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99 Beloved Backlist Books: 4-Star Reads Goodreads Members Recommend
Some books stand the test of time.
This is no secret, of course. There are entire undergraduate literature programs based on this idea. But it’s a concept that comes in handy when you’re scouting around for your next reading adventure.
Below we’ve gathered up 99 books that have stood the test of time according to your fellow Goodreads regulars. Each of these titles has earned thousands of good reviews and maintained at least a four-star rating over the past 10 years.
In other words, these are reader-recommended hits of the past decade or so that found (and kept) a wide and appreciative audience. We’ve sorted the books by genre, with the most popular titles at the top of each section.
There’s a lot of goodness to be had here, from every aisle in the bookstore: cozy mysteries featuring inconvenient cadavers and excellent tea. Historical fiction based on astounding real events in 18th-century New England. Literary sci-fi concerning the power of art in a dystopian future. Extradimensional horror in the Jim Crow South.
If you’ve been an attentive bookworm these last few years, you’ll find plenty of familiar author names here, too. Look for reader-recommended hits from Alice Oseman, Min Jin Lee, Emily Henry, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Naomi Novik, and Ocean Vuong.
Click on the cover images for more details on each book and add anything that looks interesting to your own Want to Read shelf.
Historical Fiction
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Contemporary Fiction
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Mystery & Thriller
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Fantasy
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Science Fiction
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Romance
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Horror
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Young Adult
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Memoir
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History & Biography
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General Nonfiction
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Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
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I’d be more interested in this list about standing the test of time if it was books that have been out for at least 10 years, but some of these are so recent!
These books appear on every Discovery list. Next time consider 99 books with less than four stars. I find plenty of treasures there, particularly by black authors, who tend to get needlessly low-rated reviews by readers who are clueless about diverse black experiences.
I absolutely agree. I think, too, this would be because black people tend to not have an issue reading books by people of other races while most people act like if a book is written by a black person it's strictly for black people. Kind of how a black family will buy their kid a white doll, but majority white people won't do that.
this would have been more interesting if they were from further back. most of these books are so recent
From the description I thought all the books would have been at least ten years old. I would like to see a list like that.
How are any of these "backlist" books? Almost literally all of them were huge.
Melanie wrote: "How are any of these "backlist" books? Almost literally all of them were huge."Backlist means that the book wasn't published this year! So, these books were published before 2024 and are still considered popular and successful is all they mean :)
Ok, but most of these books were published within the last 4 years, not within the last 10, and there are a grand total of three books that I haven't heard of before. If you keep up with GR lists, none of the books here will be new discoveries for you.
I've read The Housemaid, None of This is True, The Only One Left, Red Rising and All Systems Red. 100% Recommend Red Rising. It's amazing and None of This is True is sooo good. I didn't enjoy All Systems Red that much, but I think I should give it another try and read the second book.