Books that had Impact -- Non-Fiction

See the fiction list for an introduction: 

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams (autobiography, classic)

Adamson, Joy. Born Free (nature/Africa, best seller)

Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon (feminist, New Age, religious, controversial)

Agee, James and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (classic, controversial/economic)

Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted Courage (U. S. history/Lewis and Clark expedition, best seller)

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (autobiography, ethnic nonfiction, feminist nonfiction)

Augustine, St. Confessions (religion, classic)

Baur, Susan. The Dinosaur Man (a psychologist's insights into her patients' schizophrenia)

Benson, Herbert. The Relaxation Response (self help/medicine, best seller)

Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (best seller, Southern regional)

Berne, Eric. Games People Play (self help/popular psychology, best seller)

Bernstein, Carl. All the President's Men (social sciences,      history/U.S.‑‑Watergate, best seller)

   

The Bhagad‑gita (religion, sacred text/Hindu)

The Bible (religion, sacred text/Christian)

Bly, Robert.  Iron John (self help/male psychology)

Bolles, Richard.  What Color is Your Parachute? (self help/career choices, best seller; a new edition each year to help with job hunts)

The Book of Mormon (religion, sacred text/Mormon)

Boston Women's Health Book Collective. Our Bodies, Our Selves (medicine, controversial/feminist)

Botkin, B. A. Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery  (African-American history; autobiography)

Bramson, Robert M. Coping with Difficult People. (self help, classic)

Brown, Claude. Manchild in the Promised Land (ethnic nonfiction/African American, autobiography, controversial/racial issues)

Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (ethnic nonfiction/Native American, controversial/ U.S. revisionist history)

Brown, Helen Gurley. Sex and the Single Girl (feminist, best seller, controversial)

Butler, Dorothy. Cushla and Her Books. (a classic among those who work with children with developmental disabilities)

Butler, Robert N. Why Survive? Being Old in America (social sciences/aging)

Carnegie, Dale. How to Win Friends and Influence People (self

     help, best seller, classic)

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring (nature, science, best seller, classic)

Castaneda, Carlos. The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (controversial/drug culture, religious)

Cayce, Edgar. Psychic Development (controversial/occult)

Cleaver, Eldridge. Soul on Ice (ethnic nonfiction/African American, controversial/racial issues)

Comfort, Alex. Joy of Sex (self help, best seller, controversial/erotic)

Confuscius. Sayings (ethnic nonfiction/Chinese, classic)

Cousins, Norman. Anatomy of an Illness (self help, medicine)

Crawford, Christina.  Mommie Dearest (autobiography,

     controversial/social issues, best seller)

Daniken, Eric von. Chariots of the Gods (controversial/occult)

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species (science/evolution, classic)

Davis, Adele. Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit (self help, controversial/nutrition)

Day, Clarence. Life with Father (biography, best seller, humor)

DeBecker, Gavin. The Gift of Fear (best seller, self help, psychology)

De Kruif, Paul. Microbe Hunters (biography, science)

Delany, Sarah and A. Elizabeth Delany. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First Hundred Years (autobiography; ethnic nonfiction/African American, older adults, best seller)

Deloria, Vine. Custer Died for Your Sins (ethnic nonfiction/Native Americans, controversial/U.S. revisionist history)

Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord (fetal alcohol syndrome, ethnic      nonfiction/Native Americans)

Dubois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk (ethnic nonfiction/African American, classic)

Dufty, William.  Sugar Blues (controversial/nutrition)

Durant, William James. The Story of Philosophy (best seller,

     philosophy)

Dyer, Wayne.  Your Erroneous Zones (self help, best seller)

Einstein, Albert. The Theory of Relativity (science, classic)

Eisler, Riane. The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future (feminist, religion, social issues)

Erlich, Paul. The Population Bomb (controversial/social issues,  best seller)

Estes, Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run with the Wolves (feminist;      mythology/folklore)

Ferguson, Marilyn. The Aquarian Conspiracy (New Age)

FitzGerald, Frances. Fire in the Lake (history/Vietnam, ethnic      nonfiction/Vietnamese)

Frank, Anne. Diary of a Young Girl (autobiography, ethnic nonfiction/Holocaust, controversial/coming of age, best seller; this one has been censored‑‑even by Anne's father before its publication). NOTE: an unexpurgated version was published recently.

