The 25 best books of the 1950s
The 25 highest-ranked books first published in the 1950s in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 75 books of the 1950s in all. How we rank
- 1
The Lord of the Rings89.9Must-Read ScoreThe Lord of the Rings
In the quiet Shire, the hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits a plain gold ring from his uncle Bilbo, and learns it's the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron to rule all the others.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 NovelsPBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 2
Notes of a Native Son88.6Must-Read ScoreNotes of a Native Son
James Baldwin's first collection of essays, written when he was in his twenties, covers his childhood in Harlem, his complicated relationship with his stern preacher father, the experience of being Black in America and in Paris, and the art and protest novels of his time.
Why it made the listModern Library 100 Best NonfictionTIME All-TIME 100 NonfictionGuardian 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time - 3
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe87.6Must-Read ScoreThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Sent to a professor's country house to escape the bombing of London, four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, discover a wardrobe that leads to Narnia, a magical land frozen in endless winter by the White Witch.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 NovelsPBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 4
The Caine Mutiny86.4Must-Read ScoreThe Caine Mutiny
Willie Keith is a privileged, aimless young man from Princeton who joins the Navy in World War II and is assigned to the USS Caine, a battered old minesweeper in the Pacific.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (1952)#1 New York Times bestseller (48 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1951 and 1952 (Publishers Weekly) - 5
East of Eden86.3Must-Read ScoreEast of Eden
In California's Salinas Valley, from the Civil War to World War I, Steinbeck follows two families: his own ancestors, the large, warm Hamilton clan led by the inventive Samuel, and the troubled Trasks.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (11 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1952 (Publishers Weekly)BBC's The Big Read - 6
Foundation83.9Must-Read ScoreFoundation
The Galactic Empire has ruled for twelve thousand years, and only one man knows it's dying.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (1983, for Foundation's Edge)Nebula Award finalist (1982, for Foundation's Edge)PBS Great American Read - 782.1Must-Read Score
The Story of Art - 8
Exodus82.0Must-Read ScoreExodus
In 1947, Kitty Fremont, an American nurse widowed by the war, is in Cyprus when she meets Ari Ben Canaan, a commander in the Jewish underground.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (20 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1959 (Publishers Weekly) - 9
From Here to Eternity81.3Must-Read ScoreFrom Here to Eternity
In 1941, Private Robert E.
Why it made the listNational Book Award (Fiction) winner (1952)#1 New York Times bestseller (20 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1951 and 1953 (Publishers Weekly)Modern Library 100 Best Novels - 10
Charlotte's Web80.9Must-Read ScoreCharlotte's Web
Wilbur is the runt of a litter of pigs, saved from slaughter by a girl named Fern.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 50 million copies)PBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 11
The Recognitions78.9Must-Read ScoreThe Recognitions
Wyatt Gwyon, the son of a New England minister, wants to be a painter, but finds the art world only values the past.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 Novels - 12
Advise and Consent.78.5Must-Read ScoreAdvise and Consent.
The president nominates Robert Leffingwell, a brilliant but divisive liberal, to be Secretary of State, and the Senate must decide whether to confirm him.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (1960)#1 New York Times bestseller (28 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1959 and 1960 (Publishers Weekly) - 13
Go Tell It on the Mountain77.9Must-Read ScoreGo Tell It on the Mountain
It's John Grimes's fourteenth birthday in Harlem in 1935.
Why it made the listTIME All-TIME 100 NovelsModern Library 100 Best Novels - 14
Memoirs of Hadrian77.5Must-Read ScoreMemoirs of Hadrian
Near the end of his life, the Roman emperor Hadrian writes a long letter to the young man who will one day become Marcus Aurelius.
Why it made the listBokklubben World Library (100 greatest books) - 15
Lolita77.3Must-Read ScoreLolita
Humbert Humbert, a European scholar living in New England, becomes obsessed with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 50 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (7 weeks at #1)TIME All-TIME 100 NovelsModern Library 100 Best Novels - 16
Invisible Man76.5Must-Read ScoreInvisible Man
An unnamed Black man tells his story from a hidden underground room lit by hundreds of stolen light bulbs.
Why it made the listNational Book Award (Fiction) winner (1953)TIME All-TIME 100 NovelsModern Library 100 Best NovelsBokklubben World Library (100 greatest books) - 17
The Long Goodbye76.1Must-Read ScoreThe Long Goodbye
Private eye Philip Marlowe befriends Terry Lennox, a scarred, down-on-his-luck war veteran married to a very wealthy woman.
Why it made the listEdgar Award winner (1955) - 18
Gift From the Sea75.8Must-Read ScoreGift From the Sea
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, writer, aviator and wife of Charles Lindbergh, took a short vacation alone on a Florida island in the early 1950s.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (46 weeks at #1) - 19
Kon-Tiki75.7Must-Read ScoreKon-Tiki
Biologist Thor Heyerdahl believed the South Sea islands had been settled by people sailing from South America.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 20 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (34 weeks at #1) - 20
Giovanni's Room75.5Must-Read ScoreGiovanni's Room
In 1950s Paris, David, a young American, waits for his fiancée to return from Spain.
- 21
A Night to Remember75.2Must-Read ScoreA Night to Remember
In two hours and forty minutes on the night of April 14, 1912, the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic and more than 1,500 people died.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1) - 22
Night74.9Must-Read ScoreNight
As a teenager, Elie Wiesel was deported with his family from their town in Romania to Auschwitz and then Buchenwald.
- 23
Sweet Thursday74.8Must-Read ScoreSweet Thursday
In Monterey, Sweet Thursday is the day after Lousy Wednesday.
Why it made the listOne of the ten best-selling books of 1954 (Publishers Weekly) - 24
A Man Called Peter73.8Must-Read ScoreA Man Called Peter
Catherine Marshall tells the life of her husband, Peter Marshall, who came to America from Scotland as a young man with almost nothing, felt called to the ministry, and became one of the most popular preachers in the country and Chaplain of the United States Senate, before his sudden death at forty-six.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (5 weeks at #1) - 25
The Catcher in the Rye73.5Must-Read ScoreThe Catcher in the Rye
Sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield has just been kicked out of his prep school, again.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 65 million copies)TIME All-TIME 100 NovelsModern Library 100 Best NovelsPBS Great American Read
