This list contains 69 books that start with D, from “Dance Dance Dance” to “Dying of the Light”. Titles include fiction and nonfiction, classics, bestsellers and niche works you can use for reading lists, references, and SEO.
Books that start with D are titles whose English name begins with the letter D, covering many genres and eras. Many landmark novels like “Dracula” and “Dune” begin with D, showing the letter’s strong presence in literary history.
Below you’ll find the table with Title, Author, Year, and Genre.
Title: The full book title as published; you use it to identify and search for the exact work.
Author: The credited author or creator so you can distinguish editions and find other works by the same writer.
Year: The original publication year or first edition year helps you place the book in historical context quickly.
Genre: The primary genre shows the book’s subject or style so you can decide whether it matches your reading needs.
Books that start with D
| Title | Author(s) | First publication year | Primary genre | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Quixote | Cervantes, Miguel de | 1605 | Classic fiction | Landmark picaresque novel satirizing chivalry; hugely influential in Western literature, Part I 1605, Part II 1615. |
| Divine Comedy | Alighieri, Dante | c.1320 | Epic poetry | Dante’s epic journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise — foundational medieval poem shaping Western ideas of the afterlife. |
| Dracula | Stoker, Bram | 1897 | Gothic horror | Iconic vampire novel that defined modern Gothic horror and spawned countless adaptations and cultural myths. |
| Dune | Herbert, Frank | 1965 | Science fiction | Epic sci‑fi about politics, ecology and messianic myth on Arrakis; Hugo and Nebula–influential, bestselling cornerstone of the genre. |
| David Copperfield | Dickens, Charles | 1850 | Classic fiction | Semi‑autobiographical Dickens novel noted for vivid characters and serialized popularity; a Victorian family and coming‑of‑age classic. |
| Death of Ivan Ilyich | Tolstoy, Leo | 1886 | Novella | Stark novella on mortality and meaning; a frequently taught exploration of existential crisis and late‑life reckoning. |
| Dhalgren | Delany, Samuel R. | 1975 | Science fiction | Ambitious, experimental novel known for its fragmented cityscape and cult status among speculative‑fiction readers. |
| Darkness at Noon | Koestler, Arthur | 1940 | Political fiction | Powerful political novel examining totalitarianism, show trials and individual conscience; widely read during WWII era. |
| Dead Souls | Gogol, Nikolai | 1842 | Classic fiction | Satirical novel about landowners’ moral decay in 19th‑century Russia; unfinished but highly influential. |
| Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick, Philip K. | 1968 | Science fiction | Philosophical sci‑fi that inspired Blade Runner; explores identity, empathy and what it means to be human. |
| Diary of a Young Girl | Frank, Anne | 1947 | Memoir | Anne Frank’s wartime diary; intimate, enduring testimony of Jewish life in hiding and a landmark Holocaust memoir. |
| Dubliners | Joyce, James | 1914 | Short stories | Collection of realist short stories portraying early‑20th‑century Dublin; notable for style and psychological insight. |
| Disgrace | Coetzee, J. M. | 1999 | Literary fiction | Booker Prize–winning novel about power, shame and post‑apartheid South Africa; spare, powerful prose. |
| Deliverance | Dickey, James | 1970 | Thriller | Gritty, river‑set novel of survival and violence; adapted into a landmark 1972 film. |
| Doctor Zhivago | Pasternak, Boris | 1957 | Historical fiction | Epic Russian novel of love and revolution; Nobel Prize controversy and celebrated international translations. |
| Doctor Faustus | Mann, Thomas | 1947 | Novel | Complex, modernist novel reimagining the Faust legend amid Nazi Germany’s rise; ambitious philosophical narrative. |
| Death in Venice | Mann, Thomas | 1912 | Novella | Elegant novella about art, obsession and mortality set in Venice; frequently anthologized and adapted. |
| Day of the Triffids | Wyndham, John | 1951 | Science fiction | Post‑apocalyptic novel of walking plants and human survival; classic mid‑century British SF. |
