One Hundred Best Books

A novelist's hundred best books, chosen “frankly subjective” in 1916 — with an essay on reading that picks a fight with every other such list.

A

3 books in this part of One Hundred Best Books.

Anatole France

L'Orme de Mail. L'Abbe Jerome Coignard. Le Livre de mon Ami. Either in French or the authorized English translation. Anatole France, now…

Artzibasheff

Artzibasheff is an extremist. The suicidal " motif " in the "Breaking-point" is worked out with an appalling and devastating thoroughness…

Arnold Bennett

Clayhanger. “ Clayhanger" with its sequels, "Hilda Lessways " and "These Twain," makes up an imposing and convincing trilogy of…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of One Hundred Best Books (1916) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.