Here you’ll find 80 Books that start with C that begin with C, organized from “Candide” to “Cyrano de Bergerac”. Many entries are classics, contemporary bestsellers, and international works useful for reading lists, teaching, and discovery.
Books that start with C are titles whose first word begins with the letter C, spanning fiction and nonfiction. Notable examples include Voltaire’s satirical “Candide” and Edmond Rostand’s romantic play “Cyrano de Bergerac”.
Below you’ll find the table with Title, Author, Publication year, Genre, and Notes.
Title: Shows the full book title as it appears on most editions, helping you locate or cite the work quickly.
Author: Gives the author’s name so you can identify creators, compare editions, or search for more works.
Publication year: Lists the original publication year or first edition year to place the work in historical context.
Genre: Notes the primary genre so you can filter reads by interest, theme, or curriculum needs.
Notes: Brief comments on awards, notable editions, or themes to help you choose or teach the book.
Books that start with C
| Title | Author(s) | Publication Year | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candide | Voltaire | 1759 | Satire |
| Cannery Row | John Steinbeck | 1945 | Fiction |
| Canticle for Leibowitz, A | Walter M. Miller Jr. | 1959 | Science fiction |
| Capital in the Twenty-First Century | Thomas Piketty | 2013 | Economics |
| Captain Corelli’s Mandolin | Louis de Bernières | 1994 | Historical fiction |
| Carrie | Stephen King | 1974 | Horror |
| Casino Royale | Ian Fleming | 1953 | Spy fiction |
| Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents | Isabel Wilkerson | 2020 | Social science |
| Cat in the Hat, The | Dr. Seuss | 1957 | Children’s literature |
| Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Tennessee Williams | 1955 | Drama |
| Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | 1961 | Satire |
| Catcher in the Rye, The | J.D. Salinger | 1951 | Coming-of-age fiction |
| Cathedral | Raymond Carver | 1983 | Short story collection |
| Cat’s Cradle | Kurt Vonnegut | 1963 | Science fiction |
| Chains | Laurie Halse Anderson | 2008 | Young adult fiction |
| Changeling, The | Victor LaValle | 2017 | Horror |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Roald Dahl | 1964 | Children’s fantasy |
| Charlotte’s Web | E.B. White | 1952 | Children’s literature |
| Chicka Chicka Boom Boom | Bill Martin Jr.; John Archambault | 1989 | Children’s literature |
| Childhood’s End | Arthur C. Clarke | 1953 | Science fiction |
| Children of Blood and Bone | Tomi Adeyemi | 2018 | Young adult fantasy |
| Children of Men, The | P.D. James | 1992 | Dystopian fiction |
| Children of Time | Adrian Tchaikovsky | 2015 | Science fiction |
| Chocolat | Joanne Harris | 1999 | Fiction |
| Christmas Carol, A | Charles Dickens | 1843 | Novella |
| Chronicles of a Death Foretold | Gabriel García Márquez | 1981 | Novella |
| Cider House Rules, The | John Irving | 1985 | Fiction |
| Circe | Madeline Miller | 2018 | Fantasy |
| Citizen: An American Lyric | Claudia Rankine | 2014 | Poetry |
| City of Glass | Paul Auster | 1985 | Postmodern fiction |
| City of Thieves | David Benioff | 2008 | Historical fiction |
| Civil Disobedience | Henry David Thoreau | 1849 | Essay |
| Clan of the Cave Bear, The | Jean M. Auel | 1980 | Historical fiction |
| Clear and Present Danger | Tom Clancy | 1989 | Thriller |
| Cleopatra: A Life | Stacy Schiff | 2010 | Biography |
| Client, The | John Grisham | 1993 | Legal thriller |
| Clockwork Orange, A | Anthony Burgess | 1962 | Dystopian fiction |
| Cloud Atlas | David Mitchell | 2004 | Science fiction |
| Cloud Cuckoo Land | Anthony Doerr | 2021 | Historical fiction |
| Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Judi Barrett | 1978 | Children’s literature |
| Coddling of the American Mind, The | Greg Lukianoff; Jonathan Haidt | 2018 | Social science |
| Code Breaker, The | Walter Isaacson | 2021 | Biography |
| Cold Comfort Farm | Stella Gibbons | 1932 | Satire |
| Cold Mountain | Charles Frazier | 1997 | Historical fiction |
| Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed | Jared Diamond | 2005 | History |
| Color of Magic, The | Terry Pratchett | 1983 | Fantasy |
