Good Books Popular Books

Good Books Biography & Facts

"Good Bad Books" is an essay by George Orwell first published in Tribune on 2 November 1945. After Orwell's death, the essay was republished in Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays (1950). The essay examines the lasting popularity of works not usually considered great literature. Orwell defines a "good bad book" as "the kind of book that has no literary pretensions but which remains readable when more serious productions have perished." Orwell concludes: "I would back Uncle Tom's Cabin to outlive the complete works of Virginia Woolf or George Moore, though I know of no strictly literary test which would show where the superiority lies." He acknowledges G. K. Chesterton as the originator of the term, as seen in his defences of penny dreadfuls and detective stories in the 1901 collection The Defendant. Orwell's examples Orwell claims that "perhaps the supreme example of the 'good bad' book is Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is an unintentionally ludicrous book, full of preposterous melodramatic incidents; it is also deeply moving and essentially true; it is hard to say which quality outweighs the other." Other examples he gives include the Sherlock Holmes and Raffles stories, R. Austin Freeman's stories The Singing Bone, The Eye of Osiris and others, Max Carrados, Dracula, Helen's Babies and King Solomon's Mines. The minor novelists W. L. George, Leonard Merrick, J. D. Beresford, Ernest Raymond, May Sinclair, and A. S. M. Hutchinson are also mentioned as writers "whom it is quite impossible to call 'good' by any strictly literary standard, but who are natural novelists and who seem to attain sincerity partly because they are not inhibited by good taste." He presented Vorticist painter and writer Wyndham Lewis as the exemplar of a writer who is cerebral without being artistic. Orwell wrote, "Enough talent to set up dozens of ordinary writers has been poured into Wyndham Lewis's so-called novels, such as Tarr or Snooty Baronet. Yet it would be a very heavy labour to read one of these books right through. Some indefinable quality, a sort of literary vitamin, which exists even in a book like [A. S. M. Hutchinson's 1922 melodrama] If Winter Comes, is absent from them." Related essays by Orwell Orwell also discusses Helen's Babies by John Habberton in his 1946 essay "Riding Down from Bangor". Other uses The notion is inverted in The Anti-Booklist by Brian Redhead and Kenneth McLeish, in which the authors critique a range of "bad good" books, generally thought to be "good books". See also Classic book George Orwell bibliography Western canonReferences Further reading Anderson, Paul (ed). Orwell in Tribune: 'As I Please' and Other Writings. Methuen/Politico's. 2006. ISBN 1-84275-155-7 Rodden, John (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to George Orwell. Cambridge. 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-67507-9 Taylor, D. J. Orwell: The Life. Henry Holt and Company. 2003. ISBN 0-8050-7473-2External links. Discover the Good Books popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Good Books books.

Best Seller Good Books Books of 2024

  • The Scarlet Letter synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Letter

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Hester Prynne lives in infamy. After committing adultery and bearing a child with a man whose name she refuses to divulge, the heroine of Nathaniel ...

  • Little Women synopsis, comments

    Little Women

    Louisa May Alcott

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Meet the Marches! Louisa May Alcott’s classic introduces us to four unforgettable sisters: beautiful Meg, tomboyish Jo, delicate Beth, and Amy, the ...

  • 5-Minute Recipes synopsis, comments

    5-Minute Recipes

    Authors and Editors of Instructables

    5minute recipes is a collection of fun and easy recipes that only take 5minutes to make!  Use your microwave to make cake or your food processor to make ice cream.  But d...

  • Guinness World Records 2015 Bonus Chapter synopsis, comments

    Guinness World Records 2015 Bonus Chapter

    Guinness World Records

    Discover neverbeforeseen pictures and untold stories behind some of your favourite recordbreakers in the GWR 2015: Bonus Chapter. This eBook goes hand in hand with your Guinness Wo...

  • The New Girl synopsis, comments

    The New Girl

    Tracie Puckett

    Webster Grove, Book 1Seventeenyearold Steph has her heart set on a new beginning for the eleventh time. A move to Webster Grove introduces her to a new school, new friends, and new...

  • The Ugly Duckling synopsis, comments

    The Ugly Duckling

    Hans Christian Andersen

    A classic story by Hans Christian Andersen in its original text presented with modern illustrations. The story of how a little bird endures the abuses and miseries as he was growin...

