Most Popular Mainstream Books of the 20th century

Discover popular Mainstream books from the 20th century, with reader ratings and new favorites to explore.

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Books in this list

The Egyptian

Mika Waltari

Translation · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

1949

8.5/10 61 ratings

The Name of the Rose

Umberto Eco

Crime Fiction · Historical Fiction · Mainstream · Mystery · Thriller

1983

8.3/10 82 ratings

The Eight #1

The Eight

Katherine Neville

Historical Fiction · Mainstream · Mystery · Thriller

December 27, 1988

7.6/10 42 ratings

Misery

Stephen King

Horror · Psychological Horror · Bram Stoker Award · Movie · Mainstream

1987

7.6/10 112 ratings

Walking on Glass

Iain M. Banks

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1985

7.3/10 29 ratings

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Horror · Mainstream

1954

7.2/10 200 ratings

Digital Fortress

Dan Brown

Mainstream · Thriller

1998

7.0/10 44 ratings

Tarzan #3

The Beasts of Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Mainstream

1916

6.6/10 45 ratings

Tarzan #4

The Son of Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Mainstream

1917

6.5/10 40 ratings

Tarzan #6

Jungle Tales of Tarzan

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Short Stories · Mainstream

1919

6.3/10 30 ratings

Endangered Species

Gene Wolfe

Fantasy · Horror · Science Fiction · Short Stories · Mainstream

1989

10.0/10 1 ratings

Traveller

Richard Adams

Fantasy · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

July 1988

10.0/10 1 ratings

Cry to Heaven

Anne Rice

Mainstream

1982

10.0/10 1 ratings

Disco Hustle

John M. Faucette

Mainstream

1976

No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories

Gabriel García Márquez

Short Stories · Translation · Mainstream

1961

10.0/10 1 ratings

Janine is French

Lloyd Alexander

Mainstream

1960

10.0/10 1 ratings

Our Man in Havana

Graham Greene

Spy Thriller · Historical Fiction · Mainstream · Thriller

1958

10.0/10 1 ratings

Tales of Piracy, Crime and Ghosts

Daniel Defoe

Horror · Short Stories · Mainstream · Thriller

1945

10.0/10 1 ratings

The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1943

10.0/10 1 ratings

The Phantom of the Opera

Gaston Leroux

Horror · Crime Fiction · Gothic Horror · Mainstream · Mystery

1910

10.0/10 1 ratings

The Bridge

Iain M. Banks

Fantasy · Mainstream

1986

9.3/10 4 ratings

Enigma

Robert Harris

Spy Thriller · Suspense Thriller · War & Military · Alternate History · Historical Fiction

September 26, 1995

9.0/10 1 ratings

The Art of Living and Other Stories

John Champlin Gardner

Short Stories · Mainstream

1981

Our Ancestors

Our Ancestors

Italo Calvino

Fantasy · Collection · Translation · Mainstream

1962

9.0/10 1 ratings

Possession

A. S. Byatt

Fantasy · Mainstream

1990

8.7/10 3 ratings

Ghostwritten

David Mitchell

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1999

8.5/10 4 ratings

Einstein's Dreams

Alan Lightman

Fantasy · Science Fiction · Mainstream

1992

8.4/10 12 ratings

Human Croquet

Kate Atkinson

Fantasy · Mainstream

1997

7.9/10 9 ratings

Fifth Child #1

The Fifth Child

Doris Lessing

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1988

8.0/10 2 ratings

Welcome to the Monkey House

Kurt Vonnegut

Science Fiction · Short Stories · Mainstream

1968

8.0/10 2 ratings

Wilderness

Roger Zelazny, Gerald Hausman

Historical Fiction · Mainstream

1994

8.0/10 1 ratings

A History of the World in 10½ Chapters

Julian Barnes

Fantasy · Mainstream

1989

8.0/10 1 ratings

Phases of Gravity

Dan Simmons

Mainstream

1989

8.0/10 1 ratings

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Mainstream

October 1988

8.0/10 1 ratings

The Stories of Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury

Fantasy · Science Fiction · Short Stories · Mainstream

1980

8.0/10 1 ratings

Tales of the Unexpected

Roald Dahl

Fantasy · Short Stories · Mainstream

1979

8.0/10 1 ratings