A list from the
BBC's Big Read (the nation's 100 favourite books)
(x) = read it
( ) = not read it
1.
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien (x)
2.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen ( )
3.
His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (x)
4.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (x)
5.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling (x)
6.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee ( )
7.
Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne (x)
8.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell (x )
9.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis (x)
10.
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (x)
Total so far: 8
11.
Catch-22, Joseph Heller (started but not finished)
12.
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë ( x)
13.
Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks ( )
14.
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier ( )
15.
The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger (x)
16.
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (x)
17.
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (started but not finished)
18.
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (x)
19.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres (x)
20.
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy (read the first chapter, got bored)
Total so far: 13
21.
Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell ( )
22.
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (x)
23.
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling (x)
24.
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling (x)
25.
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien (x)
26.
Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (x)
27.
Middlemarch, George Eliot (x)
28.
A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving ( )
29.
The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck (x)
30.
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (started but not finished)
Total so far: 20
31.
The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson ( )
32.
One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez (started but not finished)
33.
The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett ( )
34.
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens (x)
35.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl (x)
36.
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson (x)
37.
A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute (x)
38.
Persuasion, Jane Austen ( )
39.
Dune, Frank Herbert (x)
40.
Emma, Jane Austen ( )
Total so far: 25
41.
Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (x)
42.
Watership Down, Richard Adams (x )
43.
The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald (x)
44.
The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas ( )
45.
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh ( x)
46.
Animal Farm, George Orwell ( x)
47.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (x )
48.
Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy (x )
49.
Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian (x)
50.
The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher ( )
Total so far: 33
51.
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett (x)
52.
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck (x )
53.
The Stand, Stephen King ( )
54.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy ( )
55.
A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth ( )
56.
The BFG, Roald Dahl ( )
57.
Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome (x)
58.
Black Beauty, Anna Sewell (x )
59.
Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer ( )
60.
Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky ( )
Total so far: 37
61.
Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman ( )
62.
Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden ( )
63.
A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (x)
64.
The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough ( )
65.
Mort, Terry Pratchett (x)
66.
The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton (read, but embarrassed to admit it)
67.
The Magus, John Fowles (x)
68.
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (x)
69.
Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett (x)
70.
Lord Of The Flies, William Golding (started but not finished )
Total so far: 43
71.
Perfume, Patrick Süskind (read it but hated it)
72.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell ( )
73.
Night Watch, Terry Pratchett ()
74.
Matilda, Roald Dahl ()
75.
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (x )
76.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt ( )
77.
The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins ( )
78.
Ulysses, James Joyce ( )
79.
Bleak House, Charles Dickens ( )
80.
Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson ( )
Total so far: 45
81.
The Twits, Roald Dahl ()
82.
I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith ( )
83.
Holes, Louis Sachar ( )
84.
Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake (x)
85.
The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy ( )
86.
Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson ( )
87.
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (x)
88.
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons (x)
89.
Magician, Raymond E Feist ( )
90.
On The Road, Jack Kerouac (x)
Total so far: 49
91.
The Godfather, Mario Puzo ( )
92.
The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel (x)
93.
The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett (x)
94.
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho ( )
95.
Katherine, Anya Seton ( )
96.
Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer (read it, but embarrassed to admit it)
97.
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez ( )
98.
Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson ( )
99.
The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot ( )
100.
Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie (x)
Total: 53
I'm surprised at some of the things that made it onto the list, and some that didn't. Personally I can't stand Jane Austen's stuff. And Brits should just be utterly embarrassed that a book by Jeffrey Archer beat a book by Salman Rushdie.
Midnight's Children was a brilliant book;
Kane and Abel was shite. And as for
Perfume (no 71) - what a deeply horrible book. Read
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins instead. I also think that either a lot of children must have voted in the poll, or people don't read adult novels. But I'm pleased that
His Dark Materials and
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are in the top 10. There's a lot of
SF and fantasy on the list, too, but not enough SF. And it's great to see some of my
favourites such as
Cold Comfort Farm and
The Grapes of Wrath, on the list.