| Day of the Jackal | Forsyth, Frederick | 1971 | Thriller | Taut assassination thriller famed for meticulous plotting and procedural detail. |
| Dance to the Music of Time | Powell, Anthony | 1951 | Literary fiction | Title of a celebrated 12‑volume novel sequence chronicling English life across decades; admired for social breadth. |
| Devil Wears Prada | Weisberger, Lauren | 2003 | Chick lit | Glamorous office satire inspired by fashion‑world experience; major bestseller and film adaptation. |
| Devil in the White City | Larson, Erik | 2003 | Narrative nonfiction | Dual narrative history of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer; bestselling narrative nonfiction. |
| Dark Half | King, Stephen | 1989 | Horror | Stephen King novel about a writer and his murderous pseudonym; blend of psychological and supernatural horror. |
| Dark Is Rising | Cooper, Susan | 1973 | Children’s fantasy | Second title in a beloved children’s fantasy sequence mixing Arthurian and Celtic myth. |
| Darkness Visible | Styron, William | 1990 | Memoir | Stark memoir‑essay on depression and recovery by William Styron; acclaimed for candid prose. |
| Dune Messiah | Herbert, Frank | 1969 | Science fiction | Direct sequel to Dune focusing on politics and the burden of prophecy; darker, introspective follow‑up. |
| Dying of the Light | Martin, George R. R. | 1977 | Science fiction | Early Martin novel blending space opera and melancholic romance; noted among his sci‑fi works. |
| Don Juan | Byron, George Gordon | c.1819 | Epic satire | Long satirical poem that subverts romantic heroism; published in cantos across 1819–1824. |
| Death Comes for the Archbishop | Cather, Willa | 1927 | Historical fiction | Poetic novel about Catholic mission life in the American West; admired for landscape and tone. |
| Devdas | Chattopadhyay, Sarat Chandra | 1917 | Novel | Tragic Bengali novel of doomed love; widely adapted in Indian cinema and literature. |
| Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Stevenson, Robert Louis | 1886 | Gothic novella | Classic exploration of split personality, duality and Victorian anxieties; enduring cultural touchstone. |
| Demons | Dostoevsky, Fyodor | 1872 | Political novel | Intense Russian novel about radicalism, ideology and moral chaos; also titled The Possessed. |
| Death of Artemio Cruz | Fuentes, Carlos | 1962 | Novel | Innovative Mexican novel using stream of consciousness to examine life, power and post‑revolutionary identity. |
| Days of Abandonment | Ferrante, Elena | 2002 | Literary fiction | Intense portrait of a woman’s unraveling; Ferrante’s visceral, contemporary exploration of loneliness and identity. |
| Doomsday Book | Willis, Connie | 1992 | Science fiction | Time‑travel novel mixing medieval history and emotional resonance; Hugo–winning author’s acclaimed work. |
| Doll’s House | Ibsen, Henrik | 1879 | Drama | Ibsen’s seminal social drama (commonly cataloged without leading article) challenging gender roles and domestic norms. |
| Doorbell Rang | Stout, Rex | 1965 | Mystery | Nero Wolfe mystery grappling with justice and publicity; popular mid‑20th‑century detective fiction. |
| Diamond Age | Stephenson, Neal | 1995 | Science fiction | Cyberpunk/postcyberpunk novel blending nanotech futures with social commentary and Victorian motifs. |
| Dangerous Liaisons | Laclos, Pierre Choderlos de | 1782 | Epistolary novel | Scandalous 18th‑century French epistolary tale of manipulation, seduction and aristocratic decadence. |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Kinney, Jeff | 2007 | Children’s fiction | Humorous illustrated middle‑grade novel that launched a bestselling series and film adaptations. |
| Deep Work | Newport, Cal | 2016 | Self-help | Productivity guide arguing focused, undistracted work yields professional success; popular with knowledge workers. |
| Down and Out in Paris and London | Orwell, George | 1933 | Memoir | Early George Orwell nonfiction exposing poverty and working‑class life in two capitals; socially incisive reportage. |
| Dream of the Red Chamber | Cao, Xueqin | c.1791 | Classic fiction | One of China’s Four Great Classical Novels; intricate family saga and social commentary from the Qing era. |
