25 Years of Bookselling

We recently asked all our booksellers to vote on their favourite books of the past twenty-five years, and the top hundred titles are, as you'd expect, are a very mixed bag indeed. With choices ranging from Frank McCourt to Steven Hawking, and Irvine Welsh to Joanne Harris, you'd think there would be something to suit all tastes - but when it comes to literary leanings, you most definitely can't please all of the people all of the time...

Do you have a favourite book that doesn't feature on the list, that you feel has been unfairly overlooked? If so we'd love to hear from you, and have your opinions on which books you think should really have made the top hundred, and which titles really didn't deserve to be on the list...

Buy the books

Is Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor, for example, worthy of a place in your top hundred?

Does Sophie Kinsella really merit a mention?

Let us know what you think right here...

Comments

[Greg]

I'm pleased that Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting was included in the top 100, as it is undoubtedly a work of enormous power, as well as a telling social document that changed the face of Scottish literature.

I don't think it's his best book though. Marabou Stork Nightmares, which was his second novel, has a linguistic dexterity and structural ingenuity that none of his other work, Trainspotting included, even gets close to.

And what about Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang? Certainly one of my favourite novels of all time - that surely merited a place in the top 100.

[Jono]

I was amazed The Corrections wasn't on there- one of the best reviewed, and best, American novels of the period. Also, no Philip Roth? Very odd.

[Annie]

I agree - The Corrections is a fantastic novel. However, another great 'American' novel is Middlesex, and worth every vote it gets. Anything to stop Harry Potter from being No. 1. Again.

[Kieron]

The list seems fairly strong. However the lack of non-fiction is disappointing to me. Personally - although somewhat niche titles such as Nicholas Negroponte's 'Being Digital' (1995) were ground breaking in terms of the web, as was the Cluetrain Manifesto. In the more mainstream non-fiction title's such as Schama's 'Rembrandt's Eyes', the pictures in 'Full Moon' from the Apollo missions (they had to invent a new black ink for the pictures of space) or even a Horrible Histories title :). In fact I'd be so bold as to say that non-fiction rather than fiction has been more innovative in the last 25 years than fiction.

[Tiffany Corsello]

What about Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go'? over 'The Remains of the Day'? Or Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' over 'All the Pretty Horses'? No Kiran Desai?

[Jono]

Yeah, The Road is an incredible book, but I see guess it came out too recently, and not enough people had read it. Personally, I hated All the Pretty Horses.

The Cluetrain Manifesto. Kieron wins the 'wilfully obscure nomination' award.

[Tiffany Corsello]

I agree- Cormac McCarthy is great- and 'All the Pretty Horses' was his weakest book. I hated it too. I would like to see more female authors on this list- though I shouldn't complain too much- one of my all time favorite authors- Atwood has 3 books here- but why not 'Alias Grace'?- which is one of my absolute favorites. I agree with so many of the titles on this list- but really feel that some of the authors have better works than the ones chosen. It's also so great to see so many of the Young Adult/Sci-fi/Fantasy/Magic books listed- like 'Harry Potter' and 'Artemis Fowl' and 'Northern Lights'- so many other 'Lists' have ignored them- which is sad because they are so fun and fantastic. And it is strange that such giants as Roth and Delillo aren't on the list at all- they weigh in so heavily on many other lists- like on Amazon.

[Elaine]

I was looking for To Kill a Mockingbird - was nice to see some children's books on there though - made choosing a bit tricky!

[Kieron]

Hi Elaine, unfortunately 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was published in 1960 and this list is just books from 1982 onwards(when Waterstone's opened its first store). Gruffalo did make it though :)

Kieron

[Meg]

I love the Gruffalo but it's really hard to pick a picture book over a novel, they are two completely different things.

[Kieron]

Hi Meg

Ah well there we could question 'Watchmen' on the list as well - does that stand up against 'Stalingrad'?!

best

Kieron

[Jo]

Well my all time favourite book, Jean de Florette, by Marcel Pagnol (the English translation, not the original French), isn't on the list - which is a great shame. It's the most incredible book, wonderful characters bursting with life and passion.

