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The ledger — Essays & Letters

Essays & Letters, ranked by the world's readers.

The 539 most-read essays & letters titles in print, surveyed from the Google Books index and ranked by reader count. Titles the Library already binds aren't listed here — they live on their shelf.

Chuck Klosterman IV Chuck Klosterman 2006 · 385pp ★ 4.0 · 9 readers

This is Going to Hurt Adam Kay 2017 · 225pp ★ 4.0 · 5 readers

Testaments Betrayed Milan Kundera 1995 · 296pp ★ 4.0 · 3 readers

21 Lessons for the 21st Century Yuval Noah Harari 2018 · 256pp ★ 4.5 · 2 readers

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow Bille August 1997 · 236pp ★ 4.5 · 2 readers

The Planets Dava Sobel 2006 · 294pp ★ 4.5 · 2 readers

Odd Jobs John Updike 1991 · 956pp ★ 5.0 · 1 reader

The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton Julia Quinn 2021 · 164pp ★ 5.0 · 1 reader

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry Aristotle 1920 · 106pp ★ 5.0 · 1 reader

The Portable Beat Reader Ann Charters 1992 · 694pp ★ 5.0 · 1 reader

The Siege of Malta, 1565 Francesco Balbi 2005 · 226pp ★ 4.0 · 1 reader

Feeding Frenzy Will Self 2001 · 408pp ★ 4.0 · 1 reader

The Journals John Fowles 2003 · 712pp ★ 3.0 · 1 reader

Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors Franz Kafka 1977 · 528pp ★ 3.0 · 1 reader

Further Under the Duvet Marian Keyes 2006 · 358pp ★ 3.0 · 1 reader

Ethics Benedict de Spinoza 1996 · 212pp ★ 3.0 · 1 reader

Magic, Science, and Religion, and Other Essays Bronislaw Malinowski 1992 · 284pp

A Rage of Love Alda Merini 1996 · 80pp

What is Coming? A Forecast of Things After the War (The original unabridged edition) H. G. Wells 2013 · 194pp

In Continuity Austin Warren 1996 · 244pp

Notebooks Leonardo da Vinci 2008 · 593pp

More's Utopia Thomas More 2017 · 338pp

The Plays of William Shakspeare William Shakespeare 2020 · 600pp

Nonrequired Reading Wisława Szymborska 2002 · 264pp

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