It is undeniable that books are our best companions. They are a huge repository of knowledge and information that have solutions to every problem. Reading books gives us an opportunity to develop wisdom. Books have been a part of our life since childhood. Do you remember reading the Panchatantra book full of wonderful stories that made our childhood even more beautiful? Books are no less than an emotion. There is something about reading a book that makes you feel so deeply. Reading books from various genres helps us acquire knowledge and enhance our thinking skills and imagination. It gives an entirely new perspective to look at this world and is a life-changing experience.

The renowned Methodist theologian Stanley Hauerwas provocatively suggested, “If you are not reading a novel a week, you cannot live a moral life.” Reading novels or books allows us to gain access to optimistic thoughts and strengthen moral values.

In this article, I have mentioned some best novels that one must read which will enrich a pool of experience and will give you a better perspective on life.

52 Best Novels That Are Must-Read — Photo by Christine Keller on Unsplash

1. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (1678)

It is considered one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature. This novel tells the story of a man in search of the truth told the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic. It is one of the best novels.

2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1791)

By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.

3. Gulliver's travel by Jonathan swift

You must have read this novel in your school days. It is the story of Lemuel Gulliver who is a married English surgeon who wants to see the world. The main themes of this novel are human folly and evil, filth and disgust, and conservatism and progress.

4. The Guide by R.K. Narayan (1958)

The Guide is one of the best novels written by Indian author R.K. Narayan in English. This novel is based on Malgudi. the fictional town in south India. The story in this novel describes the transformation of the protagonist, Raju, from a tour guide to a spiritual guide who becomes one of the greatest holy men of India.

5. The private life of an Indian prince by Mulk Raj Anand (1953)

This novel is written by Mulk Raj Anand and deals with the abolition of the princely state's system in India.

6. Jane Eyre by charlotte (1847)

This novel tells the story of Jane, a very simple girl as she battles through the struggles of life. Charlotte Brontë’s erotic, gothic masterpiece became the sensation of Victorian England.

7. The god of small things by Arundhati Roy

This best novel by Arundhati Roy describes the story of the childhood experience of fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel whose love lives are destroyed by the love laws that are laid down by society.

8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847)

Emily Brontë’s windswept masterpiece is notable not just for its wild beauty but for its daring reinvention of the novel form itself. In this novel, a man becomes obsessed with vengeance when his soul mate marries another man.

9. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848)

This novel is about married and parental relationships. In a novel about domestic life, there are no happy marriages because of the egotism, selfishness, and false value of society.

10. The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond

This best novel reflects the story of an orphan Anglo-Indian boy named Rusty. He lives with his guardian Mr Harrison (a Missionary ) and his wife in Dehradun.

11. Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

This novel mainly on orphans, women, and the mentally disabled to show that exploitation, not pity or compassion is the rule in industrial society.

12. The scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone (1850)

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s astounding book is full of intense symbolism and as haunting as anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

13. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

Herman Melville was an American novelist. Moby-Dick is one of the best novels written by him. It is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of the Ahab, captain of the whaling ship.

14. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

This novel reveals the story of a young girl Alice, who falls asleep in a meadow and dreams that she follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole. She lands in a fantasy world that is full of weird people and animals.

15. Godan By Munshi Premchand

Godan is one of the best Hindi novels by Munshi Premchand and translated into English as The Gift of Cow by Jai Ratan. This novel is about socio-economic deprivation and the exploitation of the poor people of the village.

16. Combat of Shadows by Manohar Malgonkar

It describes a tale of an Anglo- Indian woman, Ruby Miranda, who dreams of becoming a pucca memsahib to an Englishman but has to face the reality of racial- discrimination that was prevalent in pre-independence India.

17. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad c. Chaudhuri

This novel is an astonishing work of self-discovery. It tells the growth and changes of Indian politics, societies, and national feelings with those of his own personality.

18. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)

A people-pleaser, in more ways than one: Sherlock Holmes, after all, had been dead for years when his creator finally bent to public demand (and more importantly, the demand of his wallet) and brought him back, in this satisfying and much-beloved tale of curses and hell beasts and, of course, deductions.

19. Passing by Nella Larsen (1929)

Passing is one of the best novels by Nella Larsen. The story of this novel centers on the reunion of two childhood friends and their increasing fascination with each other's lives.

20. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)

This novel depicts the struggle of a young mother to achieve sexual and personal emancipation in the oppressive environment of South America.

21. The house of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar

One of the best novels by David Davidar shows life in a small corner of India while offering a stark indictment of colonialism.

22. Vanity Bagh by Anees Salim

Vanity bagh is a book that depicts the story of a boy who belongs to a minority group that shows religious intolerance that can divide humanity and win elections.

23. Fasting, feasting by Anita Desai

Fasting, feasting is a story of a family that lives in a small town in India where provincial customs and beliefs decide the future of children.