But even without that this is an incredible list of titles. I've loved so many of them, so I found it really difficult to pick just one to vote for. I opted for Middlesex in the end - mainly because years after reading it I still think about the characters, and if I had to save just one book from this list this would probably be the one. If you haven't read it yet then you should - it's completely brilliant.

[Carly]

Yeah, i think the list is pretty good, but wish there had been more of a variety of books.

[Miriam]

I was just wondering why it is only Northern Lights and not the whole of His Dark Materials: the BBC Big Read had them all as one book as they have been published as such. To consider it as a book in its own right doesn't make much sense to me.
Also - I haven't read 'The Blind Assassin' - but I think that 'Oryx and Crake' is superior to 'Handmaid's Tale' or 'Cat's Eye'.
Lastly - 'The Colour of Magic' is certainly not the best Pratchett book. I can see the logic in choosing the first of the series (I assume this was a similar case to the Harry Potter choice) - and people will inevitably be considering the rest of the series if they choose it. But taking it at face value, and book by book, 'Night Watch' would have been a better choice I think.
The inevitable drawback of making lists like these is that far too large a percentage of the books are in the current bestseller lists: I'm sure many of them won't survive as classics...

[Helen]

I was disappointed to find that no books by Helen Dunmore were on the list - in particular, I would choose her book about the WW2 siege of Leningrad, 'The Siege'. She is an exceptionally gifted writer with a light, but convincing touch and a poetic expressive quality. But as she isn't on the list, I shall vote for Ishiguro's 'Remains of the Day', a book which can be enjoyed on many levels. (I don't agree that 'Never Let Me Go' would have been a better choice).

[Patricia Britton]

Toni Morrison's books are missing from the list. Sula, The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon.

My favourite book of the last 25 years is Beloved.

[AM Dorrington]

Very disappointed that English Passengers by Matthew Kneale wasn't on the list. I would have voted for it as my no.1 choice. Otherwise I'm impressed with the list & found it difficult to pick just one.

[Harriet Powell]

Delighted to see Small Island, Poisonwood Bible and Love in the Time of Cholera three of my all time favourites but Da Vinci Code and Labyrinth - awful tosh. And why 2 Ian Banks and 3 Margaret Atwoods?? Where was Arthur and George and William Boyd (I nominate Any Human Heart). But mostly it was a fair list and covered a good range of different genres.

[Ian]

It's difficult to take any list of the "best" seriously that includes 'The Da Vinci Code'. Generally, it's too populist

It's disappointing that there aren't more SF/Fantasy books in there & most of those are not the best, though it's great to see 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' there. 'Colour of Magic' may be very funny, but you won't find many Pratchett fans who regard it as his best - far better choose one of the Witches books.

Also great to see 'A Prayer for Owen Meany'.

[Lucy]

Delighted to see The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Carter Beats the Devil and So Many Ways to Begin – three books I love (always just a bit wary of people who don't love them too!).

Preferred both The Autograph Man and On Beauty to White Teeth.

The Corrections was an odd omission. Shadow of the Wind and Jonathan Strange odd inclusions.

I'd have liked to see Helen Dunmore there too – and Amelie Nothomb (or did they have to be written in English?).

Child in Time rather than Enduring Love?

There's been some great books this year that should make it into the 30 year list.

[Dave Chapman]

Good to see Neuromancer in there, though I must admit to being a bigger fan of his Bridge Trilogy. Also, very surprised (but happily surprised) to see Watchmen make it in there - the only graphic novel! Though, again, I'd have put Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300, or some other in there.

Dave (Waterstone's Norwich)

[Steve Grice]

Seems a reasonable list, though I am disappointed that Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson does not appear - this is the one book that I have read in the last few years that really took my breath away. Her writing seems to really sparkle on the page.

I would also put The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor high on the list. I thought that it was a fantasic, subtle, melancholy book.

