The 30 most important popular fiction books of the last 50 years!

I attempt to list the most influential popular novels of the last 50 years!
Feel free to disagree with me in the comments (because I'm probably wrong)
____________________________________
New videos every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5pm UK time, noon Eastern, 9am Pacific
If you like what you see here, follow me these place too:
Blog: www.CriminOlly.com for over 100 text reviews of crime, horror, thrillers and pulp paperbacks.
Other reviews: leviathanlibraries.com/
Instagram: / whatmeworry_reads @whatmeworry_reads for daily book pics and mini reviews
Twitter: whatmeworry @whatmeworry for random ramblings
GoodReads: / 5760727.oliver_clarke
Email: CriminOlly [at] gmail
____________________________________
Music: Who's Afraid of Halloween by Alfred Grupstra from Pixabay

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Absolutely wonderful video. This is one of the best BookTube videos I’ve ever seen actually. I can’t argue anything on this list.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Wow. Thank you Michael. 🙏🏻

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

This is brilliantly done. Your explanations for including the books are articulate and well considered - the range of books in the list is impressive too. I’m not sure what I’d include that you haven’t….maybe The Handmaids Tale, Contact and The Colour Purple. Awesome video Olly

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks, Gareth! Those are all really excellent suggestions for additions. I’ll probably do a revised version of the video at some point.

[@paulvoorhies8821]

Johnathon Franzen’s The Corrections should absolutely be on any such list. I’m also a middle-aged white guy who loves psychological thrillers, horror, some drama, and generally different, fucked up human situations. I’m partial to the 60s to the present, and the 70s may be my favorite book decade, though it is undeniably my favorite decade in cinema.

[@razz5558]

Your mouth watering book collection is killing me. Jealous again. I adore James Herbert. My first Herbert book was 'the dark" which I plucked off the shelves of my local grocery market when I was sixteen. It sucked me right into the early 80s horror boom, and for worse or for better, put me on the road to becoming the horror artist I am today.

[@paulvoorhies8821]

OMG! Tales Of The City is literally what made me fall madly in love with the city of SF. And the 93 miniseries is absolutely my favorite miniseries of all-time. It is absolutely the most perfectly cast adaptation of a book to a cinematic production, with the possible exception of Rosemary’s Baby, which Judy missed your cut off but which should absolutely be read; as in Tales, the movie of RB is almost indistinguishable from the book. It’s an unbelievably faithful adaptation.

[@hickoryhollowwoodworks]

I know this is an older video now but this is absolutely brilliant Olly. Criminally low views. Fantastic representation of different genres and succinct summaries of their impact on pop culture.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! And sorry it’s taken me so long to reply!

[@babettesfeast6347]

Lee Child surprisingly is from Coventry. You missed out Jackie Collins for her sex and shopping novels. Great list and well thought out.

[@PaxPanic]

What an undertaking of a video! Well done! I know the work that must have went into this!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Pax!

[@colonelweird]

Regarding comics, I agree with your choices, but arguably an even more influential book is DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, which created the trend of DC and Marvel reboots, "event" comics, multiverses, and stories where you need a scorecard to keep track of what the heck is going on. (Though I admit, Marvel was doing some of this a few years earlier than DC, or at least that's my impression of the history.) Both companies do these things quite regularly, and only the most dedicated fans can keep track of them. Plus the trend has shaped superhero movies in a big way, especially the MCU.

[@thedevil1882]

The Beck series (1965-75) is probably the most influential crime series from Sweden, ask Lee Child for instance. Here social criticism began to take a huge part in crime fiction.

[@yelisieimurai]

Maybe game of thrones. Brilliant and influential book (and series).

[@oldsalt4798]

The Hunt or Red October is outstanding. I DNF'd The Stand when I was a teen just because of the length, but I plan to tackle it again before I die.

[@jenniferlovesbooks]

Great video! I love how knowledgeable you are in the genres you read.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you so much! :)

[@SlimeAndSlashers]

This was such a CREATIVE and INTRIGUING idea! I liked listening to you explain why you chose the books you chose. I loved that you put Welcome to Dead House on here because I do think it's important that it created a horror-heavy mindset for a whole generation of people. I also think the artwork of the Goosebumps book covers is influential and important in itself. There are quite a few books you mentioned here that I still need to read, but I loved hearing your reasonings behind choosing those even though I don't have personal experience reading them myself. I'm dying to read Rats! I hope I can get to it soon. You talk about books in such an educated and enjoyable way. I love it! Wonderful video!