Frankl, Victor.  Man's Search for Meaning (self help, best seller)

Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

     (autobiography, classic)

Freud, Sigmund. The Meaning of Dreams (psychology, classic)

Friedan, Betty. Feminine Mystique (feminism, best seller)

Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving (psychology, self help)

Fulghum, Robert.  Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (humor, best seller)

Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (social science, classic)

Gilbreth, Frank.  Cheaper by the Dozen (biography, humor)

Gilgamesh. (ancient Sumerian epic)

Ginott, Haim G. Between Parent and Child (parenting, best seller)

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science (science/fractals for the general public)

Haley, Alex. Roots (best seller, ethnic nonfiction/African American)

Hammarskjold, Dag. Markings (philosophy, religion, best seller)

Harris, Thomas A.  I'm OK, You're OK  (self help/popular psychology, best seller)

Hawking, Stephen W. A Brief History of Time (science/relativity, quantum physics, best seller)

Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers (biography, social sciences)

Herriot, James.  All Creatures Great and Small (autobiography,

     nature, best seller)

Hersey, John. Hiroshima (history/WWII)

Heyerdahl, Thor. Kon‑Tiki (travel, adventure, best seller)

Hirsch, Kathleen.  Songs from the Alley (social sciences/ homeless)

Hitler, Adolph. Mein Kampf (politics/Naziism, controversial, classic)

Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer (philosophy, classic)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell.  Autocrat at the Breakfast Table (essays)

Holt, John C. How Children Fail (education, best seller)

Hubbard, L. Ron.  Dianetics (religion, the "bible" of  Scientology)

Hurston, Zora Neale. Dust Tracks on a Road (autobiography; ethnic nonfiction/ African American)

I Ching: Book of Changes (religion/Tao, classic)

Jackson, Carole.  Color Me Beautiful (self help, best seller)

Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (ethnic nonfiction/African American, autobiography)

Jones, Ron. The Acorn People (summer camp for children with disabilities, classic)

Jung, C. G.  Memories, Dreams, Reflections (autobiography, psychology, classic)

Keller, Helen. Story of My Life (autobiography, best seller, classic)

The Koran (religion, sacred text/Islam)

Kingston, Maxine Hong.  The Woman Warrior (autobiography,

     ethnic nonfiction/Chinese, feminist)

Kinsey, Alfred C. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (sociology,

     best seller, controversial/sexual issues)

Kubler‑Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying (sociology, self help,

     best seller)

Kushner, Harold S. When Bad Things Happen to Good People  (religion, best seller)

Lao Tzu. Tao De Ching (religion, sacred text/Tao)

Lappe, Frances. Diet for a Small Planet (nature, ecology, controversial/life style)

Lederer, William and Burdick, Eugene.  The Ugly American

     (controversial/social issues, best seller)

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac (nature, ecology, classic)

LeVey, Anton.  The Satanic Bible (controversial/occult)

Lewis, C. S. The Screwtape Letters (religion, satire)

Lin, Yu Tang. The Importance of Living (autobiography)

Lindberg, Anne Murrow. Gift from the Sea (philosophy, essays, classic)

Lindberg, Charles. The Spirit of St. Louis (autobiography, best seller)

Lindsay, Hal.  The Late Great Planet Earth (controversial/religion)

Longstreet, Augustus. Georgia Scenes, Characters, and Incidents, etc. (social life, history/Georgia‑19th century)

McCaulley, David.  The Way Things Work (technology)

MacDonald, Betty.  The Egg and I (regional/Pacific Northwest, best

     seller, humor, Ma and Pa Kettle were introduced in this one; this book was not controversial in its day, but today it would be "controversial/racist‑‑Native Americans)

Mace, Nancy L. and Rabins, Peter V.  The Thirty‑Six Hour Day (self help, medicine, Alzheimer's disease)

Machiavelli, Niccolo.  The Prince (politics, classic)

MacLaine, Shirley.  Out on a Limb (controversial/New Age, autobiography)

Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi.  Transcendental Meditation (controversial/religion, New Age, best seller)

Malcolm X.  Autobiography of Malcolm X (autobiography,

     ethnic nonfiction/African American)

Marshall, Catherine.  A Man Called Peter (biography, religion,

     best seller)

Marx, Karl. Das Kapital (politics/Communism, controversial, classic)

Matthiessen, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (controversial, ethnic nonfiction/Native American)

