Books With Numbers in the Title – A List You Can Count On
Are you starting a reading challenge and need some books with numbers in the title? Here are 20 examples of books to choose from to help you complete your goals. I’ve included a mix of classics, bestsellers, and lesser known titles to give you lots of options to choose from. There are novels, nonfiction, and comic books to suit anybody’s reading preferences.
12 Years a Slave
Author Solomon Northup
Kicking off this list of books with numbers in the title is the autobiography of Solomon Northup. He was a black man who was born free in the American North but kidnapped and held as a slave in the South for 12 long years. It’s a powerful narrative of the horrors of imprisonment on a plantation and how no human should ever be kept as property.
127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Author Aron Ralston
Another nonfiction book, this time about an outdoorsman who finds himself literally trapped between a rock and a hard place. With his arm pinned and no way to escape he was forced to cut off his own arm with a pocket knife in order to survive. The account is of the excruciating 127 hours spent trapped and fighting for life.
1969: A Brief and Beautiful Trip Back
Author Sea Gudinski
The first fiction entry of a book with a number in the title is a long and winding journey through psychedelic culture in the late 1960s. Follow the characters as they experience all of the highs and lows of experimentation and free living. Of course all of that freedom still comes with consequences.
1984
Author George Orwell
If you don’t know this novel then you must be brand new to books. 1984 is the must read political and social commentary that brought us the ever present term “big brother.” It’s an educational thought piece that holds just as much truth now as when it was written in 1949 and the 80s were considered a distant future.
1Q84
Author Haruki Murakami
There are a handful of books on this list that I read long before I started writing reviews here. I wish I wrote one of 1Q84 because it will likely forever remain as one of my favorite books of all time. I’m a big fan of Murakami’s and this one is tied with Wind Up Bird Chronicle for his best work.
Don’t let the 950 page count deter you from enjoying this masterpiece of magical realism. It’s about a young woman who discovers she’s living in a parallel world, “a world that bears a question.” This genre defying novel blends numerous stories as Aomame’s previously simple life becomes much more complicated, and dangerous.
20th Century Ghosts
Author Joe Hill
Here’s one I actually do have a review for! This collection of short stories follows the theme of modern ghosts. Why are all the ghosts from the 18th century? Did the dead just stop becoming ghosts? Not here. In this book ghosts haunt movie theaters, video stores, and vacation spots that all bring us back to before the turn of the century. It’s subtle nostalgia and a lot of great horror.
Full review of 20th Century Ghosts
4 3 2 1
Author Paul Auster
Nominated for the Booker Prize, 4321 is an acclaimed historical fiction novel and another 1,000 page entry to this list of books with numbers in the title. I didn’t do that on purpose, I’m not trying to bloat your page count while you’re trying to complete a reading challenge I’m just trying to include some great books to read!
Oddly enough, this book is similar to 1Q84 in another way as well. It deals with parallel worlds as it follows the 4 possible lives of Archibald Isaac Ferguson. After birth life can take us in any number of directions based on simple choices or big world events. This novel dives deep into 4 parallel narratives with very different characters all with the same name and DNA.
Catch-22
Author Joseph Heller
If you’re trying to think of books with numbers in the title Catch-22 might’ve been one of the first ones that came to mind. This satirical war novel is one to revisit as an adult. Although this classic is a must read I don’t think it should be taught at the highschool level. In order to fully appreciate the commentary on these pages it’s important to be familiar with the tediousness of bureaucracy and the banality of following orders.
That may not sound exciting but this novel is deeply comical without sacrificing heart. It highlights the boring parts of war to make the devastating parts all the more impactful.
Daisy Jones and the Six
Author Taylor Jenkins Reid
The second book on the list of books with numbers in the title that’s about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll in the late 1960s. This book has an incredibly high Goodreads rating of 4.21/5 from over 1.4 million ratings. Readers gush about the raw reality of the characters and setting that will suck you in and make you feel like you’re living it yourself. In fact, numerous reviewers admit to searching if the band and characters actually existed because they couldn’t believe this level of detail was imagined.
Fahrenheit 451
Author Ray Bradbury
Originally published in 1953 this is another book that stands the test of time. I really wish I could say we moved past the threat of book burnings but that level of information erasure is more prevalent now than ever. You probably read this book back in school, unless your school banned it with a willfully ignorant irony. Regardless, pick it up for your first or fifth time and see the importance of holding a book in your hands.
