The 100 best easy books about solitude and connection

Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and A Part of Speech by Joseph Brodsky lead the 100 best easy books about solitude and connection, ranked by literary regard. To start, Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara is the most approachable of the highly regarded books here, about 23 min to read.

Each point of light is one of the 100, placed by how hard it is to read. The brighter, the higher it ranks. The dotted line is one way up.

100
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406
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8
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Start low: My Side of the MountainSee all 100
Very Easy10 booksEasy47 booksModerate43 books

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No. 1 of 100

Kokoro

Natsume Sōseki · 1914

Difficulty 41/1004.5 hours

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About 406 hours for 100 of 100 books with measured lengths. Estimates use 250 words a minute, adjusted for each book's difficulty. At 2 hours a day, about 203 days for those books.

1–10 · 37 hours

  1. No. 1 on this list. Kokoro

    Natsume Sōseki · 1914

    Moderate4.5 hours

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

    Kokoro is universally regarded as the supreme masterpiece of modern Japanese literature and one of the most important novels of the twentieth century in any language. It is the single most commonly assigned novel in Japanese high schools and universities, and appears on literature syllabi worldwide. It has been continuously in print since 1914 and has been translated into dozens of languages. It is a permanent fixture of every serious list of world literature, from the Penguin Classics and Oxford World Classics catalogs to Harold Bloom's discussions of global literary achievement.

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  2. No. 2 on this list. Of Mice and Men

    John Steinbeck · 1937

    Easy1.7 hours

    Taught in schools: Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate – English, Turkish edebiyat curriculum (Turkey)

    One of the most taught works in American secondary and post-secondary education, with 548 syllabus appearances placing it in the top tier of assigned literature. Included in Library of America, Penguin Classics, Everyman's Library, and Penguin Modern Classics. Appears on the BBC Big Read Top 100 and 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Its status as core American literary reading is unquestioned.

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  3. Taught in graduate poetry programs and comparative literature courses at major universities, 'A Part of Speech' is the collection through which Brodsky entered the Western canon. It appears in virtually every major anthology of 20th-century exile and émigré poetry. Not a fixture in broad undergraduate syllabi, but essential in advanced poetry and diaspora literature courses.

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  4. An important early New York School text, though less widely known than Lunch Poems. Its reputation has grown as O'Hara's stature has increased.

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  5. Appears on 1,040 university syllabi and sits on the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list. It is a standard text for American naturalism and the Gilded Age city.

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  6. One of the most beloved and widely adapted works in Japanese literature. Cultural landmark.

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  7. No. 7 on this list. Deep Rivers

    José María Arguedas · 1958

    Easy4 hours

    Taught in schools: UNAM Escuela Nacional Preparatoria – programas de Literatura (Mexico)

    The central work of indigenist literature in Latin America and a cornerstone of Peruvian fiction.

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  8. Ranked 18th in Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, above many canonical novels, and has Wikipedia articles in 40 languages. It is the Tintin album most discussed in comics studies and is widely read across Europe.

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  9. Adam Bede appears regularly on Victorian literature and 19th-century British fiction syllabi at universities worldwide, and is the standard entry point to George Eliot's work in courses that cannot assign the longer Middlemarch. It is included in most survey courses of the Victorian novel. Its canonical status within the Eliot corpus is secondary only to Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss, but within the broader Victorian canon it holds a secure if not dominant position — consistently anthologized, consistently in print, and consistently cited as a foundational work of Victorian realism.

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  10. A celebrated work of Russian and Jewish literature, widely anthologized and studied alongside Red Cavalry.

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11–20 · 51 hours

  1. No. 11 on this list. The Book of Three · Lloyd Alexander · 1964

    Newbery Medal winner (for The High King). The Chronicles of Prydain are a cornerstone of children's fantasy.

    Easy2.3 hours

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  2. No. 12 on this list. Tonio Kröger · Thomas Mann · 1903

    One of Mann's most beloved early works and a key text in the literature of the artist's self-understanding.

    Moderate1.3 hours

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  3. No. 13 on this list. Brown Girl Dreaming · Jacqueline Woodson · 2014

    Brown Girl Dreaming is standard reading in American middle school and high school curricula, particularly in units on memoir, poetry, and Civil Rights-era literature. It appears on numerous recommended reading lists for young adults and is included in many school districts' required reading programs. Its canonical status is strong within YA and middle-grade education but has not yet reached the broader university literary canon.