  • Dracula synopsis, comments

    Dracula

    Bram Stoker

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Few characters have seized readers’ imaginations quite like Count Dracula of Transylvania, the hero of Bram Stoker’s classic. The 1897 novel put vam...

  • Pride and Prejudice synopsis, comments

    Pride and Prejudice

    Jane Austen

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Jane Austen’s beloved classic opens with this witty and very memorable line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possessio...

  • IPhone User Guide for iOS 10.3 synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide for iOS 10.3

    Apple Inc.

    Here's everything you need to know about iPhone, in a handy digital format. Get to know iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It's the d...

  • The Time Machine synopsis, comments

    The Time Machine

    H.G. Wells

    The H.G. Wells classic that helped launch the time travel genre. The Time Traveller, a dreamer obsessed with traveling through time, builds himself a time machine and, much to his ...

  • The Girl in the Converse Shoes synopsis, comments

    The Girl in the Converse Shoes

    Yari Garcia

    A geek is in search of the mysterious girl that kissed him on Halloween, but his only clues are her blonde hair...and her pink Converse shoes.

  • Gone Girl synopsis, comments

    Gone Girl

    Gillian Flynn

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thr...

  • Pretty Little Liars synopsis, comments

    Pretty Little Liars

    Sara Shepard

    I’m still here. And I know everything. –AThe first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit ABC Family TV show Pretty Little Liars.In ultra–trendy Ros...

  • IPhone User Guide for iOS 9.3 synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide for iOS 9.3

    Apple Inc.

    .Here's everything you need to know about iPhone, in a handy digital format. Get to know iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It's the ...

  • Wuthering Heights synopsis, comments

    Wuthering Heights

    Emily Brontë

    An Apple Books Classic edition. If you’ve only ever seen Wuthering Heights on screen, you may have an image of Catherine and Heathcliff as the ultimate starcrossed lovers. But that...

  • A Little Bit of Everything For Dummies synopsis, comments

    A Little Bit of Everything For Dummies

    John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Twenty years ago the very first For Dummies book, DOS For Dummies, was published. From that first printing of that first book came a series unlike anything in the publishing world,...

  • IPhone User Guide synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide

    Apple Inc.

    Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, straight from Apple. This definitive guide helps you get started using iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do.

  • IPad User Guide for iOS 8.4 synopsis, comments

    IPad User Guide for iOS 8.4

    Apple Inc.

    Here's everything you need to know about iPad, in a handy digital format. Get to know iPad and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It's the defin...

  • 15 Ab Exercises You Have Never Done But Should synopsis, comments

    15 Ab Exercises You Have Never Done But Should

    Arnel Ricafranca & Jesse Vince-Cruz

    15 Ab Exercises You Have Never Done But Should A no fluff, video exercise guide to six pack abs for the guy and gal.  Performed by Arnel Ricafranca. Part of the Workout Seri...

  • The Holy Bible - King James Version synopsis, comments

    The Holy Bible - King James Version

    King James

    Holy Bible King James Version Few Sample Paragraphs from The Holy Bible eBook, Genesis (OT) 1 Gen. 1 IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was with...

  • The Avengers, Vol. 1 synopsis, comments

    The Avengers, Vol. 1

    Brian Michael Bendis & John Romita, Jr.

    Read the first chapter of Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis Vol. 1. The Avengers have never been mightier as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, SpiderMan, Wolverine and more team toge...

  • IPhone User Guide synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide

    Apple Inc.

    Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, straight from Apple. This definitive guide helps you get started using iPhone with iOS 14 and discover all the amazing things it ca...

  • Great Expectations synopsis, comments

    Great Expectations

    Charles Dickens

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Charles Dickens’ classic explores potent themes like good versus evil, crime, repentance, love and betrayal. At the center of the story is Pip, an i...

  • IPhone User Guide for iOS 11.4 synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide for iOS 11.4

    Apple Inc.

    Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone. Get to know iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It’s the definitive guide for getting the mos...

  • Winnie the Pooh synopsis, comments

    Winnie the Pooh

    A. A. Milne & Ernest H. Shepard

    Happy 90th birthday, to one of the world's most beloved icons of children's literature, WinniethePooh! The adventures of Pooh and Piglet, Kanga and tiny Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and ...

  • Apple Watch User Guide synopsis, comments

    Apple Watch User Guide

    Apple Inc.