Four Past Midnight
Author Stephen King
Any book list of any topic could probably include a Stephen King novel. Four Past Midnight has a number in the title and that number refers to the four different perspectives and stories that intertwine in this collection. The 930 page length is a bit misleading, it’s really more like four novellas so it’s easy to break up. All horror, all edge of the seat, all very much King.
No. 1 With a Bullet
Authors Jacob Semahn, Jorge Corona, and Jen Hickman
As promised, a comic book. I feel like comic books and graphic novels are often underrepresented on reading lists like this. This one is a twisted tale about a bisexual woman who has a sex tape leaked. She didn’t know the tape existed and now it’s completely destroying her life. The book deals with sexism in the workplace, bi erasure, victim blaming, and how women are seemingly not allowed to be sexual beings.
Full review of No. 1 With a Bullet
One of Us is Lying
Author Karen M. McManus
This is the first book in a series, it was also turned into a TV show. Essentially, it’s The Breakfast Club turned murder mystery. A bunch of teens enter detention but one of them doesn’t make it out alive. What happened behind closed doors and who’s telling the truth?
One Million Tiny Fires
Author and illustrator Ashley Robin Franklin
One Million Tiny Fires is a graphic novel about a lesbian couple that witnesses a strange meteorological event that triggers changes in their relationship. It’s about the struggles of marriage and what happens when one partner experiences changes that leave the other behind. It’s part sci fi and all relationship drama. It’s also a very short graphic novel that is a sure fire quick read for when you’re short on time.
Full review of One Million Tiny Fires
Ready Player One
Author Ernest Cline
I read Ready Player One back when it came out in 2011. I kind of blame this book for the beginning of the extreme 80s nostalgia that took over media. It’s a sci fi novel that takes place in the future but is driven by 80s pop culture references. It’s a fun read, don’t get me wrong, it just also created a sub genre that got out of control.
If you like video games though this one is a must read. It’s entertaining, fast paced, and simply fun.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author Taylor Jenkins Reid
Weird, I accidentally included two books by this author. Honestly, I didn’t know they were by the same person until I started writing this section. This one has even stronger Goodreads reviews with a 4.3 from over 2.7 million ratings. Holy moly, I guess I should probably read some of her books!
Seven Husbands is about an aging and mysterious Hollywood starlet who chooses an unknown journalist to write her biography. She tells the story of her life through the time markers of her husbands along the way.
The Sign of Four
Author Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four is a classic Sherlock Holmes mystery with a strange one legged villain at the heart of it. If you already like Holmes or are looking to veer away from the movies and shows and try the books instead this is a great place to start. A bonus about these books is that they are in the public domain so they can be found for free online.
Slaughterhouse Five
Author Kurt Vonnegut
This is actually the only Vonnegut I’ve read so far. I should probably fix that at some point.
However, it’s widely considered to be his masterpiece so I could think of worse places to start. It’s similar to Catch-22 in that it is a satirical war novel but this one defies genre much more. It’s a mix of historical fiction, autobiography, and absurdist science fiction that combines into a dark comedy of epic proportions. It’s frequently featured on lists for both the best books of all time and banned books (that you should definitely read).
Station Eleven
Author Emily St. John Mandel
I love Station Eleven’s take on the post apocalyptic novel. Where most books in that genre opt for monsters, extreme violence, and/or fire and brimstone, Station Eleven opts for far more subtlety. It follows a theater troupe as they travel to camps to bring a little entertainment to a bleak world. Of course they experience their share of death and hardships but it’s inspiring to see a group risk their lives for art.
Thirteen Reasons Why
Author Jay Asher
Possibly the most controversial book on this list of books with numbers in the title is Thirteen Reasons Why. It deals with the very tough subject matter of teen suicide. A high school girl kills herself and leaves tapes for a classmate explaining why she did it.
I thought the book was very well written, engaging, and thought provoking. Then I thought the same of the first season of the Netflix show. Then the second season shattered my illusions and turned me off to television dramas as a whole. It became an experiment in pushing boundaries. It went from an honest discussion about teen mental health and became an exploitative nightmare. Stick with the book.
Have you read any of these? Tell me your favorites!