No. 3: A portrait of the artist as a young man by James Joyce

James Joyce's kinda sorta autobiography-disguided-as-a-novel comes in on our charts at number 3.

Stephen Dedalus wants to be an artist, but there's one BIG thing standing in his way: he's Catholic. And it's hard, in early 20th century Ireland, to be both Catholic and an artist. But Stephen? He's gonna make it after all.

This novel is told in 5 vignettes that stand together as a loosely linear narrative. My favorite vignette by far was the one where Stephen hears a hellfire-and-brimstone sermon and decides to repent of all his sins including but not limited to prostitute patronage.

I realize this all comes off as super glib, but I only kind of mean it that way. Because, while Portrait might be influential in the 20th century, there are far "better" books on this list. Or, perhaps, books I liked better.