Recs if you like The Rainbow...

Based on the list/book published in 2006, general editor Peter Boxall.

Inspired to create a list by a post from @mmyth, I thought it would be nice to have a list of quest books you can download and read for free via Internet Archive. Recommendations gladly accepted. Happy reading ya'll!

(Please note this will ONLY contain books found through Internet Archive and no other sources, I don't want to run into possible mistakes and copyright headaches.)

Update: This list will also include books you can borrow through Open Library, a part of Internet Archive. In addition, this will only show English-language availability.

A list published by The Guardian on 5/16/2026, as voted on by authors, critics, and academics worldwide.

The Guardian Top 100 Best Novels

Found this online - a reading list of a first year English course at Oxford University. Wanted to create this for my own enjoyment and figured someone else might like it too! I only added the fiction and poetry books and I also did not add any companions.

The last bit (from bottom up to Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway) are required reading - top half is recommended.

Books that were featured on an episode of Backlisted.

In May 2026 the Guardian published a list of the 100 greatest novels published in English of all time. The list was created based on votes from authors, critics, and academics.

Due to an error, the list originally included The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley instead of The Stranger by Albert Camus. Both are included here, as an unofficial 101 best novels

classic novels where the depiction of rural, pastoral England is a notable feature

here we go round the prickly pear

books i've read during my major or just give english major vibes