Mill, John Stuart.  On Liberty (philosophy, politics)

Morgan, Maribel. The Total Woman (feminist/anti‑feminist, controversial, best seller)

Naisbett, John.  Megatrends (social sciences, futurist, best seller)

Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks (ethnic nonfiction/Native

     American)

Northrup, Christiane. Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (feminist, self help, New Age)

Ousler, Fulton. The Greatest Story Ever Told (religion/life of Christ, best seller, classic)

Paine, Thomas.  Common Sense (political science, classic)

Paulus, Trina. Hope for the Flowers (a parable about caterpillars, New Age)

Peale, Norman Vincent.  The Power of Positive Thinking (self

     help, best seller, classic)

Pearson, Durk. Life Extension (self help, controversial/health. best seller)

Peck, M. Scott.  The Road Less Traveled (self help/popular psychology, best seller)

Peter, Laurence J. Peter Principle (business, satire, best

     seller)

Peters, Tom. In Search of Excellence. (best seller; business)

Philbrick, Herbert Arthur.  I Led Three Lives (autobiography, adventure, best seller; Philbrick was a triple spy during the Cold War)

Piaget, Jean.  Judgment and Reasoning in the Child (child

     psychology, classic)

Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia (psychology, feminist)

Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maitenance (classic, philosophy)

Pyle, Ernie.  Brave Men (history/WWII)

Reuben, David. EverythingYou Always Wanted to Know About

     Sex (controversial/sexual issues, best seller)

Rilke, Rainier Marie.  Letters to a Young Poet (classic)

Rogers, Carl. On Being a Person (self help)

Rogers, Dale Evans. Angel Unaware (religion, best seller)

Roosevelt, Eleanor.  This I Remember (autobiography)

Sacks, Oliver. The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat (medicine, best seller)

Sagan, Carl.  Dragons of Eden (science, controversial/evolution)

Sandburg, Carl.  Abe Lincoln (biography, history, a series)

Sanford, Agnes Mary.  The Healing Light (religion/healing with hands, classic)

Schaeffer, Francis. How Shall We Then Live? (religion/Christian)

Schell, Jonathan.  The Fate of the Earth (controversial/futurist)

Schumacher, Ernest Frederich, Small is Beautiful (controversial/economics)

Shapiro, Joseph P. No Pity (history of the disability rights movement)

Sheehy, Gail. Passages (self help, best seller)

Shilts, Randy. And the Band Played On (controversial/AIDS)

Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (history/Germany‑‑early 20th century)

Siegel, Bernie S.  Peace, Love & Healing:  Bodymind Communication and the Path to Self‑Healing: An Exploration (self help, controversial/medicine)

Skinner, B. F.  Beyond Freedom and Dignity (psychology, classic)

Skinner, Cornelia Otis.  Our Hearts Were Young and Gay  (autobiography, humor)

Smith, Adam. Wealth of Nations (economics, classic)

Spiegelman, Art. Maus I and Maus II (ethnic/Jewish/Holocaust, comic book format)

Spock, Benjamin. Baby and Child Care (self help/parenting,

     classic, best seller; this one nearly outsells the Bible)

Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand: Men and Women in      Conversation. (best seller, self‑help)

Thigpen, Corbett H. Three Faces of Eve (psychology, best seller; "Eve" has written her own story in I'm Eve)

Thomas, Lewis, The Lives of a Cell (biology, essays)

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden (nature, classic)

Toffler, Alvin.  Future Shock (futurism, best seller)

Velikovsky, Immanuel.  Worlds in Collision  (controversial/science)

Villasenor, Victor. Rain of gold (ethnic nonfiction/Mexican American, "The Mexican‑American's Roots")

Watson, James.  The Double Helix (science/DNA, classic)

West, Thomas G. In the Mind's Eye (science/brain, special talents for visual thinking)

Wolfe, Tom.  The Electric Kool‑Aid Acid Test (controversial/drug culture of the '60s, best seller)

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. (feminist nonfiction, classic, late 18th century)

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States (ethnic, revisionist U.S. history, controversial)

Books That Had Impact -- Fiction

     When I was teaching, this was my one small step toward making my students' "culturally literate" in the field of popular reading. You may enjoy checking your knowledge. How many titles do you recognize? How many have you read? Have you read other titles by the authors? Some are considered children's books. Have you read them as an adult?

