells us about an aspect of his childhood lived with his brother and a friend of both. In the town where they live there is a dark and mysterious house where a man lives.

41) «Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy«By Douglas Adams.

The story revolves around two characters: an ordinary man named Arthur Dent who has an alien as a neighbor (although obviously no one knows). On the same day the story in the book begins, the earth is going to be destroyed and Ford (the alien neighbor) saves Arthur.

42) «Ender's Game«By Orson Scott Card.

It is a science fiction novel set in the future where the earth is at war with an alien civilization whose beings resemble giant ants.

Each family can usually have two children, except in some exceptions where three children are allowed per family as in the case of Ender).

From an early age, children receive a very advanced education for free and only those with the best intellectual ability continue to receive this specific training. Those who finish this select education are sent to battle school.

43) «Of mice and men"By John Steinbeck.

Set in California, at the time of the great depression. It is the story of a bond between two men, one of whom is quite problematic due to some kind of mental deficiency. His friend takes care of him even though he sometimes denies it.

44) «The advantages of being an outcast"By Stephen Chbosky.

The most special thing about this book is that it is not divided by chapters, like all normal books, but is divided into letters narrated in the first person by its protagonist.

45) «The secret Garden«By Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The protagonist of this book is a 10-year-old girl who, after her parents die of cholera in India, is sent with her guardian, who is her uncle, to England.

46) «A thousand splendid suns«By Khaled Hosseini.

It is about an Afghan girl who has a tough childhood because she lives in an isolated house with her mother. Their father only visits them once a week.

47) «The Great Gatsby«By F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The story of this book takes place in the New York of the 20s and is narrated by Nick, a guy who moves house and has as a new neighbor Gatsby, a somewhat mysterious person who spends his time having parties at his house .

48) «From my heaven«By Alice Sebold.

He tells the story of how 14-year-old Susie Salmon was murdered. One day after school, Susie decides to go through the wheat field behind her house and her neighbor invites her to come over to his house.

49) «Water for elephants«By Sara Gruen.

The book is narrated in the first person by an elderly man who is in an asylum. He tells us what his life was like when he was young. Just before finishing his university degree, he loses everything.

50) «Wuthering Heights«By Emily Brontë.

The story revolves around a married couple with their two children who live in a house called Wuthering Heights. One day the father appears with another (adopted) child.

51) «The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens«By Sean Covey.

This book is aimed at those adolescents who struggle every day with the complexities that are presented to them in their day to day.

53) «The Name of the Wind«By Patrick Rothfuss.

The story begins in a different world in which there is a simple inn where Kvothe hides, a hero who has never told his story. However, one day Chronicler appears and decides to tell the story of Kvothe.

Kvothe and Chronicler sit at a table and the former begins to tell his story: what he did, where he went and why he became a legend.

Patrick Rothfuss's way of telling the story is simply epic.

54) «The Decameron«By Bocaccio.

It is a classic book set in a plague-stricken Italy. Seven young girls decide that it is necessary to flee to the countryside to avoid their tragic fate, but first they seek the male help of three boys.

55) «The Clan of the Cave Bear«By Jean Marie Auel.

The story revolves around a girl from Cro-Magnon who loses her entire family at just five years old after an earthquake. Hungry and very scared, she is rescued by the cave bear clan, a family of Neanderthals.

The girl has to fight against feeling different (and being rejected for it) and having to learn a new language and customs.

The girl begins to feel interested in the exclusive activities of the men of the clan, such as hunting and making weapons.

A book that talks about the human being's ability to adapt to changes and overcome life's obstacles.

56) «Mr. Linh's granddaughter«By Philippe Claudel.

It tells us the story of an old man named Linh who is on a boat along with other refugees on his way to what is supposed to be France. The old man flees the war that is being waged in his country and that has taken away his entire family except his granddaughter.

Mr. Linh arrives in that new country and must get used to a new language and be able to function in a world he does not know.

