The 100 Best Novels in English with Links for Kindle

When I first got my Kindle, I couldn't wait to fill it up with the best novels. Searching around on the internet I found this great list. The goal when they made the list was not to have a competition about what the best book was, but to get people talking about great books. To narrow down the list they had a couple requirements for the novels. 1. Published between 1900 and 1998 (when the list was made), and 2. published in English. There are other lists that cover nonfiction and world literature but let’s focus for now on the 100 best novels written in English in the 20th century.

All these novels were voted for by hundreds of thousands of readers. The final list was compiled by the board at Modern Library and arranged from 1 to 100. They are not in order per se, and I would not recommend reading it in order, but organized from the most loved and critically acclaimed.

Any book on the list would be a great read and guaranteed by thousands of readers to entertain and enlighten. Many of the books are available for free in ebook, which is the purpose of this article, others range anywhere from $1.99 to $11.99. I won’t post the prices because they fluctuate so much at Amazon, but I will highlight in Bold the ones that are Free.

Let me know what you think in the links below, and let’s get talking about great books!

The List

1. ULYSSES (Annotated)

by James Joyce

2. THE GREAT GATSBY

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN

by James Joyce

Cover via Amazon

4. LOLITA

by Vladimir Nabokov

5. BRAVE NEW WORLD

by Aldous Huxley

6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY

by William Faulkner

7. CATCH-22

by Joseph Heller

8. DARKNESS AT NOON

by Arthur Koestler

9. SONS AND LOVERS

by D.H. Lawrence

10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH

by John Steinbeck

11. UNDER THE VOLCANO

by Malcolm Lowry

12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH

by Samuel Butler

13. 1984

by George Orwell

14. I, CLAUDIUS

by Robert Graves

15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE (Annotated)

by Virginia Woolf

16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

by Theodore Dreiser

17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER

by Carson McCullers

18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE

by Kurt Vonnegut

19. INVISIBLE MAN

by Ralph Ellison

20. NATIVE SON

by Richard Wright

21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING

by Saul Bellow

22. APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA

by John O’Hara

23. U.S.A. (trilogy)
THE 42ND PARALLEL
1919 (Volume Two of the U.S.A. Trilogy)
THE BIG MONEY (Volume Three of the U.S.A. Trilogy)

by John Dos Passos

24. WINESBURG, OHIO

by Sherwood Anderson

25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA

by E.M. Forster

26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, Volume 1
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE, Volume 2