     This is not a "best books" list. The books are (or have been) popular with readers. Some are critically acclaimed; others are panned by the critics but loved by readers. Some were very popular in their time but are rarely read today; others have "stood the test of time." Some are little known among the general public but virtually cult classics within certain groups. Some have acquired a reputation from their movie version that is quite different from the book itself. I've included some notes about the books that you may find useful, and I added a few recent titles (as of the early 2000s) that may qualify to stay on the list in the future. Have I missed any you think I should add? What should be added post 2000?

     

     The books are listed alphabetically by author because they overlap categories.

NOTE: I HAVE NOT READ ALL OF THESE!

FICTION

Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (science fiction, 

     classic)

                     

Adams, Douglas. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (science  

     fiction, humor/satire, best seller, first of a series)

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. (classic Chicano fiction)

Asimov, Isaac. Foundation  (science fiction, first of a series)

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. (science fiction, feminist)

Auel, Jean.  The Clan of the Cave Bear (historical fiction/early humans, best seller, first of a series)

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice (romance, classic)

Bach, Richard. Jonathan Livingston Seagull (best seller)

Bantock, Nick. Griffen & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence  (a

multimedia novel; first of a series)

Barker, Clive.  The Great and Secret Show: The First Book of the Art (horror, best seller)

Bellamy, Edward. Looking Backward (science fiction)

Bird, Robert Montgomery. Nick of the Woods  (folklore/U.S.)

Bradbury, Ray.  The Martian Chronicles (science fiction)

Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon. (the Arthurian legend from the

women's point of view)

Brautigan, Richard. Trout Fishing in America (contemporary   

     quality fiction; controversial)

Bronte, Charlotte.  Jane Eyre (romance, classic)

Brown, Christy. Down All the Days (the autobiographical novel on which the

movie My Left Foot was based; classic)

Brown, Rita Mae. Rubyfruit Jungle (controversial/lesbian)

Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth (ethnic fiction/China, best seller)

Bunyan, John.  Pilgrim's Progress (religion, classic)

Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange (fantasy, controversial)

Burns, Olive Ann. Cold Sassy Tree (Southern regional fiction)

Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Tarzan of the Apes (science fiction, best

     seller, first of a series)

Caldwell, Erskine. Tobacco Road (Southern regional fiction, best

     seller, controversial/"earthy")

Caldwell, Taylor. Dear and Glorious Physician (religion, historical fiction/St. Luke)

Callenbach, Ernest.  Ectopia (science fiction; ecology)

Camus, Albert. The Stranger (foreign literature in translation/French, classic)

Capote, Truman.  In Cold Blood (best seller, thriller)

Carroll, Lewis.  Alice in Wonderland (fantasy, classic)

Cather, Willa.  My Antonia (Midwestern regional fiction, classic)

Cervantes. Don Quixote (foreign literature in translation/Spanish, classic)

Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales (classic; short stories)

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening (feminist, classic, controversial)

Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone (detective/adventure, classic)

Connelly, Marcus Cook. Green Pastures (ethnic fiction/African American)

Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim (adventure, classic)

Conroy, Pat. The Great Santini (Southern regional)

Cooper, James Fennimore. The Deerslayer (historical fiction/U.S‑‑Colonial period, classic)

Costain, Thomas B. The Silver Chalice (historical fiction/Early Christianity, religion, best seller)

Crane, Stephen. Red Badge of Courage (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑War Between the States, classic)

Cronin, A.J.  The Keys of the Kingdom (religion, best seller)

Dante. The Inferno (religion, classic, foreign literature in translation/Italian)

Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe (adventure, classic)

Deloria, Ella Cara. Waterlily (Native American, historical fiction)

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist (historical fiction/Victorian England, classic)

Dickey, James. Deliverance (Contemporary quality fiction, Southern regional fiction, best seller)

Dideon, Joan. A Book of Common Prayer (contemporary quality fiction)

Dixon, Thomas, Jr. The Clansman (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑ Reconstruction period, controversial/racist; the early movie Birth of a Nation was based on this one)

Doctorow, E. L. The Book of Daniel (contemporary quality fiction)

Dorris, Michael. A Raft on Yellow Water (contemporary quality fiction, ethnic fiction/Native American)

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment (foreign literature in   translation/Russian, classic)

Douglas, Lloyd C. The Robe (historical fiction/Early Christianity, religion, best seller)

Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

     (detective/adventure, classic, short stories)

Dreiser, Theodore. An American Tragedy (controversial/social issues, classic)

Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers (foreign literature in

     translation/French, adventure, classic)

DuMaurier, Daphne. Rebecca (gothic romance, classic)

Edmunds, Walter D. Drums Along the Mohawk (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑Colonial Period)

Eliot, George. Mill on the Floss (romance, classic)

Ellison, Ralph.  The Invisible Man (ethnic fiction/African American, classic)

Erdrich, Louise. The Beet Queen (contemporary quality fiction, ethnic fiction/Native American)

Farina, Richard. Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (controversial/life style)

Faulkner, William. Sanctuary (Southern regional fiction,classic)

Ferber, Edna. Saratoga Trunk (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑Frontier, best seller)

Fielding, Henry. Tom Jones (classic, controversial/bawdy)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby (contemporary quality

     fiction, classic)

Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary (foreign literature in

     translation/French, classic)

Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant's Woman (contemporary

     quality fiction, best seller)

Fox, John, Jr. Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Southern regional

     fiction, best seller; a popular author at the turn of the century)

Fox, William Price. Southern Fried (Southern regional fiction,

     short stories, humor/satire; many of these stories are set in and around Columbia)

Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon (science fiction)

Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain  (historical fiction; Southern regional fiction; contemporary quality fiction; best seller)

Gaarder, Jostein, Sophie’s World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy (contemporary quality fiction)

Galsworthy, John. Forsyte Saga (historical fiction‑‑Family saga, a series)

Gardner, John Champlin. October Light (contemporary quality fiction)

Gibran, Kahlil.  The Prophet (poetry, best seller)

Goines, Donald. Crime Partners (or any other of his titles. Classics of the Black Experience genre; detective/adventure; controversial)

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies (contemporary quality

     fiction, controversial/nature of man)

Grey, Zane. Riders of the Purple Sage (Western/Mormons/frontier, historical fiction, best seller)

Grimm's Folk Tales (folklore/Europe, foreign language in translation/German, short stories, classic; be sure you're reading a complete, unexpurgated version of one of the Grimm brothers' publications.)

Guest, Judith. Ordinary People (contemporary quality fiction)

Haggard, H. Rider. King Solomon's Mines (adventure, best seller)

Hale, Edward Everett. The Man Without a Country (historical

     fiction/U.S.‑‑Revolutionary Period, best seller)

Hammett, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon (detective/mystery, classic)

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D'Urbervilles (romance, classic)

Harris, Thomas.  The Silence of the Lambs (thriller, bestseller)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑Colonial Period, classic)

Heinlein, Robert. Stranger in a Strange Land (science fiction)

Heller, Joseph.  Catch 22 (contemporary quality fiction, humor/satire)

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms (historical fiction/Spanish Civil War, classic, contemporary quality fiction)

Henry, O. The Four Million (short stories, best seller)

Herbert, Frank. Dune (science fiction, first of a series)

Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha (foreign literature in translation/German, religion/Buddhism)

Hijuelos, Oscar.  The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (ethnic fiction/Cubans in Spanish Harlem)

Hillerman, Tony.  Talking God (mystery/detective, ethnic fiction/Native Americans, best seller)

Hilton, James. Lost Horizon (fantasy, best seller)

Hobson, Laura. Gentleman's Agreement (ethnic fiction/Jewish,

     best seller, controversial/anti‑Semitic)

Hough, Emerson. The Covered Wagon (historical fiction, U.S.‑‑Westward movement)

Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (foreign literature in

     translation/French, classic)

Hull, Edith Maude. The Sheik (adventure, romance, best seller)

Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World (science fiction, classic)

Hyman, Mac. No Time for Sergeants (humor)

Iceberg Slim. Death Wish (or any of his other titles. Classics of the Black Experience genre; detective/adventure; controversial)

Irving, John. The World According to Garp (contemporary quality

     fiction, satire)

Jackson, Helen Hunt. Ramona (romance, historical fiction/Early California, ethnic fiction/Native Americans, best seller)

James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady (contemporary quality

     fiction, classic)

Jones, James. From Here to Eternity (historical fiction/WWII)

Jong, Erica. Fear of Flying (feminist fiction, best seller,

     controversial/feminist)