57) «The last cat«, By Matilde Asensi.

Our protagonist works in the office of the secret archive of the Vatican. By order of Pope John Paul II, a case that he must investigate comes into his hands: the mysterious inscriptions found tattooed on the dead body of an Ethiopian.

She begins a dangerous adventure with an archaeologist and the captain of the Swiss Guard. More information in this video review.

58) «Siddhartha »by Hermann Hesse.

This novel recounts in the third person tells us the life of Siddhartha, the son of a brahman (a priest). Siddartha painfully decides to separate from his father and undertake a journey with a friend of his to seek that peak of spirituality. More information in this video review.

59) «The doctor«By Noah Gordon.

It is a historical book set in the XNUMXth century. It is about a young boy who seeks to become a doctor. However, where he lives, in London, he has no option to learn medicine. He decides to go on a trip to Persia to study medicine. More information in this video review.

60) «The wind's shadow«, By Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

It takes place in the Barcelona of the first half of the XNUMXth century. It is narrated in the first person by Daniel. It all begins when one day Daniel's father takes him to visit the cemetery of forgotten books. In this place you have to do a ritual that consists of getting lost in the labyrinth and looking for a book to adopt it.

The book that Daniel adopts is titled "The wind's shadow". He loves the book so much that he can read it to him overnight. He likes it so much that he decides to find the author when he is older. More information in this video review

61) «God's crooked lines«By Torcuato Luca de Tena.

The novel takes place in a madhouse. Alicia is admitted there because they say she suffers from paranoia. The plot develops around the doubt of the existence of this disease. Alicia declares herself mentally healthy.

The men and women confined in that mental sanitarium are the crooked lines of God.

Throughout the story, the reader doubts Alicia's illness since the protagonist shows greater sanity than any normal person. More information in this video review.

62) «Essay on blindness«By José Saramago.

The book is about a country where there is an epidemic that is leaving people blind. The government puts all the affected people in an abandoned asylum. These people end up fleeing the asylum and discover that everyone has been a victim of the epidemic. However, there is a character who does not lose sight.

A book about the human condition and its survival instinct. More information in this video review.

63) «The time between seams«By María Dueñas.

It tells the story of a seamstress just before the Spanish Civil War broke out. She meets a boy she falls in love with and his sewing workshop is down. The boy convinces him to become a civil servant and buys him a typewriter.

The problem is that in the store where they buy the typewriter, she meets another man with whom she falls in love and ends up leaving her fiancé.

A novel full of surprising twists in which the seamstress ends up being a spy. More information in this video review.

64) «The endless story"by Michael Ende.

The protagonist of this book is a boy who finds a book that catches his attention in an old library. Bastián hides in the attic of his school to read it secretly.

The book has two parallel stories. On the one hand there is the story of Bastián and on the other hand the story of Fantasia.

Fantasia is a realm ruled by the child empress who has fallen seriously ill. Atreyu, a boy who lives in this kingdom, goes on his own adventure to try to save the empress. Also, Fantasia is being conquered by NOTHING. More information in this video review.

65) «Perfume: The Story of a murderer«By Patrick Süskind.

It is about a man who was born in XNUMXth century Paris. A Paris that literally sucked at the time. Our protagonist has an exceptional nose as a result of a traumatic experience that he lived at birth. The name of our protagonist is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a murderer. More information in this video review.

66) «Rayuela«, By Julio Cortázar.

This book tells us about the search for the identity of the human being and the mistakes that a man has made. More information in this video review.

67) «The Book of Illusions«By Paul Auster.

The main character is a writer and professor of literature in Vermont. He is absolutely depressed and has been locked in his world for several months trying to pretend that his wife and children were not killed in a plane crash.

One day, watching a movie, there is a character who makes him laugh. She becomes so obsessed with this actor that she decides to write a book about him and publishes it. After publishing it, he receives a call from a woman who claims that she is the actor's wife and they invite him to visit their home. More information in this video review.

