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Ask HN: What is the best fiction book you've ever read? ↗

The books people recommended

2013-06-06 · 12 points · 46 comments · 58 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. 4

    Catch-22

    Joseph Heller

    4 here · 46 all-time · #96 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 14,669 ratings on Amazon
  2. 2

    Dune

    Frank Herbert

    2 here · 250 all-time · #3 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 104,032 ratings on Amazon
  3. 2

    Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 119 all-time · #16 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,720 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2

    The Lord of the Rings

    J.R.R. Tolkien

    2 here · 114 all-time · #18 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.9 out of 5, 14,620 ratings on Amazon
  5. 2

    Cryptonomicon

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 106 all-time · #23 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,425 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2

    The Count of Monte Cristo

    Alexandre Dumas

    2 here · 70 all-time · #50 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,487 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2

    Crime and Punishment

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

    2 here · 50 all-time · #85 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 5,186 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2Reamde

    Reamde

    Neal Stephenson

    2 here · 26 all-time · #218 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,708 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2

    A Confederacy of Dunces

    John Kennedy Toole

    2 here · 22 all-time · #276 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 16,890 ratings on Amazon
  10. 2Sphere

    Sphere

    Michael Crichton

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2619 overall

  11. 2Taltos

    Taltos

    Steven Brust

    2 here · 3 all-time · #2620 overall

  12. 1

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Robert Pirsig

    1 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
  13. 1

    Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    1 here · 117 all-time · #17 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 20,213 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    Foundation

    Isaac Asimov

    1 here · 110 all-time · #20 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 36,591 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1

    Ender's Game

    Orson Scott Card

    1 here · 109 all-time · #21 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 45,794 ratings on Amazon
  16. 1

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Douglas Adams

    1 here · 101 all-time · #28 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 30,738 ratings on Amazon
  17. 1

    Anathem

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 83 all-time · #40 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 5,275 ratings on Amazon
  18. 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
  19. 1

    Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline

    1 here · 69 all-time · #52 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 155,485 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    Ulysses

    James Joyce

    1 here · 55 all-time · #71 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,819 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    Daemon

    Daniel Suarez

    1 here · 52 all-time · #78 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 6,091 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1

    Moby Dick

    Herman Melville

    1 here · 51 all-time · #82 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 16,756 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Anna Karenina

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 51 all-time · #83 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 13,344 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1

    Discworld

    Terry Pratchett

    1 here · 50 all-time · #87 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 28,137 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    George Orwell

    1 here · 43 all-time · #108 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 15,224 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    War and Peace

    Leo Tolstoy

    1 here · 41 all-time · #117 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 3,710 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut

    1 here · 34 all-time · #153 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 40,601 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    Stories of Your Life and Others

    Ted Chiang

    1 here · 34 all-time · #154 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 16,602 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    The Baroque Cycle

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 32 all-time · #176 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 2,191 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    A Song of Ice and Fire

    George R. R. Martin

    1 here · 26 all-time · #219 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 83,380 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1

    Les Misérables

    Victor Hugo

    1 here · 24 all-time · #250 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,681 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1

    Freedom

    Daniel Suarez

    1 here · 23 all-time · #260 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 5,152 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1

    Riddley Walker

    Russell Hoban

    1 here · 22 all-time · #285 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.1 out of 5, 739 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    Harper Lee

    1 here · 21 all-time · #296 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 149,155 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1Speaker for the Dead

    Speaker for the Dead

    Orson Scott Card

    1 here · 18 all-time · #355 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 14,675 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1American Gods

    American Gods

    Neil Gaiman

    1 here · 15 all-time · #415 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 58,725 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1The Metamorphosis

    The Metamorphosis

    Franz Kafka

    1 here · 13 all-time · #476 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 3,692 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1Watchmen

    Watchmen

    Alan Moore

    1 here · 10 all-time · #631 overall

  39. 1Pale Fire

    Pale Fire

    Vladimir Nabokov

    1 here · 10 all-time · #671 overall

  40. 1Chronicles of Amber

    Chronicles of Amber

    Roger Zelazny

    1 here · 9 all-time · #734 overall

  41. 1Things Fall Apart

    Things Fall Apart

    Chinua Achebe

    1 here · 8 all-time · #780 overall

  42. 1Contact

    Contact

    Carl Sagan

    1 here · 8 all-time · #785 overall

  43. 1The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

    The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

    Mark Haddon

    1 here · 8 all-time · #793 overall

  44. 1The Dog Stars

    The Dog Stars

    Peter Heller

    1 here · 7 all-time · #920 overall

  45. 1The Godfather

    The Godfather

    Mario Puzo

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1061 overall

  46. 1A Prayer for Owen Meany

    A Prayer for Owen Meany

    John Irving

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1109 overall

  47. 1Kill Decision

    Kill Decision

    Daniel Suarez

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1343 overall

  48. 1All the King's Men

    All the King's Men

    Robert Penn Warren

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1438 overall

  49. 1Mockingbird

    Mockingbird

    Walter Tevis

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1479 overall

  50. 1The Third Policeman

    The Third Policeman

    Flann O'Brien

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1534 overall

  51. 1The Dharma Bums

    The Dharma Bums

    Jack Kerouac

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1571 overall

  52. 1Quicksilver

    Quicksilver

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1603 overall

  53. 1The Corrections

    The Corrections

    Jonathan Franzen

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1618 overall

  54. 1Hamlet

    Hamlet

    William Shakespeare

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2009 overall

  55. 1Where the Red Fern Grows

    Where the Red Fern Grows

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2234 overall

  56. 1The Confusion

    The Confusion

    Neal Stephenson

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2306 overall

  57. 1Riverworld

    Riverworld

    Philip José Farmer

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2463 overall

  58. 1The Code of the Woosters

    The Code of the Woosters

    P.G. Wodehouse

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2562 overall