    Here’s everything you need to know about Apple Watch and the Apple Watch app on iPhone. Use this guide to learn about all the amazing things Apple Watch can do, and how to do them....

  • Treasure Island synopsis, comments

    Treasure Island

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    An Apple Books Classic edition. When Billy Bones first walks into Jim Hawkins’ familyrun inn, the prevailing sentiments are fear…and curiosity about what’s in his oversized chest. ...

  • Private synopsis, comments

    Private

    James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

    Former Marine pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a prestigious investigation company. But the world's darkest secrets can only stay private for so long . . . Private: it's where you g...

  • Baby Animals synopsis, comments

    Baby Animals

    Snapshot Picture Library

    Let's play with baby animals! Accompanied by a readalong audio track, more than 70 colorful photos showcase baby animals from all over the world. Meet and learn about all sort...

  • IPhone User Guide for iOS 8.4 synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide for iOS 8.4

    Apple Inc.

    Here's everything you need to know about iPhone, in a handy digital format. Get to know iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do, and how to do them. It's the d...

  • Frankenstein synopsis, comments

    Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Mary Shelley was just 18 when she had a nightmare vision: “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. ...

  • The Art of War synopsis, comments

    The Art of War

    Sun Tzu

    An Apple Books Classic edition.It’s believed that Sun Tzu wrote this Chinese military primer during the 5th century BChundreds of years before the Bible. The book’s 13 chapters exp...

  • The King James Bible, Complete synopsis, comments

    The King James Bible, Complete

    Unknown

    This volume is the complete King James version of the Christian Bible, an English translation authorized by the Church of England and completed in 1611.

  • Think and Grow Rich synopsis, comments

    Think and Grow Rich

    Greg Habstritt & Napoleon Hill

    Think and Grow Rich is one of the most popular success book of alltime, having sold more than 60 million copies since it was first published more than 70 years ago.&...

  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid synopsis, comments

    Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Boys don't keep diariesor do they?   The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to. ...

  • Dream Psychology synopsis, comments

    Dream Psychology

    Sigmund Freud

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Written by the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s 1899 book is the definitive text on learning to interpret dreams. Freud’s groundbr...

  • Tongue Twisters for Kids synopsis, comments

    Tongue Twisters for Kids

    Riley Weber

    "Rubber baby buggy bumpers" Say this three times as fast as you can.  How about, try saying " Loopy lizards lying lazily aloft a little lane of logs," without messing up. ...

  • IPhone User Guide for iOS 12.3 synopsis, comments

    IPhone User Guide for iOS 12.3

    Apple Inc.

    Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, straight from Apple. This definitive guide helps you get started using iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do.

  • 35 Tips on Saving Money synopsis, comments

    35 Tips on Saving Money

    Wolfgang Riebe

    If you are looking for a 'new secret magic formula' to solve all your financial problems, this book isn't for you!But if you are a responsible, realistic and practical person searc...

  • Peter Pan synopsis, comments

    Peter Pan

    J.M. Barrie

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Lose yourself in the pages of J.M. Barrie’s beloved story about Neverland, the Lost Boys, and Tinkerbell. The book begins with older sister Wendy re...

  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes synopsis, comments

    The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    An Apple Books Classic You get not one, not two, but 25 gripping mysteries in Arthur Conan Doyle’s first of five collections of Sherlock Holmes short stories. Follow the brilliant ...

  • UnEnchanted synopsis, comments

    UnEnchanted

    Chanda Hahn

    Mina Grime is unlucky, unpopular and uncoordinated, that is until she saves her crush's life on a field trip, changing her High School status from loser to hero overnight. But with...

  • 50 Best Jokes Ever synopsis, comments

    50 Best Jokes Ever

    Jane Parks

    Love jokes? Here's 50 of the best! All your favorites including the best "Yo Mama" jokes, "Knock, Knock" jokes and more ...

  • The Odyssey synopsis, comments

    The Odyssey

    Homer

    An Apple Books Classic edition. Homer’s eighthcentury epic poem is a companion to The Iliad. It tells the story of Odysseus, who journeys by ship for 10 years after the Trojan War,...

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz synopsis, comments

    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

    L. Frank Baum

    An Apple Books Classic edition. You’ve seen the iconic 1939 movie, but do you know about the talking field mice, the Winkies, and the Witch of the North that appear in the original...