by Henry James

27. THE AMBASSADORS

by Henry James

28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY

by James T. Farrell

30. THE GOOD SOLDIER

by Ford Madox Ford

31. ANIMAL FARM

by George Orwell

32. THE GOLDEN BOWL

by Henry James

33. SISTER CARRIE

by Theodore Dreiser

34. A HANDFUL OF DUST

by Evelyn Waugh

35. AS I LAY DYING

by William Faulkner

36. ALL THE KING'S MEN

by Robert Penn Warren

37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY

by Thornton Wilder

38. HOWARDS END

by E.M. Forster

39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

by James Baldwin

40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER

by Graham Greene

41. LORD OF THE FLIES

by William Golding

42. DELIVERANCE

by James Dickey

43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) Link to book 1 of 12

by Anthony Powell

44. POINT COUNTER POINT

by Aldous Huxley

45. THE SUN ALSO RISES

by Ernest Hemingway

46. THE SECRET AGENT

by Joseph Conrad

47. NOSTROMO

by Joseph Conrad

48. THE RAINBOW

by D.H. Lawrence

49. WOMEN IN LOVE

by D.H. Lawrence

50. TROPIC OF CANCER

by Henry Miller

51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD

by Norman Mailer

52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT

by Philip Roth

53. PALE FIRE

by Vladimir Nabokov

54. LIGHT IN AUGUST

by William Faulkner

55. ON THE ROAD

by Jack Kerouac

56. THE MALTESE FALCON

by Dashiell Hammett

57. PARADE’S END

by Ford Madox Ford

58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE

by Edith Wharton

59. ZULEIKA DOBSON
o:p>

by Max Beerbohm

60. THE MOVIEGOER

by Walker Percy

61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP

by Willa Cather

62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

by James Jones

63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES

by John Cheever

64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger

65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

by Anthony Burgess

66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE

by W. Somerset Maugham

67. HEART OF DARKNESS

by Joseph Conrad

68. MAIN STREET

by Sinclair Lewis

69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH

by Edith Wharton

70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET

by Lawrence Durell

71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA

by Richard Hughes

72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS

by V.S. Naipaul

73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST

by Nathanael West

74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS

by Ernest Hemingway

75. SCOOP

by Evelyn Waugh

76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE

by Muriel Spark

77. FINNEGANS WAKE

by James Joyce

78. KIM

by Rudyard Kipling

79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW

by E.M. Forster

80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

by Evelyn Waugh

81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH

by Saul Bellow

82. ANGLE OF REPOSE

by Wallace Stegner

83. A BEND IN THE RIVER

by V.S. Naipaul

84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART

by Elizabeth Bowen

85. LORD JIM

by Joseph Conrad

86. RAGTIME

by E.L. Doctorow

87. THE OLD WIVES’ TALE

by Arnold Bennett

88. THE CALL OF THE WILD

by Jack London

89. LOVING

by Henry Green

90. MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN

by Salman Rushdie

91. TOBACCO ROAD

by Erskine Caldwell

92. IRONWEED

by William Kennedy

93. THE MAGUS

by John Fowles

94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA

by Jean Rhys

95. UNDER THE NET

by Iris Murdoch

96. SOPHIE’S CHOICE

by William Styron

97. THE SHELTERING SKY

by Paul Bowles

98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE

by James M. Cain

99. THE GINGER MAN

by J.P. Donleavy

100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS

by Booth Tarkington

Please check the price before buying it for your Kindle, as books change in price and availability regularly. The books without links are currently unavailable in the Kindle Store. 

So what do you people think about the books? Which would you recommend? Which ones have you read?

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Ebooks vs Books Final

Third generation Amazon Kindle, showing text from the novel Moby-Dick. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can check out the previous posts by clicking below.

Part 1

Part 2

The Pros of eReaders

Now that we have addressed many of the fallacies touted about why ebooks are bad, let’s talk about why they are good.

It is easier to have a Kindle app on my smartphone that I always have with me and read whenever I have time than to lug around a book. It is easier to carry my Kindle Keyboard in my pocket with hundreds of books, including all the books that I am currently reading, than to bring along a book that I might lose (I have lost a few) and doesn’t fit in my pocket.

I markup books and make notes and find it easier and more convenient to highlight and make notes in ebooks using my Kindle. I don’t have to carry a pen, dictionary, and notebook when I want to read something.

If I hear of a book that sounds interesting to me, I can download a sample and begin reading in a minute. I can also download a sample to save for later so that I can have something handy to read when I finish a book. I can read the first 10 percent of a book to see if I want to continue reading and if I do, I can buy the book with a simple click. I buy too many books this way.

Ereaders make it convenient to read, easy to find new books, and are easier to carry than most books. Whether it has page numbers or locations makes no difference to me since I am reading for content, not to brag about the number of pages I read.

Conclusions

You can read ebooks without having to give up paper books. Obvious I know, but that’s how the “war” is being made out to be. Ebooks are not at war with bookstores or libraries, they are just the latest development in book technology. People that prefer real books prefer the previous shift in the book publishing industry, which is fine, just realize they are choosing one static form in an ever developing technology.

Before I get dismissed as a book hater, know that I am writing this on the fourth floor of the university library. I am surrounded by millions of books and I love coming here to study and read. I am a graduate student in English Literature and Composition, you could say that I love words and writing. I read a lot, I buy a lot of books and I write a lot. I will publish through Amazon and hopefully through a traditional publisher, if I can break in. I love books whether you can them real or not.