    Easy1.9 hours

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  4. No. 14 on this list. Asterix the Gaul · René Goscinny · 1961

    On Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, an unusual place for a comic album, with a Wikipedia article in 33 languages. It is a fixture of French cultural literacy and studied in courses on bande dessinée, though rarely in literature syllabi.

    Easy22 min

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  5. No. 15 on this list. The Eye of the World · Robert Jordan · 1990

    The Eye of the World launched one of fantasy's most influential series. While not considered literary fiction, it holds canonical status within the epic fantasy genre, frequently cited alongside Tolkien's work as foundational to modern fantasy.

    Easy16 hours

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  6. No. 16 on this list. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born · Ayi Kwei Armah · 1968

    Included in: Heinemann African Writers Series

    A founding text of postcolonial African fiction. Widely taught.

    Moderate3.8 hours

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  7. No. 17 on this list. Winter in the Blood · James Welch · 1974

    A foundational Native American novel. Widely taught alongside Momaday and Silko.

    Easy2.5 hours

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  8. No. 18 on this list. The Old Wives' Tale · Arnold Bennett · 1908

    Ranked 87th on the Modern Library 100 Best Novels and regularly taught in courses on Edwardian and realist fiction. It is the Bennett novel most likely to appear on syllabi.

    Moderate14 hours

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  9. No. 19 on this list. Big Sur · Jack Kerouac · 1962

    Increasingly regarded as one of Kerouac's best novels, perhaps his most artistically successful. Less widely known than On the Road but valued by critics.

    Easy3.1 hours

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  10. No. 20 on this list. The Bell · Iris Murdoch · 1958

    Widely considered one of Murdoch's finest novels. Frequently taught and anthologized, it is often the entry point for new readers of her work.

    Easy5.7 hours

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21–30 · 31 hours

  1. No. 21 on this list. Under the Greenwood Tree · Thomas Hardy · 1872

    Under the Greenwood Tree is taught in British literature and Hardy courses as the founding text of his Wessex cycle, but it occupies a supporting role in the canon relative to Tess of the d'Urbervilles or Far from the Madding Crowd. It appears on specialist Hardy syllabi and English pastoral fiction courses rather than general surveys. No syllabus data was found in the database, but the work's position in Hardy's oeuvre and the breadth of Hardy scholarship gives it modest but genuine canonical presence.

    Easy3.3 hours

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  2. No. 22 on this list. Ghost World · Daniel Clowes · 1997

    Ghost World, serialised in Clowes's comic Eightball before its 1997 collection, is a staple of university courses on graphic novels and appears on most lists of essential comics. Its standing outside comics studies is narrower than that of Maus or Persepolis.

    Easy25 min

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  3. No. 23 on this list. My Side of the Mountain · Jean Craighead George · 1959

    Taught in schools: CSEC English B – Caribbean Examinations Council

    A Newbery Honor book and one of the most enduring wilderness survival novels for young readers. Continuously in print since 1959.

    Very Easy1.7 hours

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  4. No. 24 on this list. The Gate · Natsume Sōseki · 1910

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

    The concluding novel of Soseki's early trilogy. Admired for its restraint and psychological depth.

    Moderate4.1 hours

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  5. No. 25 on this list. American Born Chinese · Gene Luen Yang · 2006

    Printz Award winner, first graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award. A foundational text in Asian American graphic literature.

    Easy37 min

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  6. No. 26 on this list. The Three Evangelists · Fred Vargas · 1995

    France's most acclaimed crime novel of the 1990s. CWA International Dagger winner.

    Easy4.6 hours

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  7. No. 27 on this list. Appointment in Samarra · John O'Hara · 1934

    Ranked 22nd on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels and on TIME's All-TIME 100 Novels. It is taught in courses on American fiction of the 1930s and the novel of manners.

    Moderate4 hours

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  8. No. 28 on this list. Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth · Chris Ware · 2000

    First comic to win a major UK literary prize. Museum exhibitions worldwide.

    Moderate38 min

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  9. No. 29 on this list. Spin · Robert Charles Wilson · 2005

    Hugo winner, widely praised. One of the best SF novels of the 2000s.

    Moderate6.9 hours

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  10. No. 30 on this list. The Long Valley · John Steinbeck · 1938

    'The Chrysanthemums' and The Red Pony are widely anthologized and taught in American schools. The collection ranks below Steinbeck's novels like Of Mice and Men.