| Color Purple, The | Alice Walker | 1982 | Historical fiction |
| Common Sense | Thomas Paine | 1776 | Political nonfiction |
| Commonwealth | Ann Patchett | 2016 | Fiction |
| Communist Manifesto, The | Karl Marx; Friedrich Engels | 1848 | Political nonfiction |
| Confederacy of Dunces, A | John Kennedy Toole | 1980 | Comic fiction |
| Confessions | Augustine of Hippo | c. 400 | Autobiography |
| Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | John Perkins | 2004 | Memoir |
| Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, A | Mark Twain | 1889 | Satire |
| Constant Gardener, The | John le Carré | 2001 | Spy fiction |
| Contact | Carl Sagan | 1985 | Science fiction |
| Conversations with Friends | Sally Rooney | 2017 | Fiction |
| Coraline | Neil Gaiman | 2002 | Dark fantasy |
| Corduroy | Don Freeman | 1968 | Children’s literature |
| Corrections, The | Jonathan Franzen | 2001 | Fiction |
| Cosmos | Carl Sagan | 1980 | Science nonfiction |
| Count of Monte Cristo, The | Alexandre Dumas | 1844 | Adventure fiction |
| Covenant of Water, The | Abraham Verghese | 2023 | Historical fiction |
| Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things | William McDonough; Michael Braungart | 2002 | Environmental nonfiction |
| Cranford | Elizabeth Gaskell | 1853 | Classic fiction |
| Crazy Rich Asians | Kevin Kwan | 2013 | Romance |
| Cricket in Times Square, The | George Selden | 1960 | Children’s literature |
| Crime and Punishment | Fyodor Dostoevsky | 1866 | Psychological fiction |
| Crossroads | Jonathan Franzen | 2021 | Fiction |
| Crow Road, The | Iain Banks | 1992 | Fiction |
| Crucial Conversations | Kerry Patterson; Joseph Grenny; Ron McMillan; Al Switzler | 2002 | Business |
| Crucible, The | Arthur Miller | 1953 | Drama |
| Cruel Prince, The | Holly Black | 2018 | Young adult fantasy |
| Cry, the Beloved Country | Alan Paton | 1948 | Fiction |
| Crying of Lot 49, The | Thomas Pynchon | 1966 | Postmodern fiction |
| Cuckoo’s Calling, The | Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) | 2013 | Mystery |
| Cujo | Stephen King | 1981 | Horror |
| Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The | Mark Haddon | 2003 | Mystery |
| Cutting for Stone | Abraham Verghese | 2009 | Fiction |
| Cyrano de Bergerac | Edmond Rostand | 1897 | Drama |
Descriptions
Candide
A classic French satire following a naive young man on a global journey as he confronts hardship while clinging to a philosophy of optimism.
Cannery Row
A short novel depicting the lives of the poor but vibrant residents of a street in Monterey, California, during the Great Depression.
Canticle for Leibowitz, A
A post-apocalyptic novel spanning 600 years, in which monks preserve scientific knowledge after a nuclear war, hoping to rebuild civilization.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
An influential nonfiction book that analyzes wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Set on a Greek island during WWII, this novel explores love and war through the relationship between a local woman and an Italian occupying officer.
Carrie
The debut novel from Stephen King about a bullied, telekinetic high school girl who exacts revenge on her cruel classmates at the senior prom.
Casino Royale
The first James Bond novel, introducing the iconic British secret agent 007 as he takes on the sinister Le Chiffre at a high-stakes baccarat game.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
A nonfiction work that examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America, comparing it to systems in India and Nazi Germany.
Cat in the Hat, The
A revolutionary early reader book that uses a simple vocabulary to tell the story of a mischievous, hat-wearing cat who visits two bored children.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
A Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a Southern family in crisis, exploring themes of mendacity, greed, and sexual repression.
Catch-22
A classic anti-war satire set during World War II, famous for its non-chronological plot and the paradoxical “Catch-22” logic.
Catcher in the Rye, The
A landmark novel about teenage angst and alienation, following the disillusioned Holden Caulfield’s experiences in New York City.
