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Best Letters Books: 30 Top Nonfiction Books of Letters and Epistolary Novels

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Arthur Worsley
by Arthur Worsley
M.A. Psychology, Oxford. McKinsey Alum. Founder & Editor at TAoL.

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Contents
1. The 30 Best Letters Books And Epistolary Novels Ever Written
2. Books 1-5: The Top 5 Best Letters Books of All Time
3. Books 6-30: The Best Letters Books to Read Next
4. More Book Recommendations
5. More Best Books of All Time (by Type)
6. More Best Nonfiction Books (by Topic)
7. More Best Fiction Books (by Genre)
8. Wish There Was a Faster/Easier Way?

There’s something truly magical about letter writing. Maybe it’s that each letter has a clear audience. Or that the medium tends to keep things concise. Or that you can read them in neat, bite-sized chunks.

Whatever it is, from the famous to the literary, from the personal to the shared, there’s little doubt that some of the wisest and wittiest words ever written have been delivered in handy, correspondence-shaped packages.

That’s why, in this list of book recommendations, I’ve collected the greatest letter books and epistolary novels ever written; a treasure trove of insights from the world’s very best writers distilled into missives to readers and friends.

Whether you’re here for enjoyment or inspiration or instruction; whether you’re a here as a writer or editor or just to read you’ll find the very best letters books pre-ranked and organised below.

I hope you enjoy them, I hope they inspire you and I hope you find what you’re looking for.

And until next time, read daily, read widely and read well,

Arthur “An Animal That Writes Letters” Worsley

The 30 Best Letters Books And Epistolary Novels Ever Written

Why these best letters books and not others? To stay objective, I rank all my book recommendations by what’s most loved (Goodreads rating), what’s most popular (Goodreads review count) and what’s proven timelessly relevant (first publication date).

This isn’t a whimsical list. It’s a data-driven, crowdsourced collection of the best letters books ever published as decided by book lovers just like you. (Note: To maximise diversity, I only include the top ranking book from any series in a list.)

And if you think something's missing? I LOVE book recommendations so if there are any other best letters books that you think deserve mentioning, email me and I’ll be sure to include them in the next round of updates.

Until then, enjoy this ultimate list of the 30 best letters books of all time...

Books 1-5: The Top 5 Best Letters Books of All Time

The top 5 best letters books of all time are...

Best Letters Books: Letters from a Stoic
1. Letters from a Stoic - Seneca
Letters from a Stoic is a powerful and practical collection of 124 letters on how to become a more devoted stoic in every aspect of life, by stoic philosopher and tutor to emperor Nero, Seneca the Younger.
Published -49 // 256 pages // Rated 4.4 over 30,600 reviews on Goodreads
Best Letters Books: Letters to a Young Poet
2. Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
Published 1929 // 80 pages // Rated 4.3 over 71,000 reviews on Goodreads
Best Letters Books: Letter from the Birmingham Jail
3. Letter from the Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King Jr.
Published 1963 // 35 pages // Rated 4.7 over 6,300 reviews on Goodreads
Best Letters Books: The Screwtape Letters
4. The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
Published 1942 // 223 pages // Rated 4.3 over 394,300 reviews on Goodreads
Best Letters Books: Letters from Father Christmas
5. Letters from Father Christmas - J.R.R. Tolkien
Published 1943 // 111 pages // Rated 4.3 over 17,300 reviews on Goodreads

Books 6-30: The Best Letters Books to Read Next

Here are the next best letters books from my database...

6. The Letters of Vincent van Gogh - Vincent van Gogh
Published 1914 // 528 pages // Rated 4.1 over 88,800 reviews on Goodreads
7. My Dearest Friend - Abigail Adams
Letters of Abigail and John Adams
Published 1840 // 508 pages // Rated 4.2 over 2,300 reviews on Goodreads
8. Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Published 1782 // 448 pages // Rated 4.1 over 48,900 reviews on Goodreads
9. Jane Austen's Letters - Jane Austen
Published 1932 // 672 pages // Rated 4.2 over 2,600 reviews on Goodreads
10. The Habit of Being - Flannery O'Connor
Letters of Flannery O'Connor
Published 1978 // 640 pages // Rated 4.5 over 2,000 reviews on Goodreads
11. Letters of John Keats - John Keats
Published 1954 // 448 pages // Rated 4.4 over 500 reviews on Goodreads
12. The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf - Louise DeSalvo
Published 1965 // 480 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,500 reviews on Goodreads
13. The Adams-Jefferson Letters - Lester J. Cappon
The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams
Published 1959 // 690 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,200 reviews on Goodreads
14. Letters Home - Sylvia Plath
Published 1975 // 502 pages // Rated 4.2 over 2,800 reviews on Goodreads
15. A Literate Passion - Anaïs Nin
Letters of Anaïs Nin Henry Miller, 1932-1953
Published 1965 // 448 pages // Rated 4.2 over 2,100 reviews on Goodreads
16. Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son - George Horace Lorimer
Published 1902 // 364 pages // Rated 4.1 over 1,600 reviews on Goodreads
17. The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde - Oscar Wilde
Published 1962 // 1,270 pages // Rated 4.3 over 400 reviews on Goodreads
18. Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Published 1928 // 320 pages // Rated 4.3 over 300 reviews on Goodreads
19. Anne Sexton - Anne Sexton
A Self-Portrait in Letters
Published 1977 // 433 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,700 reviews on Goodreads
20. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien - J.R.R. Tolkien
Published 1981 // 502 pages // Rated 4.2 over 5,900 reviews on Goodreads
21. Selected Letters - Emily Dickinson
Published 1971 // 384 pages // Rated 4.3 over 500 reviews on Goodreads
22. The Letters of Virginia Woolf - Virginia Woolf
Vol. One, 1888-1912
Published 1975 // 566 pages // Rated 4.3 over 600 reviews on Goodreads
23. Magick Without Tears - Aleister Crowley
Published 1954 // 528 pages // Rated 4.2 over 1,100 reviews on Goodreads
24. Persian Letters - Montesquieu
Published 1721 // 352 pages // Rated 3.7 over 6,600 reviews on Goodreads
25. Letter to His Father - Franz Kafka
Published 1952 // 127 pages // Rated 3.9 over 22,800 reviews on Goodreads
26. Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn - Henry VIII of England
Published 1720 // 72 pages // Rated 3.9 over 1,800 reviews on Goodreads
27. Open Me Carefully - Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson
Published 1998 // 362 pages // Rated 4.6 over 800 reviews on Goodreads
28. Letters to Children - C.S. Lewis
Published 1985 // 128 pages // Rated 4.2 over 2,100 reviews on Goodreads
29. Letters on England - Voltaire
Published 1734 // 162 pages // Rated 3.7 over 2,400 reviews on Goodreads
30. Tiny Beautiful Things - Cheryl Strayed (FREE Summary)
Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Published 2012 // 304 pages // Rated 4.3 over 80,000 reviews on Goodreads

More Book Recommendations

Enjoyed this list of the best letters books of all time?

You'll also like TAoL's other book recommendations...

More Best Books of All Time (by Type)

These are some lists of overall best books to read...

More Best Nonfiction Books (by Topic)

These are some lists of best nonfiction books to read...

More Best Fiction Books (by Genre)

These are some lists of best fiction books to read...

Or, you can read all my book recommendations.

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