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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Explore genres All FantasyHorrorScience Fiction Mainstream

Books in this list

Long After Midnight

Ray Bradbury

Fantasy · Short Stories · Mainstream

1976

8.0/10 1 ratings

Soul Catcher

Frank Herbert

Mainstream

1971

8.0/10 1 ratings

The Vintage Bradbury

Ray Bradbury

Fantasy · Horror · Science Fiction · Mainstream

1965

8.0/10 1 ratings

Theseus #1

The King Must Die

Mary Renault

Greek Mythology · Minotaur · Mythology · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

1958

8.0/10 2 ratings

The Man Who Was Thursday

G. K. Chesterton

Crime Fiction · Adventure · Historical Fiction · Mainstream · Mystery

1908

7.6/10 8 ratings

The Napoleon of Notting Hill

G. K. Chesterton

Fantasy · Alternate History · Mainstream

1904

8.0/10 1 ratings

Kim

Rudyard Kipling

19th century · Spy Thriller · Adventure · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

1901

8.0/10 1 ratings

Mr. Vertigo

Paul Auster

Magical Realism · Mainstream

1994

7.5/10 6 ratings

The Losers

David Eddings

Mainstream

1992

7.8/10 4 ratings

Timbuktu

Paul Auster

Magical Realism · Mainstream

1998

7.8/10 6 ratings

Our Ancestors

The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount

Italo Calvino

Fantasy · Collection · Translation · Mainstream

1962

7.7/10 16 ratings

The Other Side of Silence

Margaret Mahy

Magical Realism · Young Adult · Mainstream · Mystery

October 1995

7.4/10 22 ratings

The White Hotel

D. M. Thomas

Fantasy · Mainstream

1981

7.0/10 2 ratings

The Naked Lunch

William S. Burroughs

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1959

7.3/10 12 ratings

Bridge to Terabithia

Katherine Paterson

Young Adult · Mainstream

1977

7.2/10 24 ratings

Our Ancestors

The Baron in the Trees

Italo Calvino

Fantasy · Translation · Mainstream

1959

7.4/10 20 ratings

The Great Train Robbery

Michael Crichton

Crime Fiction · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

1975

7.0/10 8 ratings

Switch Bitch

Roald Dahl

Fantasy · Short Stories · Mainstream

1974

7.0/10 2 ratings

Green Town

Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury

Mainstream

1957

7.2/10 10 ratings

Mother Night

Kurt Vonnegut

Mainstream

1962

7.4/10 20 ratings

Moon Palace

Paul Auster

Magical Realism · Mainstream

1989

7.0/10 1 ratings

Empire of the Sun

Empire of the Sun

J. G. Ballard

Mainstream

1984

7.0/10 2 ratings

Ararat

D. M. Thomas

Fantasy · Mainstream

1983

7.0/10 1 ratings

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Play · TV Series · Historical Fiction · Mainstream

September 1996

7.0/10 1 ratings

Atlantis: Three Tales

Samuel R. Delany

Short Stories · Mainstream

1995

7.0/10 1 ratings

Orsinia

Orsinian Tales

Ursula K. Le Guin

Fantasy · Short Stories · Mainstream

1976

7.0/10 1 ratings

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine

Kurt Vonnegut

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1965

7.1/10 17 ratings

Geek Love

Katherine Dunn

Horror · Mainstream

1989

6.5/10 4 ratings

A Graveyard for Lunatics

Ray Bradbury

Fantasy · Horror · Mainstream

1990

6.8/10 13 ratings

The Big U

Neal Stephenson

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1984

6.7/10 3 ratings

Tarzan #22

Tarzan and the Foreign Legion

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Mainstream

1947

6.7/10 21 ratings

The Wasp Factory

Iain M. Banks

Horror · Mainstream

1984

6.7/10 24 ratings

Great Apes

Will Self

Fantasy · Mainstream

1997

6.4/10 10 ratings

Tarzan #19

Tarzan and the Leopard Men

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Mainstream

1935

6.2/10 22 ratings

Gravity's Rainbow

Thomas Pynchon

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1973

5.7/10 6 ratings

Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace

Science Fiction · Mainstream

1996

6.3/10 4 ratings