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks, Kelsi! I kind of regret that I was too old for Goosebumps, I think I would have absolutely devoured them as a kid. I know what you mean about the cover art, it’s got that great 90s aesthetic that things like Garbage Pail Kids had. The Rats is great, I think you’ll love it.

[@fiberartsyreads]

Phew what a list, great job narrowing it down! I’ve only read 6. Having just finished The Color Purple I’d have to put that one on my list. I’d probably add Handmaid’s Tale also.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah I think those two should both definitely be on the list.

[@Steve_Stowers]

Great list. Of the ones I'm familiar with, I didn't see any that didn't belong. But there were some that maybe should have been on the list but weren't. Other commenters have already mentioned A Game Of Thrones, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Color Purple. Some other books/authors that I thought of while I was watching the video-I don't claim that they all necessarily should have been on the list, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see them: Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game) John Irving (The World According To Garp) Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth) Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time) (I know this is an older video, but I only just now saw it.)

[@hallimages4857]

I believe “I Am Legend “ has been for more influential than any of the more recent list entries -without it there’s no Night of the Living Dead to reinvent the zombie genre.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Agreed! But it was published more than 50 years ago

[@hallimages4857]

@@CriminOllyBlogI stand corrected. Thank you, Sir.

[@nikholman1287]

Great list. It should go without saying you can't make a list of every book in every genre that's made an impact. I think there's a balancing act to calling out the obvious books and raising awareness to the forgotten/unknown. You do that well.

[@wburris2007]

Interesting list. I have only read one book from this list, and that is Neuromancer.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

An absolute classic!

[@bjminton2698]

I'm a fairly new subscriber who is watching some of your older videos and I realize my comments are no longer timely, but you might have added Patricia Cornwell to your list. She began the modern forensic mystery category, IMHO. Postmortem was the first book. Thank you for all the wonderful videos! The time you spend preparing for them is greatly appreciated.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you for your kinds words! Really glad you're enjoying the channel. Patricia Cornwell hadn't occurred to me, but agree she deserves a mention. I read the first few Scarpetta books when they came out and really enjoyed them.

[@fadista7063]

A wonderful concept--I don't think I've ever seen this type of list before. Certainly it struck a chord! You really come up with the most thought provoking ideas! I read TTSS by LeCarre and The Eagle Has Landed as an adolescent and it laid down a love of international espionage "spy" thrillers--though I don't find the modern ones as well written, character wise. (I might not be sampling enough).0 Loved the Anne Rice vampire series, very popular when I was still in retail books. You're right about The Stand--it was considered questionably long, but it burned through the reading public like a virus 😉 I am sorry to say I still have not read HGTTG, perhaps one day soon. Ditto Lee Child. Tom Clancy was amazing as far as his inside knowledge, though yes there could be a formulaic quality to his work. Graphic novels became popular when I was working in the book trade, it was interesting to see a graphic novel section created in the bookstore...and the subsequent manga/anime craze. "Made lawyers sexy in a way they hadn't been previously..." lol yep the young, principled lawyer with fashion stubble=John Grisham. I have to say I don't miss the Harry Potter craze. The books were good but the marketing was grating at times. My only additions might be Lonesome Dove, American Psycho and Prince of Tides although these might be too specifically regional American though here they were long standing best sellers. Great vid concept, interesting to see the reponses. This would make a good tag also.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Your mention of manga highlights an area I missed! I wonder what the breakthrough book for that was? Akira, perhaps. I’m reading Lonesome Dove at the moment and agree it probably deserves a mention as the starting point for more modern western stories. I’m going back and forth on American Psycho. It definitely made an impact at the time, but did it leave a lasting legacy? Maybe making graphic violence more acceptable in literary fiction?

[@AnneEWilliamson]

Gosh, what a hard list to put together, to narrow it down to 30 books! King definitely has impacted popular fiction books in general, though Carrie is definitely one of his most well-known (possibly next to The Shining in its impact). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is another important one. I mean, bringing humor to sci-fi and making the sci-fi genre more easily digestible. And Harry Potter is definitely the one I'm least surprised to see on this list. I mean, what a massive book series which affected multiple generations.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

It was hard to get it down to 30, but if I hadn’t I’d have been rambling on all day! Thanks for watching 😊

[@colonelweird]

Interesting list, but I kept wondering when you'd mention Dean Koontz, since he's right next to your head throughout the video lol. Also, writers like Rosemary Rogers, Janet Dailey, Nora Roberts, and Judith Krantz have been hugely influential. I also think Tim LaHaye should be on this list - every word he's written is utter rubbish, but it's massively influential rubbish, literarily, politically, and religiously. It occurs to me you could make a separate list of the most destructively influential novels of the past 50 years, with LaHaye as the starting point. That would be fascinating. Edit: And there's no Dan Brown? Where's Dan Brown???