Cathedral
A landmark collection of minimalist short stories that explore the lives of working-class Americans with profound empathy and precision.
Cat’s Cradle
A satirical novel about the arms race and the end of the world, centered on a substance called ice-nine that freezes all water on contact.
Chains
A powerful historical novel about a 13-year-old slave girl fighting for her freedom during the American Revolution in New York City.
Changeling, The
A dark modern fairy tale set in New York City, blending horror and social commentary as a man searches for his missing wife and child.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The whimsical tale of young Charlie Bucket, who wins a tour of the magical and mysterious chocolate factory of Willy Wonka.
Charlotte’s Web
A beloved story about the friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a clever spider named Charlotte who saves him from the slaughterhouse.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
A beloved alphabet rhyming book where the letters of the alphabet race each other up a coconut tree with vibrant, rhythmic text.
Childhood’s End
A classic sci-fi novel depicting humanity’s final generation after the peaceful arrival of mysterious alien overlords who end war and poverty.
Children of Blood and Bone
A bestselling West-African-inspired fantasy novel about a young girl’s quest to bring magic back to her oppressed people.
Children of Men, The
A novel set in a future where humanity faces extinction due to mass infertility, until a young woman mysteriously becomes pregnant.
Children of Time
An epic sci-fi novel spanning thousands of years, following a human mission to a planet inhabited by a civilization of evolved spiders.
Chocolat
A novel about a mysterious woman who opens a chocolate shop in a small, traditional French village, challenging its rigid moral codes.
Christmas Carol, A
The classic holiday story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s ghostly visitations and his transformation from a bitter miser to a kind man.
Chronicles of a Death Foretold
A gripping novella that reconstructs the events leading up to a murder in a small town, where everyone knew it was going to happen but did nothing.
Cider House Rules, The
A sprawling novel set in rural Maine, exploring the controversial issue of abortion through the life of an orphan, Homer Wells.
Circe
A bestselling mythological fantasy novel that re-imagines the life of Circe, the powerful witch from Homer’s *The Odyssey*, as a feminist hero.
Citizen: An American Lyric
A critically acclaimed book-length poem that uses essays, images, and poetry to explore the experience of racism in modern America.
City of Glass
The first volume of *The New York Trilogy*, a postmodern detective story that plays with identity, language, and the nature of reality.
City of Thieves
A novel about two young men in besieged Leningrad during WWII who are tasked with an impossible mission: find a dozen eggs for a wedding cake.
Civil Disobedience
An influential essay arguing that individuals should not permit governments to overrule their consciences. Frequently published as a standalone book.
Clan of the Cave Bear, The
The first book in the Earth’s Children series, set in prehistoric Europe, about a Cro-Magnon girl raised by Neanderthals.
Clear and Present Danger
A political thriller featuring Jack Ryan, who uncovers a covert war against a Colombian drug cartel that threatens to spiral out of control.
Cleopatra: A Life
A Pulitzer Prize-winning biography that strips away myths to reveal the intelligent, powerful, and ruthless ruler of ancient Egypt.
Client, The
A bestselling thriller about an 11-year-old boy who witnesses a mob lawyer’s suicide and becomes the target of both the FBI and the Mafia.
Clockwork Orange, A
A controversial novel exploring free will through its violent teenage protagonist, Alex, and his state-enforced “rehabilitation.”
Cloud Atlas
An ambitious novel featuring six nested stories that span from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future, exploring reincarnation and history.
Cloud Cuckoo Land
A complex and hopeful novel weaving together the stories of characters across centuries, all connected by a single ancient Greek text.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
A classic picture book about the fantastical town of Chewandswallow, where the weather delivers all the food the residents need.
Coddling of the American Mind, The
A book exploring the rise of anxiety among young people, linking it to trends in parenting and campus culture.
Code Breaker, The
The story of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and the development of CRISPR gene editing, a revolutionary tool in modern biology.
Cold Comfort Farm
A witty parody of romantic rural literature, in which a sensible young woman goes to live with her eccentric relatives on a chaotic farm.
Cold Mountain
A National Book Award winner about a wounded Confederate soldier’s perilous journey home to his love near the end of the Civil War.
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
A nonfiction work exploring why past civilizations—from the Maya to Easter Island—collapsed, drawing lessons for the modern world.
Color of Magic, The
The first book in the popular Discworld series, introducing the incompetent wizard Rincewind and the naive tourist Twoflower.
