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Books You Should Keep on Your Shelf to Look Smart

From biographies of inspiring innovators to stories that have been must-reads for centuries, these are the top 40 books you should display on your bookshelf.
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1
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams
2
The Best and the Brightest
The Best and the Brightest
3
The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen)
The Corrections
Jonathan Franzen
4
The Innovators (Walter Isaacson)
The Innovators
Walter Isaacson
5
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
6
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace
7
Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi
8
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Dune
Frank Herbert
9
Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke)
Letters to a Young Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
10
The Art of War (Sun Tzu)
The Art of War
Sun Tzu
11
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
12
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
13
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
Toni Morrison
14
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (Sheryl Sandberg)
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg
15
The Art of Eating (Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher)
The Art of Eating
Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher
16
Ulysses (James Joyce)
Ulysses
James Joyce
17
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Gibbons, Hadas)
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Gibbons, Hadas
18
From Dawn to Decadence (Jacques Barzun)
From Dawn to Decadence
Jacques Barzun
19
The Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary
20
Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
Mrs. Dalloway
Virginia Woolf
21
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Catch-22
Joseph Heller
22
The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
23
The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe (Edgar Allen Poe)
The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
Edgar Allen Poe
24
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M Pirsig)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Robert M Pirsig
25
City of God
City of God
26
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
27
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie
28
The Second Sex (Simone De Beauvoir)
The Second Sex
Simone De Beauvoir
29
Man and Superman (George Bernard Shaw)
Man and Superman
George Bernard Shaw
30
The History of the Peloponnesian War
The History of the Peloponnesian War
31
Dream of the Red Chamber (Cao Xueqin)
Dream of the Red Chamber
Cao Xueqin
32
Middlesex (Michigan)
Middlesex
Michigan
33
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov
34
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
35
The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion)
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
36
On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin)
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
37
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
38
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner
39
The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The Idiot
Fyodor Dostoevsky
40
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
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