Has Ann Patchett picked the best 75 books of the past 75 years?

She and her bookshop’s staff have assembled a great, inclusive list. As with all lists, there are annoying omissions – but I’m not sure I could have done better

• The Guardian’s 100 best novels written in English

I love Ann Patchett, both because of the brilliance of State of Wonder and because she has an independent bookshop. And I love lists of books, both because they give me new reading ideas and because they awaken my competitiveness over how many I’ve read. So a list of books compiled by Patchett and her team of booksellers? Just the thing to cheer me up a little.

There are parameters, of course – Patchett et al have chosen 75 books from the last 75 years, to celebrate Parade magazine’s 75th anniversary, and only those written in English, “because if we opened it up to the world we would miss plenty of gems out of sheer ignorance and wind up with a lot more than 75 books”.

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