    Moderate4.6 hours

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31–40 · 46 hours

  1. No. 31 on this list. Devotions

    Mary Oliver · 2017

  2. No. 32 on this list. The Little Sister

    Raymond Chandler · 1988

  3. No. 33 on this list. White Nights

    Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1848

  4. No. 34 on this list. The City We Became

    N.K. Jemisin · 2020

  5. No. 35 on this list. Everyman

    Philip Roth · 2007

  6. No. 36 on this list. The Dragon Can't Dance

    Earl Lovelace · 1979

  7. No. 37 on this list. Couples

    John Updike · 1968

  8. No. 38 on this list. Lost in the City

    Edward P. Jones · 1992

  9. No. 39 on this list. Plainsong

    Kent Haruf · 1999

  10. No. 40 on this list. The Night Watchman

    Louise Erdrich · 2021

41–50 · 37 hours

  1. No. 41 on this list. The Wind from the Plain

    Yasar Kemal · 1960

  2. No. 42 on this list. New Kid

    Jerry Craft · 2019

  3. No. 43 on this list. The Last Picture Show

    Larry McMurtry · 1966

  4. No. 44 on this list. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain

    Robert Olen Butler · 1993

  5. No. 45 on this list. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)

    Douglas Adams · 2002

  6. No. 46 on this list. Fools Crow

    James Welch · 1986

  7. No. 47 on this list. A Town Like Alice

    Nevil Shute · 1950

  8. No. 48 on this list. Dying Inside

    Robert Silverberg · 1972

  9. No. 49 on this list. A Happy Boy

    Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson · 1860

  10. No. 50 on this list. Island of the Blue Dolphins

    Scott O'Dell · 1960

    Taught in schools: CSEC English B – Caribbean Examinations Council

51–60 · 39 hours

  1. No. 51 on this list. Amy and Isabelle

    Elizabeth Strout · 2005

  2. No. 52 on this list. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    Sherman Alexie · 2007

  3. No. 53 on this list. The Tendrils of the Vine

    Colette · 1908

    Taught in schools: Programme de français, lycée général et technologique (France)