68) «Memories of a Geisha«By Arthur Golden.

The story tells us the life of Chiyo who lives in her parents' small house. The mother is terminally ill.

One day Chiyo meets a man. The father ends up selling her and her sister to this man. Chiyo wants to escape but in her escape she falls off the roof and breaks her arm. More information in this video review

69) «Troy Horse«By Juan José Benítez.

[You may be interested The 22 Best Self-Help and Self-Improvement Books]

70) Love in times of anger - Gabriel García Márquez.

Love in Times of Cholera was published in 1985, and its story focuses on the romance between two young people: Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, which takes place over seventy years. In this, García Márquez makes a vow to the permanence of unrequited love through time and adversity.

71) Around the world in 80 days - Jules Verne.

Around the world in 80 days tells the story of the lonely Phileas Fogg, a member of the Reform Club, who risks his entire fortune in a bet that consisted of going around the world in 80 days, according to calculations made by the newspaper «Morning Chronicle». The adventures of this character together with his assistant Jean Passepartout sought to analyze or represent the evolution of man in the field of technology, and is considered a jewel of universal literature.

Around the World in 80 Days was published in volumes in 1872, this being the same year that the story unfolds. Finally, in 1873 it was formally published as a complete novel.

72) “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville

Moby Dick, published in 1851, constitutes an impeccable narrative, and it is partly to this that its great renown in the world is attributed. It is a novel considered a masterpiece of universal literature, and it cannot be missing among the books you must read in your life.

In Moby Dick, Melville narrates the journey of the ship Pequod, embarked by crew from a large number of countries, and the terrible fight between Captain Ahab and a huge white whale, guided by a marked obsession. The different events in history are accompanied by a wide variety of information regarding whaling in the XNUMXth century, and other information about the life of sailors at that time.

73) "Ana Karenina", by Leon Tolstoi.

León Tolstoi is one of the most outstanding writers of the West. One of his key works is Ana Karenina, published in 1877, it narrates the romance between the wealthy Ana Karenina and Count Alexei Wronsky. Ana Karenina leaves her husband and son behind to embark on a stormy relationship with the count, which shakes Russian society at the time. This occurs simultaneously with the marriages of two friends, Levin and Kitty, whose story will contrast with that of the protagonist as the plot unfolds.

74) “Les Miserables”, by Victor Hugo

Les Miserables was published in 1862, and is considered one of the most representative works of the XNUMXth century. In it, Victor Hugo develops the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict tried by the society of the time. It consists of five volumes in which a large number of well-developed characters participate, and whose development will have a significant contribution to the central story, with a notable attachment to the historical context.

This novel is characterized by an extensive analysis of good and evil, as well as the social, political, and cultural conditions of XNUMXth-century society. In addition, it has a large number of historical references linked to events from the famous Battle of Waterloo and the French Revolution. It is a magnificent and indispensable book for anyone who is adept at philosophy, history and narrative works.

74) “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, by Gabriel García Márquez

It is one of the most famous and representative novels in Latin American literature. In it, García Márquez narrates in a non-chronological way the history of the Buendía family, and the events involved in the town of Macondo. It develops a large number of characters over seven generations, and themes such as loneliness, incest, and situations in which reality and fiction are mixed creating an exquisite and entertaining narrative for the reader.

75) "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens

It is a novel that portrays the turbulence in the XNUMXth century with the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution. Dickens develops the story in two cities: London and Paris, between which there is a remarkable contrast. On the one hand, London with a peaceful, calm, organized and simple life environment; and on the other hand, Paris, which is presented as a city shaken by conflicts and total chaos.

This is a completely different novel from the usual ones by this author, which were generally based on childhood characters, and shows the effect of the Industrial Revolution on the lives of the characters.

Well we've already reached the bottom of the list Do you think I have left any important books? I would like to hear your recommendation. Leave me your comment.