What's on this list and what isn't
Each of the literary lists on this site has requirements for membership. That is, there are rules to determine which books are eligible to be included on any given list. Some rules are quite strict. Some are little more than rules of thumb, allowing what appear to be reasonable exceptions. The aim is to sort titles onto lists where most readers, writers, critics and scholars would expect to find them, although a consensus is not always clear.
The Greatest Literature
This list comprises the greatest creative works of literature from all times, places, genres, cultures and eras.
What's on the Greatest Literature list:
• novels (such as Great Expectations)
• nonfiction novels (In Cold Blood)
• novellas (Death in Venice)
• plays (Romeo and Juliet)
• epic or other long poems (Iliad, The Waste Land)
• story collections (One Thousand and One Nights)
• poetry collections (Leaves of Grass)
• novel series (The Forsyte Saga) when a series is better known than any individual work in the series
What isn't on the Greatest Literature list:
• nonfiction works, which are eligible for separate, nonfiction lists
• short stories, which have their own lists
• short poems, which have their own lists
• individual titles in a series when the series is listed
The Greatest Nonfiction
This list comprises the greatest nonfictional works of all times, places, cultures, genres and eras.
What's on the Greatest Nonfiction list:
• major nonfiction works (such as The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
• major reference works (A Dictionary of the English Language)
• nonfiction collections (Against Interpretation and Other Essays)
• nonfiction series when a series is better known than any individual work in the series
What isn't on the Greatest Nonfiction list:
• short nonfiction works, like short essays, articles or letters
• nonfiction novels, which are included on the fiction lists with other novels
The Really Long List of Great Literature
This list comprises the works of all times, places, cultures, genres and eras that are considered great by at least some significant number of readers, writers, critics or scholars
What's on the Really Long List:
• novels (such as Pride and Prejudice)
• novellas (The Old Man and the Sea)
• plays (Waiting for Godot)
• epic or other long poems (The Idylls of the King)
• story collections (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
• poetry collections (Residence on Earth and Other Poems)
• major nonfiction works (A Brief History of Time)
• nonfiction collections (Against Interpretation and Other Essays)
What isn't on the Really Long List:
• individual short stories
• individual short poems
• individual short nonfiction works, like short essays, articles or letters
• novel series, as novel titles are listed individually
The Greatest Adventure
Adventure can be found in a wide range of literature, arguably in all literature. But for this list adventure is defined as fiction with the adventurous elements—action, exploration, conflict, danger—central to a quickly moving story. This list comprises the greatest creative works of adventure from all times, places, cultures and eras.
What's on the Greatest Adventure list:
• adventure novels (such as Treasure Island)
• adventure novellas (The Call of the Wild)
• epic poems (The Odyssey)
• adventure novel series (The Hunger Games) when a series is better known than any individual work in the series
What isn't on the Greatest Literature list:
• nonfiction adventures
• short stories
• short poems
• individual titles in a series when the series is listed
The Greatest Alternate History
Alternate history—also called alternative or just plain alt history—was once considered a category of science fiction. But the subgenre's "what if" feature, speculating on what life would be like if events in history had transpired differently, has appeared in works also classed as literary fiction, mysteries, thrillers, romances, historical fiction and even westerns. So many alt history titles also appear on greatest lists for other genres. This particular list comprises the greatest creative works of alternative history from all times, places, cultures and eras.
What's on the Greatest Adventure list:
• alternate history novels (such as The Man in the High Castle)
• alternate history novellas (jerusxalem Commands)
• alternate history novel series (The Baroque Cycle) when a series is better known than any individual work in the series
What isn't on the Greatest Literature list:
• short adventure stories
• individual titles in a series when the series is listed
The Greatest Crime and Mystery
This popular genre of writing today goes under several names, including crime thrillers, detective fiction, mysteries, police procedurals, and whodunits. It overlaps every other publishing category, including literary fiction, espionage, horror, romance and speculative fiction and sometimes distinctions are difficult to make. So many crime and mystery titles also appear on greatest lists for other genres. This particular list comprises the greatest creative works of crime and mystery from all times, places, cultures and eras.
What's on the Greatest Crime and Mystery list:
• crime and mystery novels (such as And Then There Were None)
• crime and mystery novellas (The Third Man)
• crime and mystery nonfiction novels
What isn't on the Crime and Mystery list:
• nonfiction adventures
• short crime and mystery stories, which have their own list
• crime and mystery novel series, which have their own list
• true crime works, which have their own list
The Greatest Fantasy
Fantasy is sometimes considered the less reputable sister of science or speculative fiction. But fantastic fiction has had an honourable place in literature since the first stories were written, long before the invention of science fiction. For this list fantasy is differentiated from other speculative fiction by having at its heart a supernatural, magic or nonscientific element. This list comprises the greatest creative works of fantasy literature from all times, places, cultures and eras.
What's on the Greatest Adventure list:
• fantasy novels (such as The Picture of Dorian Gray)
• fantasy novellas (Through the Looking-Glass)
What isn't on the Greatest Literature list:
• nonfiction fantasy
• short fantasy stories, which have their own list
• fantasy novel series, which have their own list