  4. No. 54 on this list. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

    Gail Honeyman · 2018

  5. No. 55 on this list. Number the Stars

    Lois Lowry · 1989

  6. No. 56 on this list. The Grass Harp, Including A Tree of Night and Other Stories

    Truman Capote · 1993

  7. No. 57 on this list. The Able McLaughlins

    Margaret Wilson · 1924

  8. No. 58 on this list. How Should a Person Be?

    Sheila Heti · 2012

  9. No. 59 on this list. A Deadly Education

    Naomi Novik · 2020

  10. No. 60 on this list. Peter Camenzind

    Hermann Hesse · 1904

61–70 · 34 hours

  1. No. 61 on this list. The Decagon House Murders

    Yukito Ayatsuji · 1987

  2. No. 62 on this list. Laughing Boy

    Oliver La Farge · 1930

  3. No. 63 on this list. Kitchen

    Banana Yoshimoto · 1988

  4. No. 64 on this list. Scenes of Clerical Life

    George Eliot · 1858

  5. No. 65 on this list. Legends & Lattes

    Travis Baldree · 2022

  6. No. 66 on this list. Strange Pilgrims

    Gabriel García Márquez · 1992

  7. No. 67 on this list. Code Name Verity

    Elizabeth Wein · 2012

  8. No. 68 on this list. Prohibido suicidarse en primavera

    Alejandro Casona

  9. No. 69 on this list. A Hall of Mirrors

    Robert Stone · 1967

  10. No. 70 on this list. This One Summer

    Mariko Tamaki · 2014

71–80 · 45 hours

  1. No. 71 on this list. The House in the Cerulean Sea

    TJ Klune · 2020

  2. No. 72 on this list. In the Forest

    Edna O'Brien · 2002

  3. No. 73 on this list. Knulp

    Hermann Hesse · 1988

  4. No. 74 on this list. The Ten Thousand Doors of January

    Alix E. Harrow · 2019

  5. No. 75 on this list. The Vicomte de Bragelonne

    Alexandre Dumas · 1847

  6. No. 76 on this list. Smile

    Raina Telgemeier · 2010

  7. No. 77 on this list. Swords and Deviltry

    Fritz Leiber · 1970

  8. No. 78 on this list. A Judgement in Stone

    Ruth Rendell · 1977

  9. No. 79 on this list. The Icarus Girl

    Helen Oyeyemi · 2005

  10. No. 80 on this list. The Westing Game

    Ellen Raskin · 1978

81–90 · 43 hours

  1. No. 81 on this list. Omoo

    Herman Melville · 1847

  2. No. 82 on this list. A Five-Year Sentence

    Bernice Rubens · 1978

  3. No. 83 on this list. Holler, Child

    LaToya Watkins · 2023

  4. No. 84 on this list. The Pastures of Heaven

    John Steinbeck · 1932

  5. No. 85 on this list. The Warded Man

    Peter V. Brett · 2008

  6. No. 86 on this list. A Hologram for the King

    Dave Eggers · 2012

  7. No. 87 on this list. Kingdom Come

    Mark Waid · 1997

  8. No. 88 on this list. Uzumaki

    Junji Ito · 1998

  9. No. 89 on this list. Where the Crawdads Sing

    Delia Owens · 2018

  10. No. 90 on this list. A Lucky Man

    Jamel Brinkley · 2018

91–100 · 43 hours

  1. No. 91 on this list. If I Had Two Wings

    Randall Kenan · 2020

  2. No. 92 on this list. The Dark Forest

    Liu Cixin · 2008

  3. No. 93 on this list. Mathilda

    Mary Shelley

  4. No. 94 on this list. Brick Lane

    Monica Ali · 2003

  5. No. 95 on this list. A Kind of Freedom

    Margaret Wilkerson Sexton · 2017

  6. No. 96 on this list. Uncle's Dream

    Fyodor Dostoevsky · 1859

  7. No. 97 on this list. A Month in the Country

    J.L. Carr · 1980

  8. No. 98 on this list. Soldier's Pay

    William Faulkner · 1926

  9. No. 99 on this list. Eye of the Needle

    Ken Follett · 1978

  10. No. 100 on this list. The Things We Never Say

    Elizabeth Strout · 2026

About this list

These 100 books are the highest-scoring eligible easy books about solitude and connection currently in the catalogue. About 406 hours of reading in all. Difficulty runs from 34 to 42 out of 100 for the middle half of the list; the summit is Peter Camenzind at 45.

This list is ranked by literary regard, with a consistent order for equal scores. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. A book is here when ReadingRate files it under Solitude & Connection as one of its primary reading domains, at a confidence of 0.8 or more. Catalogue coverage and the historical canon both limit what this list can represent.

When we matched the Canons dataset to our catalogue in October 2026, our canonical-status scores rose with the number of school curricula, publisher series and lists in it that cite a work: the median score was 72 for books one such source cites, 84 at two, 88 at three, 92 at four and 93 at five or more. Prizes are left out of that count. Outside the state curricula, the dataset’s sources choose mostly from what has been translated into English or French, so it is a weaker check on other literatures. Source: Canons (Andrew Piper), CC BY 4.0

Questions people actually ask

What are the best easy books about solitude and connection?
By literary regard, which weighs canonical status, critical standing and influence: Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, A Part of Speech by Joseph Brodsky, Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara and Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. ReadingRate ranks 100 such books, each with a difficulty score and a reading-time estimate.
Which easy books about solitude and connection should I read first?
Start from difficulty, not from rank. The most approachable books on this list that still carry top literary regard are Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (about 23 min), Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.
What are the shortest of the best easy books about solitude and connection?
Among the top 25, the shortest are A Part of Speech by Joseph Brodsky (about 17 min), Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara (about 23 min) and Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny (about 22 min), at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty.
Which of the best easy books about solitude and connection are the established classics?
By canonical status, how firmly a book sits in curricula, anthologies and the canon: Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa and Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara.
Can I read any of these easy books about solitude and connection for free?
8 of the 100 open in ReadingRate's reader with a free account, from public-domain editions: Sister Carrie, Adam Bede, Tonio Kröger, The Old Wives' Tale, A Happy Boy and 3 more.
How long would it take to read the top ten?
About 37 hours, at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty: 19 days at two hours a day. Set your own pace on the page and the list's reading times change to it.
How hard are easy books about solitude and connection to read?
Most of this list sits between 34 and 42 on ReadingRate's 100-point difficulty scale, where 40 to 55 is moderate. The summit is Peter Camenzind at 45. Every entry carries its own score, so a reader can pick a great book at a difficulty they will finish.
How is this list ranked?
On literary-regard data: how canonically established a work is, its critical standing, and its influence on later writing. It is not a readers’ poll, which is why recent bestsellers rarely appear. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. Lists by country, author, period, theme or difficulty keep to literature (fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy), their novels, poems and plays first and their philosophy after them; a list of a kind of book, such as memoir or criticism, keeps every book of that kind. Every list holds at most three works by one author. A book is here when ReadingRate files it under Solitude & Connection as one of its primary reading domains, at a confidence of 0.8 or more.