I found a number of lists of “Best Books of the 1970s” from various sources and combined them into one meta-list. The results are below: every book on two or more of the original source lists, organized by rank (that is, with the books on the most lists at the top). NOTE: These are not my personal opinions and I have not read all these books. If I have read the book, I have included my 1-5 rating.
On 6 lists
RABBIT REDUX (1971, US). By John Updike [fiction: novel]
On 5 lists
GRAVITY’S RAINBOW (1973, US). By Thomas Pynchon [fiction: novel] (5)
THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (1979, UK). By Douglas Adams [fiction: novel] (3)
On 4 lists
BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE: An Indian History of the American West (1970, US). By Dee Brown [non-fiction: history] (3)
WATERSHIP DOWN (1972, UK). By Richard Adam [fiction: novel] (3)
THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO: 1918-1956 (1973, USSR). By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn [non-fiction: history] (5)
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1974, US). By Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward [non-fiction: journalism] (5)
ROOTS (1976, US). By Alex Haley [fiction: novel]
DISPATCHES (1977, US). By Michael Herr [non-fiction: journalism] (5)
IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER (1979, Italy). By Italo Calvino [fiction: novel] (5)
SOPHIE’S CHOICE (1979, US). By William Styron [fiction: novel] (4)
THE STAND (1978, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel] (3)
THE RIGHT STUFF (1979, US). By Tom Wolfe [non-fiction: journalism] (4)
On 3 lists
DELIVERANCE (1970, US). By James Dickey [fiction: novel] (4)
THE BLUEST EYE (1970, US). By Toni Morrison [fiction: novel]
ANGLE OF REPOSE (1971, US). By Wallace Stegner [fiction: novel] (3)
THE EXORCIST (1971, US). By William Peter Blatty [fiction: novel] (3)
A THEORY OF JUSTICE (1971, US). By John Rawls [non-fiction: political philosophy] (5)
INVISIBLE CITIES (1972, Italy). By Italo Calvino [fiction: novel] (5)
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS (1973, US). By Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. [fiction: novel] (5)
FEAR OF FLYING (1973, US). By Erica Jong [fiction: novel]
SULA (1973, US). By Toni Morrison [fiction: novel]
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (1974, UK). By John Le Carré [fiction: novel]
THE KILLER ANGELS (1974, US). By Michael Shaara [fiction: novel]
CARRIE (1974, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel]
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1974, US). By Shel Silverstein [poetry]
THE CIVIL WAR: A Narrative (1974, US). By Shelby Foote [non-fiction: history]
ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: An Inquiry into Values (1974, US). By Robert Pirsig [non-fiction: philosophy] (5)
HELTER SKELTER: The True Story of the Manson Murders (1974, US). By Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry [non-fiction: true crime] (3)
THE POWER BROKER: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1974, US). By Robert A. Caro [non-fiction: biography]
RAGTIME (1975, US). By E.L. Doctorow [fiction: novel] (5)
SHŌGUN (1975, US). By James Clavell [fiction: novel]
SALEM’S LOT (1975, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel]
SOCIOBIOLOGY: The New Synthesis (1975, US). By E. O. Wilson [nonfiction: science]
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1976, US). By Anne Rice [fiction: novel]
SONG OF SOLOMON (1977, US). By Toni Morrison [fiction: novel] (5)
SAMUEL JOHNSON (1977, US). By Walter Jackson Bate [non-fiction: biography]
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP (1978, US). By John Irving [fiction: novel] (4)
THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER (1978, US). By John Cheever [fiction: stories] (5)
ORIENTALISM (1978, Palestine). By Edward Said [non-fiction]
THE DEAD ZONE (1979, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel]
On 2 lists