Joyce, James. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

     (controversial/vulgarity, classic)

Kafka, Franz. The Trial (foreign literature in translation/German, classic)

Kantor, MacKinlay. Andersonville (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑War Between the States)

Karon, Jan. At Home in Mitford (best seller, first of a series of "homey" novels about

small town life)

Keilor, Garrison. Lake Wobegon Days (humor, best seller)

Kennedy, William.  Ironweed (contemporary quality fiction)

Kerouac, Jack. On the Road (classic, controversial/life style, Beat Generation)

Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (contemporary

     quality fiction)

King, Stephen. Carrie (horror, best seller)

Kipling, Rudyard. Kim (historical fiction/India under British rule, classic)

L'Amour, Louis. Daybreakers (Western, best seller, first book published in the Sackett series; two books which were historical fiction, not westerns, were about earlier Sacketts but were written later)    

Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterly's Lover (contemporary quality

     fiction, controversial/erotic)

Le Carre, John. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (thriller,

     best seller)

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird (Southern regional, classic,

     controversial/racial issues)

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt (classic, controversial/social issues)

Li Yu.  The Carnal Prayer Mat  (foreign literature in translation/Chinese, controversial/erotic, written in 1657)

London, Jack. Call of the Wild (adventure, classic)

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Song of Hiawatha (poetry,

     classic)

Martz, Sandra Haldeman, ed. When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple. (collection of writing by and about older women)

McCullers, Carson. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Southern regional fiction)

McInerney, Jay.  Bright Lights, Big City (contemporary quality

     fiction, the Yuppie generation)

McMurtry, Larry.  Lonesome Dove (historical fiction/U.S. frontier, contemporary quality fiction, best seller)

Mailer, Norman. The Naked and the Dead (historical fiction,

     contemporary quality fiction)

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. One Hundred Years of Solitude (foreign

     literature in translation/Spanish)

Marquis, Don. Archy and Mehitabel (poetry, humor, best seller)

Maugham, W. Somerset. Of Human Bondage (classic)

Maupin, Armistead. Tales of the City. (first of a series; contempory life in San Francisco; contemporary quality fiction; controversial/gay lesbian)

Maxton, Graham Joyce. Mrs. Miniver (historical fiction/WWII, best seller)

Melville, Herman. Moby Dick (adventure, classic)

Metalious, Grace. Peyton Place (best seller, controversial/erotic)

Miller, Arthur. The Death of a Salesman (drama, classic,

     controversial/social issues)

Miller, Henry. Tropic of Cancer (controversial/erotic)

Miller, Walter M., Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz (science fiction)

Milton, John. Paradise Lost (poetry, religion, classic)

Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind (Southern regional fiction, historical fiction/U.S.‑‑War Between the States, best seller)

Morrison, Toni. Beloved (ethnic fiction/African American, contemporary quality fiction)

Nabikov, Vladimir. Lolita (classic, foreign literature in

     translation/Russian, controversial/erotic)

Nguyen Du. Kim Van Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) (ethnic fiction/Vietnamese, classic)

Nordhoff, Charles. Mutiny on the Bountry (adventure, classic,

     historical fiction/high seas‑‑18th century)

Norris, Francis. The Pit (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑19th century, controversial/ social issues, classic)

Oates, Joyce Carol. Them (contemporary quality fiction)

O'Connor, Flannery. Wise Blood (Southern regional fiction,

     religion/Roman Catholic, contemporary quality fiction)

O'Neil, Eugene. Desire Under the Elms (drama, classic,

     controversial/erotic)

Orwell, George. Animal Farm (humor/satire, classic)

Orwell, George. l984 (science fiction, classic)

Pasternak, Boris. Dr. Zhivago (foreign literature in translation/Russia, historical fiction, classic)

Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country (ethnic fiction/South Africa, classic)

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar (feminist, controversial)

Poe, Edgar Allan.  The Murders in the Rue Morgue (classic,

     mystery/detective)

Porter, Gene Stratton. Girl of the Limberlost (best seller, a popular author from the turn of the century)

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather (controversial/violence, best

     seller)

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit (New Age; environmental)

Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead (classic)

Redfield, James. The Celestine Prophesy :An Adventure (New Age)

Renault, Mary. Bull from the Sea (historical fiction/ancient Greece, classic)

Robbins, Tom. Still Life with Woodpecker (contemporary quality

     fiction, controversial/lifestyle)