Ebooks or books, whatever you call them are really just books. What we really value is the writing of the author. The medium they published on does not matter, it is a preference. Next time you hear someone bashing ebooks, just know that they are resistant to change and embrace only the medium they grew up with. Now you know better.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this issue. I know ebooks can be divisive, but let’s try and keep it civil.

Check out our Facebook Page and Like us to keep up to date on the latest Kindle Literature posts. You can share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future posts, free Kindle books, and the best Kindle novels. Make sure you subscribe and check back for more. Happy Reading.

Related articles

• Be Green, Save Green: The Rise of eBook Sharing

Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros

Woman Hollering Creek and other stories is a collection of short stories by Sandra Cisneros first published in 1992. The collection is split into three parts, with the first two parts being very short stories with most being only a couple pages. In the third part, the stories are longer and quite powerful.

The two stories that stood out as being very memorable are, “Woman Hollering Creek” the title story, and “Never Marry a Mexican.” The latter is my favorite in the collection. It deals with things that her mother taught her and how she has to come to terms with the way Mexicans, including herself, are categorized and labeled in the US. This is one of the best short stories I have read in a long time.

The issues of identity and growing up are relatable to most people and Cisneros does a great job of highlighting issues that people have to deal with. She presents a complex main character that has to come to terms with her infidelities, which she is both proud and not proud of at the same time. The story is told to some other person, almost in recollections and she does a great job of showing how complex our relationships with each other can be.

Cisneros shows a much more mature work than The House on Mango Street, which she wrote when she was quite young.

Woman Hollering Creek and other stories was published a few years after Mango and really showcases her writing ability. Each story is different and yet they all deal with love and relationships. From a woman fantasizing about being in love with Zapata, to an immigrant women in an abusive relationship, the stories are all powerful and definitely worth a read.
Discover Sandra Cisneros again and enjoy her wonderful, poetic, and at times dark writing style.
Check out our Facebook Page and Like us to keep up to date on the latest Kindle Literature posts. You can share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future posts, free Kindle books, and the best Kindle novels. Make sure you subscribe and check back for more. Happy Reading.

Ebooks vs. Books and Other Fallacies Part 2

In the first part we covered the history of books and publishing. In this second piece we will address the fallacies and preferences that people tout about ebooks versus books. The final piece will cover the good of ereaders and how books and ebooks will coexist.

Fallacies

The first argument I heard against books was that they are hurting bookstores and libraries. Libraries have been around for a long time and many are now offering ebooks to borrow as well as other streaming services. Libraries are keeping up with the changing book industry and thriving. Bookstores have been going out of business long before ebooks came in the picture. If anything, ebook readers are book buyers which is good news for bookstores. Bookstores are also producing their own ereaders and selling ebooks on their websites like the Nook from Barnes and Noble. Ebooks are cheaper to store and don’t take up expensive prime retail space in the stores.

“I prefer real books.” So do people prefer the paper and binding along with the ink, or what was written? Personally, I prefer what is written. I read a lot, I read ebooks on my Kindle and iPad and I read hardcover and paperback books that I buy all the time. Reading ebooks does not mean you don’t read “real” books, or the derogatory term dead tree books, it means you are ok with the latest change in the technology of the book. Ereaders are making millions of books available to billions of people who could not afford them before.

“I like writing in my books.” As a book lover, I have finally started to write in my books, I treasured them for many years and did not want to ruin the ones that I bought. I tend to do more underlining when I read which is very easy with an ereader like a Kindle. You can highlight texts quickly and look up words with the touch of a finger. When I first starting reading a lot, I had to carry a notebook and a fat dictionary with me because I didn’t understand a lot of the words in the difficult texts. Now, I rarely come across words that I don’t know, but when I do, ereaders make it easy and better to look them up. You can also write notes in ebooks that will display easily as well as being able to print them nicely organized. The Kindle Paperwhite has a built in vocabulary builder that compiles a list of the words you look up so that you can study them easily, similar to what I used to do with a notebook, when I was working on expanding my vocabulary.