But why, in Gods name is If nobody speaks of Remarkable Things on the list. This has to be one of the worst books ever written. I found it completely unreadable and deeply regretted wasting money on buying such tripe.

[Alison Muntz]

The author I was looking for in the list was William Dalrymple, and in particular his book From the Holy Mountain, which is a modern classic of travel writing:erudite, beautifully written, the author takes us on a journey from Greece through Asia Minor, the Mediterranean Middle East to Egypt. Covering one of history's most volatile areas Dalrymple gives a lesson in religious history and modern politics. One of the relatively view serious non fiction books which I could not put down. The prose is also something to be savoured.
The novel missing is Sebastian Barry's A Long Long Way; a novel whose language sings and which tells the story of a young Irish Everyman. For conveying the First World War as experienced by ordinary young men, for me, it beat both Birdsong and Regeneration hands down.

[Toni Dewhurst]

I was disappointed not to see a Carol Shields in the list - one of the very finest writers of the last 25 years. My personal vote from the shortlist would go to Disgrace - one of the best pieces of writing of the last 100 years, let alone 25.

[Helen Ashford]

I agree it is a great list - but I wonder who chooses them.

I selected The Historian, but it was a difficult choice.

Why no Amulya Malladi ( think The Mango Season is her best)? In fact I didn't spot any Indian fiction. (sorry - just seen A Suitable Boy)

Also Carole Cadwalldr's The Family Tree, which is a great book.

And THREE Margaret Atwood's. Please!!! What has she done to merit such special attention?

And in children's fiction, the best I have come across (after Pullman's His Dark Materials, of course) are "The Goose Girl" and "Enna Burning" by Shannon Hale.

[Kieron]

Hi Helen

The titles were chosen by Waterstone's staff - they were asked to vote on their favourite titles from the last 25 years.

Best

Kieron

[penny brown]

where is Ian McEwen's "SATURDAY"?

If you are including childrens' books, then ROOM ON THE BROOM should be there.

[Melanie Peet]

I'm suprised that Jodi Picoult isn't included on the list. Although she is a relevantly new author 'My Sisters Keeper' was a page turner and the twist at the very end completely shocked me.
After reading this book it has prompted me to read more of her work normally reading crime fiction and her subjects are always thought provoking and make you consider your own views on the subjects.

[Tanya Stagg]

All these books are very interesting but failed to keep me interested, except for Mr Dahl's 'BFG', who even now keeps my imagination buzzing! These might be seen as simple reads to some but for me they were entertaining and kept me wanting more, and in some cases even made me cry - Dean Koontz's 'Odd Thomas' and Kelley Armstrong's 'Bitten' selection. Maybe we should look for something a little lighter to capture our imaginations in such a hectic and heavy world of today which, as I do, read to escape from.

[Marie]

My favourite author at the moment is Maggie O'Farrell.I recommend The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox and all Maggie's books

[Helen E]

jodi picoult?? really?! 'we need to talk about kevin' by lionel shriver should have definitely made the list, hands down one of the best books of recent years. harry potter...total waste of time.

[CERI]

SEEING 3 MARGARET ATWOOD BOOKS IN THE LIST WAS A PLEASURE THAT WAS ONLY MARRED BY THE INCLUSION OF IAN BANKS (WASP FACTORY) WHICH I PERSONALLY FOUND ALMOST UNREADABLE. HOWEVER I WAS DISAPPOINTED BY THE OMISSION OF PD JAMES, SURELY ONE OF THE BEST WRITERS WITHIN HER FIELD TO BE PUBLISHED - HER BOOKS DISPLAY NOT ONLY A HIGH DEGREE OF RESEARCH BUT ARE ALSO EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
ANOTHER OMISSION GERARD WOODWARD - BOTH AUGUST AND I GO TO BED AT NOON ARE BOTH COMPELLING READS AND I AM BUILDING UP THE EXCITEMENT BEFORE EMBARKING ON HIS LATEST.
THESE ARE MY PERSONAL GRIPES THOUGH AND I APPRECIATE THAT
A/ WE CAN NEVER PLEASE EVERYBODY OR THE LIST WOULD BE ENDLESS
B/ EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO LIKE DIFFERENT STYLES ETC SINCE OTHERWISE THE DEGREE OF CHOICE WOULD BE MINIMAL AND LIFE WOULD BE BORING!!!