Roberts, Kenneth. Oliver Wiswell (historical fiction/U.S.‑‑ Revolution)

Rolvaag, Ole Edvart. Giants in the Earth (ethnic fiction/Norwegian settlers on the Great Plains, historical fiction)

Rossner, Judith.  Looking for Mr. Goodbar (best seller, thriller)

Rushdie, Salman.  The Satanic Verses (foreign literature in

     translation/Farsi, controversial/religious)

Sabatini, Rafael. Captain Blood (adventure, best seller)

Saint Expery, Antoine de. The Little Prince (classic, fantasy)

Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye (contemporary quality fiction,

     controversial/vulgarity)

Sapphire. Push (Ethnic/African-American, controversial/vulgarity, lifestyle)

Sartre, Jean‑Paul. No Exit (existentialist drama)

Schaar, Michael. The Killer Angels (historical fiction/Battle of Gettysburg)

Scott, Sir Walter.  Ivanhoe (historical fiction/England, classic)

Segal, Eric. Love Story (romance, best seller)

Service, Robert.  Songs of a Sourdough (poetry, ethnic fiction/Yukon, best seller)

Sheldon, Charles Monroe. In His Steps (religion, probably the best selling Christian book after the Bible, classic)

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein (classic, science fiction, horror)

Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree (a parable of a boy and a tree; classic)

Smith, Betty.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (best seller)

Solzhenitsyn, Alexandr.  A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch

     (foreign literature in translation/Russian)

Steinbeck, John. Grapes of Wrath (historical fiction/the Great Depression, classic, controversial/social issues)

Stevenson, Robert Louis.  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and

   Mr. Hyde (science fiction, classic)

Stoker, Bram. Dracula (horror, classic)

Stone, Irving. The President's Lady (historical fiction/Mrs. Andrew Jackson)

Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin (best seller, controversial/racial issues)

Straub, Peter. Ghost Story (horror, best seller)

Styron, William. Sophie's Choice (contemporary quality fiction)

Susann, Jacqueline. Valley of the Dolls (best seller,

     controversial/lifestyle)

Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels (fantasy, classic)

Tan, Amy.  The Joy Luck Club (ethnic fiction/Chinese, best seller)

Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair (classic)

Tolkein, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring (fantasy, best seller, first of a series)

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace (historical fiction/Russian‑‑ Napoleonic Wars, foreign literature in translation/Russian, classic)

Toole, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces (Southern regional fiction, contemporary quality fiction, satire)

Twain, Mark. Huckleberry Finn (controversial/racial, classic)

Updike, John. Rabbit Run (contemporary quality fiction, first of a series)

Uris, Leon. Exodus (ethnic/Zionist, historical fiction/Israel, contemporary quality fiction)

Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (science

     fiction, adventure, classic)

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five (contemporary quality fiction,

     controversial/social issues, erotic)

Walker, Alice. The Color Purple (ethnic fiction/African American,

     contemporary quality fiction)

Wallace, Lew. Ben Hur (historical fiction/Bible times, religion, best seller)

Waller, Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County (best seller; romance)

Ward, Mary Jane. The Snake Pit (best seller, exposed conditions in mental hospitals)

Waugh, Evelyn. The Loved One (contemporary quality fiction, classic, satire)

Wells, H.G. War of the Worlds (science fiction, classic)

West, Nathaniel.  The Day of the Locust (contemporary quality fiction)

Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome (classic)

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass (poetry, classic, controversial/erotic)

Williams, Kit. Masquerade (detective, best seller, the clues to a treasure were in this book)

Williams, Tennessee. Streetcar Named Desire (drama, classic)

Winsor, Kathleen. Forever Amber (historical fiction/England‑‑17th century, best seller; controversial in its day because it was considered erotic)

Wister, Owen. The Virginian (Western, best seller)

Wolfe, Thomas. Look Homeward Angel (Southern regional fiction,      contemporary quality fiction, classic)

Wouk, Herman. The Caine Mutiny (adventure, best seller)

Wright, Harold Bell. Shepherd of the Hills (best seller,

     ethnic fiction/Ozarks; a popular author at the turn of the century)

Wright, Richard, Native Son  (ethnic fiction/African American)

Wu Ch'eng‑en. Monkey: A Journey to the West (16th century Chinese classic; epic; social satire.)