Charts
Put 29 lists of the best novels side by side and patterns show up that no single list can show you. Each chart here makes one point from the data, with the numbers behind it and an image you can download and share.
- The Modern Library's 1998 list of the best novels has 9 by women. The Guardian's 2026 list has 37.
How many of the greatest novels on 15 all-time lists were written by women, from the Modern Library's 1998 list to the Guardian's 2026 list.
- Critics and readers agree on only one in three of their picks
Which great novels critics love and readers skip, and the reverse, from 12 critics' lists and 9 readers' and booksellers' lists.
- The best-novel lists skipped the 1970s
Places on 15 all-time best-novel lists by the decade each book was first published, coloured by tier.
- Le Monde's list is the odd one out: 41 of its 72 novels are on no other list
How many of each list's novels appear on no other list, for 17 best-novel lists checked against all 29 lists in the index.
- The Big Read is 68% British and Irish. The Great American Read is 63% American.
Where the authors on 15 best-novel lists come from: Britain and Ireland, America or anywhere else.
- Two in three prize winners never make a critics', readers' or booksellers' list
How many winners and shortlisted books from 8 fiction prizes went on to appear on a critics', readers' or booksellers' list.
- Four authors have won the Booker twice, most recently Margaret Atwood in 2019
Every author who has won the Booker Prize twice, with each of their shortlistings, 1969 to 2026.