[lorraine]

I'm surprised to see so few crime titles in the list of 100.Surely Dexter, or P.D.James should have featured,where is Patricia Cornwell?

[Andrew]

Well, I have to disagree with those who think it's a strong list, I actually think it's rather weak. First of all the really high quality of non-fiction that we've seen in the past 25 years or so is grossly underrepresented (wot no Schama, Dawkins, Gould, Diamond, Rackham, Tomalin, Uglow, Thubron, Dalrymple, Raban, Simpson and so on almost ad infinitum?), so badly so, that I think the brief ought to have focused on fiction just so that the paucity wasn't so badly underlined.
Even when we get on to fiction, just at a quick memory trawl, I'd have put The Hours (Michael Cunningham), The Bone People (Keri Hulme), A Very Long Engagement (Sebastien Japrisot), Mother London (Michael Moorcock), This Thing of Darkness (Harry Thompson), The Quincunx (Charles Palliser), My Name is Red (Orphan Pamuk), any one of Patrick O'Brian's post 1982 efforts, According to Queenie/Master Georgie (Beryl Bainbridge), Twelve Bar Blues (Patrick Neate) and The Conjuror's Bird (Martin Davies) way above the likes of Brown, Kinsella, McGregor, Sebold and so on; and I'll have missed plenty (and tried to avoid those obvious ones already mentioned, like Remains of the Day and Peter Carey). My opinion of Waterstones staff has really plummeted.

And as for the children's books. Is that really all the Waterstones staff can come up with from the last 25 years??

Final note - The Name of the Rose was first published in 1980, at least according to my copy. Deserves to be there though.

[Andrew]

Sorry, of course Dawkins is represented - I was thinking of his science books which (much as I enjoyed The God Delusion) far outrate this particular offering.

[Coningsby]

As a Waterstone's bookseller, I am always interested in what other people have read (even though it goes without saying that this is never quite as interesting as what I myself have read). The list strikes me as being pretty good: to be sure, some of the books are rather obvious, in the same way that some of the parties in parliament are rather obvious. Such is always the case in a democracy. Slightly to my embarrassment, however, it turns out that of the top 100 books as voted for by my fellow booksellers, I have read but 18. How many has everyone else managed?

[Liz]

I can't believe that none of Orhan Pamuk's books was included. I rate him as the most interesting author I've read this year.

[Liz]

Coningsby, I've read 19 - but have been reminded of quite a few I meant to read when they came out and didn't! Life just isn't long enough...

[Vicky]

I'm not suprised Margaret Atwood is in the list....my book club read The Handmaid's Tale and it generated a lot of discussion. The lure of The Poisonwood Bible though is a mystery to me as I just found it boring (controversial I know!). I've actually never managed to finish the book.

Have to say I loved Pillars of the Earth (looking forward to the sequel in October), Wild Swans, Memoirs of Geisha, The BFG (Hurrah for Roald Dahl fans and all the children out there), The Beach, Bridget Jones, Birdsong, Cold Mountain, Remains of the Day, Adrian Mole, A Suitable Boy (long but great), Perfume (freaky but fab), Shadow of the Wind....how can I ever choose my favourite.....

What about the books that aren't there though....Girl with a Pearl Earring, A Short History of Tractors in Unkrainian, The Other Boleyn Girl, Noughts and Crosses, Into Thin Air (enthralling)....and the list goes on.

[Nicola]

I agree with those commenting about the Terry Pratchett book on the list - I'd never have chosen The Colour of Magic but Wyrd Sisters or Guards Guards! instead. What I loved about the list was the fact that Holes was on it - every man, woman and child I know that read this book absolutely loved it and yet so far, it hasn't made any 'favourites' list I've seen.

