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The Mensa Reading List for Grades 9-12 ↗

The books people recommended

2025-04-06 · 45 points · 119 comments · 29 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

  1. 3

    The Fountainhead

    Ayn Rand

    3 here · 90 all-time · #36 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,667 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3Night

    Night

    Elie Wiesel

    3 here · 10 all-time · #643 overall

  3. 2

    Ulysses

    James Joyce

    2 here · 55 all-time · #71 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,819 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2

    Candide

    Voltaire

    2 here · 21 all-time · #297 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 5,755 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2The Time Machine

    The Time Machine

    H.G. Wells

    2 here · 8 all-time · #798 overall

  6. 2Gulliver's Travels

    Gulliver's Travels

    Jonathan Swift

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2429 overall

  7. 2Pedagogy of the Oppressed

    Pedagogy of the Oppressed

    Paulo Freire

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2484 overall

  8. 1

    Infinite Jest

    David Foster Wallace

    1 here · 75 all-time · #44 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,443 ratings on Amazon
  9. 1

    Brave New World

    Aldous Huxley

    1 here · 67 all-time · #55 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 48,055 ratings on Amazon
  10. 1

    Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  11. 1

    Flowers for Algernon

    Daniel Keyes

    1 here · 33 all-time · #160 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 40,104 ratings on Amazon
  12. 1

    Don Quixote

    Miguel de Cervantes

    1 here · 33 all-time · #161 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,758 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler

    1 here · 31 all-time · #182 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,081 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1Harry Potter

    Harry Potter

    J.K. Rowling

    1 here · 30 all-time · #188 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 160,126 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1

    Manufacturing Consent

    Edward S. Herman

    1 here · 30 all-time · #193 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 3,047 ratings on Amazon
  16. 1

    The Murderbot Diaries

    Martha Wells

    1 here · 29 all-time · #198 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 69,410 ratings on Amazon
  17. 1A People's History of the United States

    A People's History of the United States

    Howard Zinn

    1 here · 25 all-time · #232 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 17,556 ratings on Amazon
  18. 1The First Law

    The First Law

    Joe Abercrombie

    1 here · 18 all-time · #349 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 29,733 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1The Lord of the Flies

    The Lord of the Flies

    William Golding

    1 here · 7 all-time · #913 overall

  20. 1The Good Earth

    The Good Earth

    Pearl S. Buck

    1 here · 7 all-time · #914 overall

  21. 1Naked Lunch

    Naked Lunch

    William S. Burroughs

    1 here · 7 all-time · #950 overall

  22. 1All the Light We Cannot See

    All the Light We Cannot See

    Anthony Doerr

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1068 overall

  23. 1Beowulf

    Beowulf

    Anonymous

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1257 overall

  24. 1In Cold Blood

    In Cold Blood

    Truman Capote

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1351 overall

  25. 1Journey to the West

    Journey to the West

    Wu Cheng'en

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1470 overall

  26. 1Great Expectations

    Great Expectations

    Charles Dickens

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1566 overall

  27. 1The Dharma Bums

    The Dharma Bums

    Jack Kerouac

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1571 overall

  28. 1Hench

    Hench

    Natalie Zina Walschots

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2008 overall

  29. 1Hamlet

    Hamlet

    William Shakespeare

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2009 overall