Color Purple, The
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of Celie, an African American woman in the early 20th-century South, through her letters.
Common Sense
A hugely influential pamphlet that advocated for American independence from Great Britain, using clear and persuasive language for a mass audience.
Commonwealth
A novel spanning five decades, exploring the far-reaching consequences of a chance encounter that shatters two families and binds them together.
Communist Manifesto, The
One of the world’s most influential political documents, outlining the principles of communism and calling for a workers’ revolution.
Confederacy of Dunces, A
A posthumously published, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the misadventures of the eccentric and bombastic Ignatius J. Reilly in New Orleans.
Confessions
A foundational work of Western literature, this spiritual autobiography details St. Augustine’s sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
A controversial memoir in which the author claims to have worked to indebt developing nations, making them subservient to U.S. corporate interests.
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, A
A satirical novel where a 19th-century engineer is accidentally transported to the time of King Arthur, where he tries to modernize society.
Constant Gardener, The
A British diplomat investigates his wife’s murder and uncovers a vast conspiracy involving a multinational pharmaceutical company in Africa.
Contact
A novel by the famed astronomer exploring the first contact between humanity and a more advanced, extraterrestrial intelligence.
Conversations with Friends
The debut novel from a prominent millennial author, exploring the complex relationships between two college students and an older married couple.
Coraline
A novella about a young girl who finds a secret door in her new home that leads to an alternate, sinister version of her own life.
Corduroy
A classic picture book about a small teddy bear in a department store who goes on an adventure at night to find his missing button.
Corrections, The
A National Book Award-winning novel that satirizes the modern American family through the lives of an elderly Midwestern couple and their three adult children.
Cosmos
A bestselling popular science book that explores cosmic evolution and human civilization, based on the author’s acclaimed television series.
Count of Monte Cristo, The
A classic adventure novel of wrongful imprisonment, escape, and meticulously planned revenge against those who betrayed Edmond Dantès.
Covenant of Water, The
An epic, multi-generational novel set in Kerala, South India, following a family that suffers from a peculiar affliction: death by drowning.
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
An influential design text arguing for a new industrial model where products are designed to be either fully biodegradable or fully recyclable.
Cranford
A satirical and affectionate portrait of life in a small English town dominated by a community of elegant and proper single women.
Crazy Rich Asians
A wildly popular satirical novel about a young woman who travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family, only to discover they are fabulously wealthy.
Cricket in Times Square, The
A Newbery Honor-winning story about a country cricket who is accidentally transported to a New York City subway station.
Crime and Punishment
A tormented student commits a murder to test a theory and is plagued by guilt and paranoia in this masterpiece of Russian literature.
Crossroads
The first book in a planned trilogy, this novel follows the Hildebrandt family in a Chicago suburb in 1971 as each member faces a moral crisis.
Crow Road, The
A darkly humorous family saga following a young Scotsman as he investigates the disappearance of his eccentric uncle.
Crucial Conversations
A bestselling guide that provides tools for handling high-stakes, emotional conversations effectively in personal and professional life.
Crucible, The
A classic play that uses the Salem witch trials of 1692 as an allegory for McCarthyism and the anti-communist paranoia of the 1950s.
Cruel Prince, The
The first book in a popular series about a mortal girl, Jude, who is raised in the treacherous High Court of Faerie and vies for power.
Cry, the Beloved Country
A powerful novel about a black South African minister searching for his son in Johannesburg, offering a profound indictment of apartheid.
Crying of Lot 49, The
A short and complex novel about a woman who uncovers what may be a centuries-old conspiracy involving a secret postal service.
Cuckoo’s Calling, The
The first book in the Cormoran Strike series, introducing a war veteran turned private investigator who takes on a complex suicide case.
Cujo
A suspenseful novel about a mother and her young son who are trapped in their car by Cujo, a massive, rabid St. Bernard.
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The
Narrated by a 15-year-old boy on the autism spectrum, this novel follows his investigation into the death of a neighbor’s dog.
Cutting for Stone
A sprawling family saga about twin brothers, orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth, who grow up in Ethiopia and pursue medicine.
Cyrano de Bergerac
A famous romantic play about a brilliant but self-conscious poet with a large nose who helps a less-articulate man woo the woman he loves.