List

Literary Books Worth Reading

A tight literary books worth reading shortlist - built for quick decisions, not endless scrolling.

Last refreshed 2026-02-27. We keep tuning this list as new titles land and reader interest shifts.

1. Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert, Lydia Davis
Madame Bovary: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
2. Sunburn
Chloe Michelle Howarth
Sunburn: Shortlisted for the 2024 Book of the Year: Discover Award by the British Book Awards
3. Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Katherine Boo
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity
4. Say Goodbye for Now
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Say Goodbye for Now: Paperback – December 13, 2016
5. Wait Till Next Year
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir
6. The Betrothed
Alessandro Manzoni, Bruce Penman
The Betrothed: I Promessi Sposi
7. Go
Kazuki Kaneshiro, Takami Nieda
Go: A Coming of Age Novel
8. Will in the World
Stephen Greenblatt
Will in the World: Paperback – September 17, 2005
9. The Bookseller
Mark Pryor
The Bookseller: The First Hugo Marston Novel
10. Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Neil Gaiman
Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Paperback – September 15, 2009
11. The Recovering
Leslie Jamison
The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath
12. Splinters
Leslie Jamison
Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story
13. Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs
Kerry Howley
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State
14. How to Be a Heroine
Samantha Ellis
How to Be a Heroine: Or, What I've Learned from Reading too Much
15. The Portable Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann
The Portable Nietzsche: Paperback – January 27, 1977
16. Nine Horses
Billy Collins
Nine Horses: Poems
17. Arbitrary Stupid Goal
Tamara Shopsin
Arbitrary Stupid Goal: Paperback – Illustrated, July 17, 2018
18. Short Stories by Jesus
Amy-Jill Levine
Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi
19. The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll
Jean Nathan
The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright
20. The Art of Biblical Narrative
Robert Alter
The Art of Biblical Narrative: Paperback – April 26, 2011
21. I am Providence
Nick Mamatas
I am Providence: Kindle Edition
22. On Stories
C. S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis
On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature
23. Leaving Dirty Jersey
James Salant
Leaving Dirty Jersey: A Crystal Meth Memoir
24. K-punk
Mark Fisher, Darren Ambrose
K-punk: The Collected and Unpublished Writings of Mark Fisher

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