QualismaBooks worth your time

Ranked list · refreshed weekly

The classics

The canon, with the one thing nobody tells you: how many hours it will actually cost.

A curated backbone of books that have lasted, kept in the library permanently rather than cycling in and out with the bestseller lists. The reason they are worth a shelf of their own here is that reading times for the canon are genuinely hard to find, and they vary enormously — some are an afternoon, some are a month. Shortest first.

104 books

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1
Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

135 pages · 3.90★ on Hardcover

≈ 1h6.9/10
4
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

336 pages · 3.48★ on Hardcover

≈ 1.5h5.0/10
6
The Pearl by John Steinbeck

The Pearl

John Steinbeck

90 pages · 3.45★ on Hardcover

≈ 2h5.0/10
8
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

188 pages · not widely rated yet

≈ 2h
10
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

The Time Machine

H. G. Wells

114 pages · 3.75★ on Hardcover

≈ 2h6.2/10
11
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli

144 pages · 3.69★ on Hardcover

≈ 2h6.0/10
13
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm

George Orwell

112 pages · 4.10★ on Hardcover

≈ 2h7.8/10
14
Candide by Voltaire

Candide

Voltaire

208 pages · 3.78★ on Hardcover

≈ 2.5h6.4/10
15
Night by Elie Wiesel

Night

Elie Wiesel

126 pages · 4.28★ on Hardcover

≈ 2.5h8.6/10
17
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

228 pages · 3.35★ on Hardcover

≈ 2.5h4.5/10
18
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

152 pages · 4.01★ on Hardcover

≈ 2.5h7.4/10
24
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Peter Pan

J. M. Barrie

176 pages · 3.82★ on Hardcover

≈ 3h6.4/10
25
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

180 pages · 3.71★ on Hardcover

≈ 3h5.9/10
26
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

162 pages · 3.84★ on Hardcover

≈ 3h6.5/10
27
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

185 pages · 3.72★ on Hardcover

≈ 3.5h5.9/10
28
The Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

187 pages · 3.53★ on Hardcover

≈ 3.5h5.2/10
30
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

Charlotte's Web

E. B. White

196 pages · 3.96★ on Hardcover

≈ 4h6.9/10
32
The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver

Lois Lowry

205 pages · 3.97★ on Hardcover

≈ 4h6.9/10
33
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison

205 pages · 4.02★ on Hardcover

≈ 4h7.1/10
34
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

208 pages · 3.63★ on Hardcover

≈ 4h5.3/10
35
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Mrs Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

232 pages · 3.75★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h5.9/10
37
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway

264 pages · 3.62★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h5.3/10
38
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

227 pages · 3.93★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h6.7/10
39
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson

352 pages · 3.76★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h5.9/10
40
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

The Outsiders

S. E. Hinton

229 pages · 3.92★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h6.7/10
41
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

234 pages · 3.94★ on Hardcover

≈ 4.5h6.7/10
43
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

Steppenwolf

Hermann Hesse

256 pages · 3.95★ on Hardcover

≈ 5h6.7/10
44
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

352 pages · 3.89★ on Hardcover

≈ 5h6.4/10
45
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time

Madeleine L'Engle

256 pages · 3.77★ on Hardcover

≈ 5h5.9/10
48
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett

331 pages · 3.96★ on Hardcover

≈ 5.5h6.7/10
50
Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuasion

Jane Austen

289 pages · 4.06★ on Hardcover

≈ 5.5h7.1/10
51
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

279 pages · 3.17★ on Hardcover

≈ 5.5h3.2/10
52
The Trial by Franz Kafka

The Trial

Franz Kafka

231 pages · 3.84★ on Hardcover

≈ 5.5h6.1/10
53
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

288 pages · 4.16★ on Hardcover

≈ 6h7.5/10
55
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

298 pages · 3.93★ on Hardcover

≈ 6h6.5/10
57
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit

J. R. R. Tolkien

320 pages · 4.32★ on Hardcover

≈ 6.5h8.2/10
59
The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Two Towers

J. R. R. Tolkien

323 pages · 4.47★ on Hardcover

≈ 6.5h8.9/10
61
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

332 pages · 3.92★ on Hardcover

≈ 6.5h6.3/10
63
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

335 pages · 3.88★ on Hardcover

≈ 6.5h6.2/10
64
1984 by George Orwell

1984

George Orwell

336 pages · 4.25★ on Hardcover

≈ 6.5h7.9/10
69
Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved

Toni Morrison

362 pages · 3.89★ on Hardcover

≈ 7h6.3/10
71
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert

256 pages · 3.55★ on Hardcover

≈ 7.5h4.8/10
74
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe

656 pages · 3.49★ on Hardcover

≈ 8h4.4/10
77
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca

Daphne du Maurier

428 pages · 4.16★ on Hardcover

≈ 8.5h7.3/10
78
The Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey

Homer

300 pages · 3.88★ on Hardcover

≈ 8.5h6.1/10
80
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

472 pages · 4.03★ on Hardcover

≈ 9.5h6.6/10
83
The Iliad by Homer

The Iliad

Homer

267 pages · 3.86★ on Hardcover

≈ 10h5.9/10
84
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens

608 pages · 3.69★ on Hardcover

≈ 10.5h5.2/10
85
Emma by Jane Austen

Emma

Jane Austen

512 pages · 3.92★ on Hardcover

≈ 10.5h6.2/10
86
Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula

Bram Stoker

408 pages · 3.87★ on Hardcover

≈ 11h6.0/10
88
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

East of Eden

John Steinbeck

601 pages · 4.49★ on Hardcover

≈ 12h8.6/10
89
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison

610 pages · 3.90★ on Hardcover

≈ 12h6.0/10
90
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

512 pages · 3.55★ on Hardcover

≈ 12.5h4.4/10
91
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

818 pages · 3.94★ on Hardcover

≈ 12.5h6.2/10
92
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

555 pages · 4.02★ on Hardcover

≈ 12.5h6.5/10
94
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

549 pages · 3.63★ on Hardcover

≈ 14.5h4.7/10
95
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky

784 pages · 4.05★ on Hardcover

≈ 16.5h6.4/10
96
Ulysses by James Joyce

Ulysses

James Joyce

1068 pages · 3.81★ on Hardcover

≈ 17.5h5.5/10
97
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

976 pages · 4.00★ on Hardcover

≈ 19.5h6.1/10
98
Middlemarch by George Eliot

Middlemarch

George Eliot

853 pages · 4.23★ on Hardcover

≈ 21h7.0/10
101
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

1072 pages · 3.86★ on Hardcover

≈ 28.5h5.3/10
103
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

838 pages · 4.07★ on Hardcover

≈ 37.5h6.1/10
104
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Les Misérables

Victor Hugo

1458 pages · 4.22★ on Hardcover

≈ 38h6.8/10