There's no such thing as the best books of all time

It happens every so often. Once a year, maybe once every two. Some newspaper or magazine or humble website posts a list of the best books of all time. It might be the top one hundred, maybe the top fifty. It might be the collected opinions of a selection of famous people, or just the staff of that particular media company.

Whatever the particulars, the lists are all the same.

There'll be plenty from 19th century England - Bleak House will be there, as will Middlemarch. At least two books by Tom Hardy. Naturally, Ulysses. There'll be a bunch from 20th century America. The Great Gatsby, obviously, The Handmaid's Tale. There'll be one or two token works in translation, probably Don Quixote and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

There's always a selection of black authors, but usually black authors who are known for writing about race - James Baldwin, Octavia E. Butler, Toni Morrison, Zadie Smith. Kazuo Ishiguro is usually the only asian writer represented, although sometimes Haruki Murakami will show up.

The same list, over and over again, just slightly different.