[@penitent468]

Hello. Great video! Nothing by Ken Follet? He was a favorite during my teens and twenties and opened the door to many other authors. I would say “The Eye of the Needle” is up there with “The Eagle has Landed”.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! Follett is a really good suggestion! I wonder maybe if a better book choice would be Pillars of the Earth… I will probably do a revised version of the video at some point.

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

Love the Jack Reacher book series and the TV series.

[@uptown3636]

Brilliant list. I've only read about a third of them, and I'm eager to use this to augment my TBR. Since you kindly invited us to fill in the gaps, I would argue that Don Winslow's operatic crime dramas should be included. I'd probably choose The Cartel (book two in his border trilogy). Another book worth considering is Still Life by Louise Penny. Her Three Pines mysteries elevate the trite cozy mystery genre with delicate prose and keen psychological insight. Nothing groundbreaking there, but I've seen it make readers out of some of my older friends in much the same way that Harry Potter made a reader out of me.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thank you! I think there’s definitely a gap in my list for that kind of grand crime drama. I was considering The Godfather but that’s just more than 50 years old. I wonder if Winslow is the right author for that or if it should be James Ellroy - I’ve not really read enough of either to judge. Not heard of Louise Penny, but I’ll look her up! Thanks for watching and commenting as always 😊

[@jeremyfee]

Intriguing list. I bet a lot of work went into making this one. Nice.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Jeremy, it was fun to do!

[@jamie-578]

Thank you olive great review, i going read red dragon

[@robinthornton8282]

I would call "Silence of the Lambs" and such psychological thrillers

[@CriminOllyBlog]

That seems a good categorisation

[@mikebruce3933]

Great fun. How about The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader and Shibumi by Trevanian? The Ninja was certainly the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster in the cinema and the two books did nothing but encourage the so called ninja boom in the martial arts world of the 1980s. They also started a tiny thriller subgenre featuring highly trained martial artists battling conspiracies of various hues in exotic locations. Also after these two books, any fight scene where a lantern jawed hero decks a villain with a simple right hook seems underdone.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Good shout! I've never read Trevanian but I really need to. Someone else suggested Shogun by James Clavell, which I think is probably the book that most fired up western interest in eastern culture.

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Not disagreeing with your choices, but I do have a few women to add to your consideration. Bridget Jones was definitely a modern humorous look at women's experiences (some women, anyway). But she follows in a tradition. See Erma Bombek. Peg Bracken. Shirley Jackson in her Raising Demons voice. Yes, these are all more housewife flavored than Bridget ... but so were most women's lives. At least western white women of a certain income level. 😉

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Heidi - I do need to read some of that flavour of Jackson

[@will._.x_.861]

Well done sir! Would Charles Willeford belong on a list like this? I found his books to be a leading influence on pop culture. 🤔

[@michaelbroderick2282]

I remember back in '71 when Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book came out. Started the whole Stealing Book craze. Stores, libraries, a friend's bookcase. Standing under a street light at night. "Hey what ya got under your coat?" "Phillip K. Dick." "Cool." Started a whole generation reading.

[@heidifogelberg3544]

Jaws.

[@oldsalt4798]

I LOVED GONE GIRL!

[@jshaers96]

Apart from Hitch-Hikers, I haven't read any of the titles Olly discusses here, but it's still interesting to hear his point of view. I remember The Rats being very popular when I was growing up; you couldn't go into WHSmith without seeing it prominently displayed. I suppose he was the British Stephen King (or aspired to be) but I'm not sure if he's much remembered now. It's a fair point that these titles can be regarded as important even if they're not going to feature on many lists of great literature. Orwell wrote an interesting essay on pulp thrillers, although I can't remember the title off the top of my head. I think he was discussing 'No Orchids for Miss Blandish' by James Hadley Chase.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think Herbert is still fairly well remembered, but agree he has nowhere near the popularity of King (or, to be fair, the talent). That Orwell essay sounds great - I’ll have to hunt it down.

[@jshaers96]

@@CriminOllyBlog The essay is called 'Raffles and Miss Blandish'.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@jshaers96 thank you!