| Dreams from My Father | Obama, Barack | 1995 | Memoir | Barack Obama’s introspective early memoir on family, race and identity; widely read after his political rise. |
| Drunkard’s Walk | Mlodinow, Leonard | 2008 | Popular science | Engaging look at chance, probability and how randomness shapes life and history. |
| Dispossessed | Le Guin, Ursula K. | 1974 | Science fiction | Philosophical sci‑fi about anarchism, utopia and dual worlds; Hugo and Nebula–winning classic. |
| Different Seasons | King, Stephen | 1982 | Novella collection | Collection of four novellas showcasing King’s literary range, including “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.” |
| Dreamcatcher | King, Stephen | 2001 | Horror | Supernatural‑tinged King novel combining friendship, alien menace and psychological dread. |
| Dust Tracks on a Road | Hurston, Zora Neale | 1942 | Memoir | Zora Neale Hurston’s memoir blending folklore, autobiography and African‑American cultural observation. |
| Decline and Fall | Waugh, Evelyn | 1928 | Satire | Debut satirical novel skewering British society with dark humor and sharp observational wit. |
| Deadeye Dick | Vonnegut, Kurt | 1982 | Satirical novel | Vonnegut’s comic yet dark meditation on guilt, fate and American life. |
| Diary of a Madman | Gogol, Nikolai | 1835 | Short story | Famous Gogol short story in epistolary form, satirizing bureaucracy and madness. |
| Darkly Dreaming Dexter | Lindsay, Jeff | 2004 | Crime fiction | Debut Dexter novel about a forensic technician who is also a serial killer; basis for popular TV series. |
| Dance Dance Dance | Murakami, Haruki | 1988 | Postmodern fiction | Surreal, melancholic novel blending pop culture, loneliness and metaphysical mystery. |
| Dances with Wolves | Blake, Michael | 1988 | Historical fiction | Novel that inspired the Oscar‑winning film; frontier tale exploring cultural encounters. |
| Delta of Venus | Nin, Anaïs | 1977 | Erotic fiction | Posthumously published collection of erotic short stories written in the 1940s; notable for literary eroticism. |
| Democracy in America | Tocqueville, Alexis de | 1835 | Political science | Seminal study of American democracy, civil society and social equality by a French political thinker. |
| Door into Summer | Heinlein, Robert A. | 1957 | Science fiction | Time‑travel‑tinged Heinlein novel mixing heist plots, romance and classic mid‑century SF inventiveness. |
| Dog Soldiers | Stone, Robert | 1974 | Literary fiction | Dark, politically engaged novel reflecting 1970s America; won critical acclaim for stylistic boldness. |
| Death on the Nile | Christie, Agatha | 1937 | Mystery | Classic Hercule Poirot mystery set on an Egyptian Nile cruise; one of Christie’s most famous plots. |
| Dolores Claiborne | King, Stephen | 1992 | Thriller | Tense King novel told in a single narrator’s voice; psychological drama with crime elements. |
| Doctor Dolittle | Lofting, Hugh | 1920 | Children’s fiction | Children’s classic about the doctor who speaks to animals; spawned sequels and adaptations. |
| Devil and Tom Walker | Irving, Washington | 1824 | Short story | Moralizing short tale of greed and Faustian bargain; part of early American Gothic tradition. |
| Dead Wake | Larson, Erik | 2015 | Narrative nonfiction | Narrative history of the Lusitania sinking; blend of meticulous research and compelling storytelling. |
| Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency | Adams, Douglas | 1987 | Comic mystery | Eccentric, comedic detective novel mixing absurdism, time travel and quirky British wit. |
| Desolation Island | O’Brian, Patrick | 1978 | Historical fiction | Eighth novel in the Aubrey–Maturin sea series; praised for nautical detail and historical verisimilitude. |
| Dust | Howey, Hugh | 2013 | Science fiction | Concluding volume of the Silo trilogy; post‑apocalyptic, reader‑favorite indie bestseller. |
| Discipline and Punish | Foucault, Michel | 1975 | Philosophy | Influential study of punishment, prisons and power relations; foundational in modern social theory. |
| Devil in the Flesh | Radiguet, Raymond | 1923 | Novel | Provocative French novel of illicit wartime love; scandalized and fascinated early 20th‑century readers. |