[Pete Nicholson]

So how many has everyone read? 21 for me plus started/own a fair few others!

[RAY JENKIN]

I would have liked to see Anthony Doerr's ABOUT GRACE on the list -one of the great unread novels of recent years. Haven't read anything in a long time which so awakens the senses in the way that Cormac McCarthy does at his best. Description of an ice storm in winter-time Alaska is unforgettable as is the account of a walk in the Mojave Desert and ... well, just read it.

[VON PATON]

Nice to see a wide genre of books to suit all. "A prayer for Owen Meany" (John Irving)was one of many books on the list that I have read. But for me it stuck out from the list. It`s clarity of descriptive prose is just great.And left me wanting to checkout more of John Irvings books.And even though the book is as thick as yellow pages, I was dissapointed to see the story come to an end. others that could have made it onto the list "we need to talk about Kevin" (Lionel Shriver), or "Summer of the Cicadas" (Will Napier)...still can`t have everything.

[VON PATON]

I agree, " If nobody speaks of remarkable things" was dull,bland...and a waste of money.
And "The DaVinci Code" was cheesy...I did`nt even finish it,pukingly corny.
What about "Fugitive Pieces"(Ann Michaels) or "Under the Skin" ( Michel Faber).....I`m gonna shut up now before i conduct a 100 list of my own.

[Steve Grice]

No way should "Saturday" be on the list - it was a self indulgent story about nothing - almost unreadable. Ian McEwan at his worst. The Da Vinci code is only on the list because it sold in such vast quantities, ditto Harry Potter. Neither Dan Brown, nor JK can write good prose - both could have been written by a fourteen year old.

What about "The Minotour takes a Cigarette Break" being on the list. Really good read, well written and makes you think about the idea of otherness in America. You could re-read it now, post The War on Terror and see so many resonances.

[LIZ DE CRUZ]

Where's John Updike?????
I agree that Carole Shields should be there and Toni Morrison, but what about Alice Walker? And I'd like to have seen a nod to Hilary Mantel, too.

[Theo]

Peter Hoeg's "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" was my favourite book and has been for about eight years, but recently I came across Michael Andre Bernstein's "Conspirators" which some might say is a tad repetitive but I loved because he painted so much complexity into a story about a botched assassination, it had me thinking for ages.

[Jen]

Its an interesting list, and has reminded me of a few things I've been meaning to read.

So far, I've read 33, got 8 sat under the bed waiting to be read, and have tried 3 but given up on them.

[Gayle]

I agree The daVinci code is pure cheddar, but I loved 'If nobody Speaks of remarkable things' , its lyrical style is mesmerising. I confess to having read upwards of 40 books on this list - with my favourites being The Blind Assasin and Captain Corellis Mandolin - both real page turners. But I am aghast to the inclusion of Dave Eggers 'Heartbreaking Work ....' - it is quite the most tedious, navel gazing BORING load of tripe I have read in the last few years. To be avoided. The best book not on the list is Andrew Greigs'Electric Brae' , it has everything, plot, characterisation, mountains, Orkney - deserves to be much wider known.

[Steve]

Some in the list seem a little "lightweight". I suppose this is a list of favourite books rather than great books. None the less I am surprised not to see Richard Powers there - "The time of our singing" is wonderful.

A more popular book that seems to be missing is Matthew Kneale's "English Passengers". Very engagingly written and a most satisfying plot.

How about a cult book - Stuart Browne's "Dangerous Parking".

[Ange]

I had a quick look through the list and between my husband and myself we have either read or own a fair few of them.

Got to say though that, despite having very different literary tastes, one book has always stood out for both of us as our favourite. The Descent by Jeff Long. Absolutely brilliant and not nearly well enough known. We would both highly recommend it to everyone. That and I am Legend. Also brill.

[mary]

I don't think this list particulary represents the last 25 years actually. Can't people remember before Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code.... quite disheartening.