The 25 best books of the 1920s
The 25 highest-ranked books first published in the 1920s in our ranking of 2,819, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 36 books of the 1920s in all. How we rank
- 1A Room of One's Own86.0Must-Read Score
A Room of One's Own
It's on the Modern Library's, TIME's and the Guardian's lists of the best nonfiction ever written, and it's a founding text of feminist criticism.
- 2All Quiet on the Western Front81.0Must-Read Score
All Quiet on the Western Front
It was one of the ten best-selling books in America in 1929 and is on the BBC's Big Read.
- 3
Gypsy Ballads79.2Must-Read ScoreGypsy Ballads
It's on Le Monde's list of the books of the century and the Bokklubben World Library, and it made Lorca the most popular Spanish poet of his time.
- 4
The Age of Innocence79.2Must-Read ScoreThe Age of Innocence
It won the Pulitzer Prize, the first awarded to a woman for fiction, and is on the Modern Library list of the best novels.
- 5
The Great Gatsby78.7Must-Read ScoreThe Great Gatsby
It's one of the best-selling and most taught novels in American literature and is on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels.
- 6
So Big76.8Must-Read ScoreSo Big
It won the Pulitzer Prize.
- 7
The Magic Mountain76.6Must-Read ScoreThe Magic Mountain
It's on both the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books and Le Monde's list of the books of the century.
- 8
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd75.8Must-Read ScoreThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd
It's on Le Monde's list of the books of the century and is often called the greatest detective novel ever written.
- 9
Death Comes for the Archbishop73.6Must-Read ScoreDeath Comes for the Archbishop
It's on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels.
- 10
The Sound and the Fury72.0Must-Read ScoreThe Sound and the Fury
It's on the TIME, Modern Library and Bokklubben lists of the greatest novels.
- 11The Waste Land71.4Must-Read Score
The Waste Land
It's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time and is often called the most influential poem in English of the 20th century.
- 12Babbitt71.2Must-Read Score
Babbitt
It was one of the ten best-selling books of 1923, it's on the Guardian's list of the 100 best novels in English, and its title became a word for a conformist businessman.
- 13
Siddhartha71.0Must-Read ScoreSiddhartha
It was voted onto PBS's Great American Read.
- 14
The Bridge of San Luis Rey70.5Must-Read ScoreThe Bridge of San Luis Rey
It won the Pulitzer Prize and is on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels.
- 15
Goodbye to All That70.0Must-Read ScoreGoodbye to All That
It's on both the Modern Library and Guardian lists of the best nonfiction of all time.
- 16
The Sun Also Rises69.9Must-Read ScoreThe Sun Also Rises
It's on the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels and was voted onto PBS's Great American Read.
- 17
Ulysses69.7Must-Read ScoreUlysses
It's on the Modern Library and Bokklubben lists of the greatest books and was voted onto the BBC's Big Read.
- 18
To the Lighthouse69.2Must-Read ScoreTo the Lighthouse
It's on the TIME, Modern Library and Bokklubben lists of the greatest novels.
- 19
One of Ours68.6Must-Read ScoreOne of Ours
It won the Pulitzer Prize.
- 20
The Trial68.1Must-Read ScoreThe Trial
It's on the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books and Le Monde's list of the books of the century.
- 21
The Maltese Falcon68.1Must-Read ScoreThe Maltese Falcon
It's on the Modern Library list of the best novels and is one of the founding books of hard-boiled crime.
- 22
Mrs. Dalloway67.8Must-Read ScoreMrs. Dalloway
It's on TIME's list of the 100 best novels and the Bokklubben list of the greatest books.
- 23
Red Harvest66.7Must-Read ScoreRed Harvest
It's on TIME's list of the 100 best novels and is one of the founding books of hard-boiled crime.
- 24
A Passage to India65.8Must-Read ScoreA Passage to India
It's on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels.
- 25Berlin Alexanderplatz65.3Must-Read Score
Berlin Alexanderplatz
It's in the Bokklubben World Library of the 100 greatest books and is one of the great modernist novels.