Best Books of the Past 125 Years, and the Authors' Typewriters

The New York Times Book Review has marked its 125-year anniversary by asking readers to nominate the best book of the past 125 years. Submissions were narrowed down to a list of 25, which were voted on by more than 200,000 readers from all 50 US states and 67 countries. The top five books are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

2. The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Image courtesy of Mr & Mrs Vintage Typewriters

3. 1984 (George Orwell)

4. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez)

5. Beloved (Toni Morrison)

Also among the list (in the titles' alphabetical order) of the 25 most-nominated books (one per author) were:

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)

Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)

A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)