24. The Great Indian Novel By Shashi Tharoor

It is one of the best novels by Shashi Tharoor which reflects the story of the Mahabharata and recasts and resets it in the context of the Indian Independence movement.

25. Death in Vince by Thomas Mann (1912)

Death in Vince is a novel by Thomas Mann which presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted and increasingly obsessed by the sight of a Polish tourist.

26. O pioneers! by Willa Cather (1913)

O, Pioneers! is a novel by American author Willa Cather. It depicts the story of a young Alexandra Bergson, whose dying father leaves her in charge of the family.

27. Billy Bud sailor By Herman Melville (1924)

Billy Bud is a novel written by American writer Herman Melville. This novel was left unfinished at his death in 1891. It is based on the theme of corruption of innocence by society.

28. The Crying of lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon (1966)

This novel tells a very interesting story of a woman's strange quest to discover the mysterious, inspirational tristero system in a futuristic world of closed societies.

29. The girls of slender means by Muriel Spark (1963)

In this novel Mural Spark depicts the need for individuals to make moral choices in a society recovering from crises.

30. Jakob Von Guten by Robert Walser (1969)

Walser is a writer’s writer, a painfully underrated genius; this novel, in which a privileged youth runs off to enrol at a surrealist school for servants, maybe his best.

31. The white Tiger by Arvind Adiga

This is one of the best novels that provide a darkly humorous perspective of India's class struggle in a globalized world.

32. The Inheritance of Loss by kiran desai

The major theme of this novel is colonialism and the effects of post-colonialism. It follows the journey of Birju, who was an illegal immigrant in the US trying to make a new life.

33. A Suitable Boy BY Vikram Seth

This is among the best novel which is about the story of four families over a period of 18 months and revolves around Mrs Rupa Mehra's efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter.

34. Sea of Poppies By Amitav Ghosh

Sea of Poppies is a vast ship, the Ibis. Her destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean shortly before the outbreak of the opium wars in China and Onboard is a diverse cast of characters.

35. Narcopolis By Jeet Thayil

This novel is about the lives of a few people, bound together by a common passion- opium and about Bombay, in a way we have never heard of before. It is a very interesting novel.

36. House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday ( 1968)

37. Near to the wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (1943)

This novel tells the story of Joana from her childhood, along with her father, writing poetry.

38. Who was changed and who was dead by Barbara Comyns (1954)

39. Their Eyes were watching God By Zora Neale Hurston ( 1937)

The epic tale of Jaine Crawford, whose quest for identity takes her on a journey during which she learns what is love, and experiences life,s joys and sorrows. It is considered among the best novels by Zora Neale Hurston.

40. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter (1967)

41. The one you cannot have by Preeti Shenoy

This is one of the best novels by Preeti Shenoy. It gives a deep message about love failure and depression. It tells that if the situations are handled with maturity in a better way then all these lives can be saved.

42. This is not Your Story by Savi Sharma

It follows the story of four youngsters- Shaurya, Miraya, Anubhav and Kasturi, and how they tackle the problems of their life. It revolves around giving life a second chance.

43. The girl of my dreams by Durjoy Datta

The girl of my dreams lapse by Durjoy Datta depicts the story of Daman who suffers a memory lapse after he wakes up from a coma following a car accident.

44. It's all in the planets by Pretti Shenoy

It is a very fresh and unique love story which transcends age and geographical boundaries.

45. If God was a Banker by Ravi Subramanian

This novel revolves around two management graduates who are in the rat race for success.

46. Patang by Bhashkar Chattopadhyay

Patang By Bhashkar Chattopadhyay reveals a story of a man who is found brutally murdered, his body posed like a kite on the tallest cell tower in the city.

47. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

It is considered one of the best novels. The novel is told from the perspective of a young man named Nick Carraway who recently moved to New York City. This book provides an insider's look into the Jazz age of the 1920s in US history.

48. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This novel depicts the story of seven generations of the Buendia family and follows the establishment of their own Macondo until its destruction by the last families' descendants. It is one of the best novels by the late Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

49. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

It is a very interesting novel about the expression of identity for African American males. The narrator of the novel, a man who is never named but believes he is invisible to other socially tells the story of his move from the south college and then to New York City.

50. Beloved by Toni Morrison

This novel tells the story of an escaped slave named Sethe who fled to Cincinnati, Ohio in the year 1873. This novel investigates the trauma of slavery even after freedom has been gained.

51. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is among the best novels of Jane Eyre. This novel provided a story of individualism for women.

52. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Wolf

It is one of the most idiosyncratic novels by Virginia Wolf which describes exactly one day in the life of a British Socialite named Clarissa Dolloway. The unique style of this novel makes it one of the best novels and regarded works of all time.

So these are some best novels that you must read. These are full of fascinating stories. Do mention your favourite novel in the comment box.

52 Best Novels That Are Must-Read