“Free ebooks aren’t very good, you have to pay for the good ones.” I would say the opposite is actually true. The free ebooks are the classics that have been available for years, and before ereaders. Dead author books are some of my favorites. That being said, when I first bought my Kindle I would download any free books I could find. I quickly realized that many of them were not worth downloading. I started being picky about the free books I downloaded to read. The classics, epics, and anything published before 1923 are in the public domain, which means the authors are either dead or do not own the copyright anymore and can be sold by anyone who decides to print them, or made available for free online. You can also download free ebooks from your local library’s website. See my post on Overdrive for more.

Project Gutenberg is a nonprofit that works to digitized, proofread, and format books into ebooks and make them available for free. Many of their titles are available in the major ebook stores, and can also be had by direct download from their site. Some of the best literature that has ever been written is available for free to download, so you don’t have to pay for the good books, they are all free.

“Ebooks have bad formatting and are badly written.” True! You might have to put up with bad formatting with ebooks at times. Many of the major bestsellers in the last few years did not have the best writing. Have you tried reading The Hunger Games? Everything that is published as a real book does not necessarily have good writing. Many of the people that publish ebooks are indie authors but there are some major authors joining the ebook market like Stephen King. Authors are switching to ebook publishing because their books will be widely available to readers and they get better royalty contracts from publishers like Amazon. 70% royalties are unheard of in the present “real” book publishing industry. Most authors make pennies from each book sold while the publishers make the majority of the profits. I’m sure Amazon is not doing this out of the kindness of their own heart but to disrupt the present market, in the meantime authors are profiting and ebooks are here to stay.

The quality of ebooks depends on the quality of the writer and the production team, same as traditional books. Terrible books are published by publishers because they will make a profit. We have book reviewers that read and review books for the readers to find and read. We need the same for ebooks. Websites like mine review ebooks and make recommendations and we need more of that. Most books that are published by traditional publishers are now also published as ebooks. The quality of ebooks will rise much like the quality of the novel did in the 18^th century.

The bad formatting and bad writing is part of the stigma associated with self-publishing, and has been around for quite some time now. The stigma has transferred to ebook self-publishing, and comments about the quality of ebooks are addressing this fallacy.

The latest bash on ebooks came in the form of a study published in Sweden that says that people who read ebooks retain less information that those who read paper books. There are serious issues with this preliminary study that had non experienced ebook readers reading for retention. The authors themselves address that the findings might be different with experienced ebook readers. The blanket statement is a subjective fact since all readers are at different levels. I am an English literature graduate student and I never have problems recollecting majors themes or plot points from either ebooks or paper books, but I also have more experience than most with books and ebooks. While this may affect some readers, the blanket statement has been adopted by the “real book” lovers as another reason why they won’t read ebooks and why we shouldn’t either. The people that don’t read ebooks did not read ebooks before and they don’t read ebooks now; why they care if we read ebooks is beyond me.

The readers resisting change justify their reasons and it comes down to this, they prefer paper books. That is fine! I am not going to bash paper books every chance I get because I might feel threatened. Read what you choose and so will I and millions of others.

The last fallacy I will address for now is that “a real bookshelf filled with real books is more impressive than a Kindle Fire loaded with books.” If you buy books to impress others with your book collection, you are doing it wrong. I have been buying books since I was a little kid, I own thousands of books in all formats, I have read many of them, and I have a Kindle collection with hundreds of books that I am working my way through. I do not show off my books, or my Kindle. I buy, borrow, and download free books to my Kindle to read, not to show off.

Thanks for reading and check back soon for the final installment of ebooks versus books and other fallacies.

Check out our Facebook Page and Like us to keep up to date on the latest Kindle Literature posts. You can share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future posts, free Kindle books, and the best Kindle novels. Make sure you subscribe and check back for more. Happy Reading.