[@DDB168]

That's a great list. Good to see Lord Fouls Bane made it 😉😉

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I still haven’t actually managed to read it! I’ve tried a few times over the last 30 years or so.

[@DDB168]

@@CriminOllyBlog Perhaps a booktube read along is required. MKV hasn't read it either. The book is being cancelled all over booktube if that concerns you 🤣

[@CriminOllyBlog]

@@DDB168 oh well if it’s being cancelled I definitely want to read it

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

This was an amazing video with such well thought out explanations. I kept count and have only read 10 of the books you mentioned. Oops! The ones I would add are: Wild Seed (1980) by Octavia Butler for its influence on black representation in speculative fiction spaces and for laying the foundations for the eventual popularity of what is now known as Afrofuturism. Off Season (1980) by Jack Ketchum, because it is (for better or, more likely, for worse) the one splatterpunk/extreme horror title pretty much every indie extreme author today tries to emulate. 😂 Exquisite Corpse (1996) by Poppy Z. Brite, which I feel is currently finally gaining the attention it deserves due to its impact on LGBT representation in darker fiction and the way it handles transgression and sexuality in a brilliantly compelling and still gruesome way. I know many horror authors today name it as a big influence.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks, Juan - those are really interesting additions! I think I am going to do another video that adds more titles as a few people have suggested some that I probably should have included.

[@lisagarrity5836]

How did you keep it down to 30? I started thinking of my own list and it was over 20 by the year 2000. Some of them that didn't make your list were Shogun by James Clavell, Maus by Art Spiegelman , The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Where Are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark. Okay, you can see why I wasn't able to keep it to 30. I still have more I want to add.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

The 30 limit was mostly to keep the length of the video down! Your suggestions are all really great! I think Day of the Jackal is slightly too old, but I agree it's been hugely influential. I'm going to do another video I think that adds more books to the original list!

[@paulvoorhies8821]

OMG! I am sooooo gonna razz you for 50 Shades. It’s a truly mediocre book, though I fell madly in love with Jamie Dornan well before she was cast in it (The Fall w/Gillian Anderson-amazing show). To this day, he is still my celebrity husband.

[@Steve_Stowers]

A good example of how a book can be important or influential without being good?

[@MindBloodandDark]

I’ve barely read any of these. 😭 I do have a copy of the Rats though 🤣

[@CriminOllyBlog]

You need to read The Rats! It's awesome

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I’ve read 18 out of 30. I’m not sure what I would add. I don’t really have a finger on the pulse of popular book. I lot of these might fall out of favor in the future.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I think you're right that the list will change over time with the ebb and flow of public taste

[@joodwaleed7570]

شكرا جزيلا

[@johngaffney1671]

Great review of the last 50 years. I'm glad you moved from that background of sloppily stacked books

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Ha! Yeah it was a bit chaotic.

[@CDubya.82]

The first real book that started me reading was Welcome to Dead House

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I really need to read that!

[@CDubya.82]

@@CriminOllyBlog Yes i was young. Around 10. But ive reread alot of Goosebumps as an Adult too. Holds up well actually

[@Jesterdoggie]

No Game of Thrones?

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I'm sure there was a reason why I didn't include that.....but now I can't for the life of me think what it was. If nothing else it's almost solely responsible for the fact every other man has a beard nowadays

[@vickiragland8066]

sent by michael k. vaughan. glad i came.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Vicki! Hope you enjoy the channel 😊

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

I have all the Crichton books (even the rare Westworld paperback movie tie-in). I have read: Timeline, Westworld, Travels, Airframe, Congo, Jurassic Park, The Lost World. Read: Rats, Carrie, Rambo (Different ending than the movie).

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

You do realize that Macro means the same as Micro. A look at a tiny detail or a super closeup. As far as lenses go, anyway. I think you were meaning Tom Clancy looks at the large “wide angle” view?

[@paulvoorhies8821]

Carrie is an EXCELLENT pick, though even King’ll tell you that he wish he’d been talented enough to write the ending scenes that the screenplay for the movie did so brilliantly.

[@oldsalt4798]

Too bad Fifty Shades of Grey besmirched the true BDSM community and got it wrong all over the place. That book's content is nothing but abuse.

[@JorgeRodriguez-my6ej]

Cant wait til all this identity politics garbage becomes the cringe many already see it for.

[@paulvoorhies8821]

A lot of toxic masculinity in your choices. Not particularly my speed. (Rambo, Death Wish, et al., though I really do like the first Dirty Harry film quite a bit.