All best-of lists, from the annual Triple J Hottest 100 to the decennial Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time, spark debate.
ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books, set to count down in October, promises to be no different.
Voting for the poll is underway, with readers invited to choose up to 10 titles they hope will appear in the list of the nation's favourite Australian books of all time.
Throughout history, best-of lists have inspired public discourse about the diversity of the literary canon and the books valued by society.
Best-of lists are not without their critics.
Yet best book lists, however imperfect, play a role for writers and readers in driving sales and animating literary culture.
The American author Jennifer Egan, for instance, has described how the "turning point" for her bestselling novel A Visit from the Goon Squad was its appearance on the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2010 list.
In the struggle for attention in the digital age, best-of lists can also help readers discover books.
In a saturated information landscape, best-of lists introduce readers to the books others hold dearest to their hearts.
From BuzzFeed to Goodreads to BookTok, the internet is replete with lists recommending books to readers.
After the Pall Mall Gazette published his list as "the hundred best books", what started as a private lecture evolved into a public debate about literary taste and cultural value in Victorian society.
When the publication repeated the exercise with a popular vote, the Reader's Pick list featured 61 books that did not appear on the original list, including Markus Zusak's The Book Thief at number 33.