PLAY IT AS IT LAYS (1970, US). By Joan Didion
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL (1970, US). By Richard Bach [fiction: novella] (3)
RINGWORLD (1970, US). By Larry Niven [fiction: novel]
FANTASTIC MR FOX (1970, UK). By Roald Dahl [fiction: children’s literature]
ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST (1970, Italy). By Dario Fo [play]
FUTURE SHOCK (1970, US). By Alvin Toffler [nonfiction]
THE UNHEAVENLY CITY: The Nature and the Future of Our Urban Crisis (1970, US). By Edward C. Banfield [nonfiction]
GROUP PORTRAIT WITH LADY (1971, Germany). By Heinrich Böll [fiction: novel]
THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (1971, UK). By Frederick Forsyth [fiction: novel] (3)
THE LATHE OF HEAVEN (1971, US). By Ursula K. Le Guin [fiction: novel]
THE COMPLETE STORIES (1971, US). By Flannery O’Connor [fiction: stories]
THE LORAX (1971, US). By Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) [fiction: children’s literature]
IN THE SHADOW OF MAN (1971, UK). By Jane Goodall [nonfiction: science/memoir]
BEYOND FREEDOM AND DIGNITY (1971). By B. F. Skinner [nonfiction]
OUR BODIES, OURSELVES (1971, US). By Boston Women’s Health Book Collective [non-fiction: health]
SURFACING (1972, Canada). By Margaret Atwood [fiction: novel]
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1972, US). By Hunter S. Thompson [non-fiction: journalism] (4)
THE JOY OF SEX (1972, UK). By Alex Comfort [non-fiction: sexuality]
WAYS OF SEEING (1972, UK). By John Berger [non-fiction]
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA (1973, UK). By Arthur C. Clarke [fiction: novel]
THE NORMAN CONQUESTS (trilogy) (1973, UK). By Alan Ayckbourn [plays]
THE DISPOSSESSED: An Ambiguous Utopia (1974, US). By Ursula K. LeGuin [fiction: novel]
THE FOREVER WAR (1974, US). By Joe Haldeman [fiction: novel]
SELECTED POEMS (1974, Chile). By Pablo Neruda [poetry]
THE LIVES OF A CELL: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974, US). By Lewis Thomas [non-fiction: science] (4)
WORKING (1974, US). By Studs Terkel [non-fiction: oral history]
PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK (1974, US). By Annie Dillard [non-fiction] (5)
ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL: The World the Slaves Made (1974, US). By Eugene Genovese [nonfiction: history]
A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (12-novel cycle) (1951-1975, UK). By Anthony Powell [fiction: novels]
HUMBOLDT’S GIFT (1975, US). By Saul Bellow [fiction: novel]
THE PERIODIC TABLE (1975, Italy). By Primo Levi [fiction: novel] (4)
THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN MEMORY (1975, US). By Paul Fussell [non-fiction: criticism]
DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH: The Birth of the Prison (1975, France). By Michel Foucault [non-fiction]
THE SELFISH GENE (1976, UK). By Richard Dawkins [non-fiction: science] (4)
THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales (1976, US). By Bruno Bettelheim [non-fiction: criticism/psychology] (4)
THE FACE OF BATTLE: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme (1976, UK). By John Keegan [nonfiction: history]
A SCANNER DARKLY (1977, US). By Philip K. Dick [fiction: novel]
THE SWORD OF SHANNARA (1977, US). By Terry Brooks [fiction: novel]
THE SHINING (1977, US). By Stephen King [fiction: novel]
UNCOMMON WOMEN AND OTHERS (1977, US). By Wendy Wasserstein [play]
THE SEA, THE SEA (1978, UK). By Iris Murdoch [fiction: novel]
THE EMPEROR: Downfall of an Autocrat (1978, Poland). By Ryszard Kapuściński [nonfiction]
A DISTANT MIRROR: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century (1978, US). By Barbara Tuchman [nonfiction: history]
THE GHOST WRITER (1979, US). By Philip Roth [fiction: novel]
A BEND IN THE RIVER (1979, Trinidad/UK). By V.S. Naipaul [fiction: novel] (4)
GODEL, ESCHER, BACH: An Eternal Golden Braid (1979, US). By Douglas Hofstadter [non-fiction]
THE GNOSTIC GOSPELS (1979, US). By Elaine Pagels [non-fiction: religion] (4)