"Top" 100 books take 2
About 18 months ago, I posted a list of 100 books that was featured on the London Telegraph (and had been directed to me by Brandy). I looked through it again tonight as I'm thinking about books to add to my reading list (which is complied from a number of similar "top 100" lists, friends' recommendations, personal interests, and other sources).
I've copied my original list here. Initially, I had used bold for books I'd read, and italics for ones I was planing to read. Now, I've highlighted in red the books I've read since the original posting and added any new comments in red as well (and left the original comments in black).
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen This one I’ve “read” twice, in high school and college, but both times were quick reads and I’d like to read it again just to enjoy it this time. I loved P&P this time. It still took me about 1/3 of the book to really “get into it,” but I did, and it was well worth it.
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte I read this in jr. high, and it was one of my first favorites of the classics
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling I listened to the audio readings of this series within the past year. Although I did enjoyed them, I don’t honestly think they belong on a list of the top 100 books ever. They were entertaining but also a little disturbing/scary (that witchcraft can be made into such a “normal” thing).
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee I just finished the audio version of this book after years of watching pretty almost every one of my students read it for school. For some reason, even though I’ve heard good things about it for years, I didn’t have high expectations for this book---maybe that says something about the other literature my students read in their English classes. I was pleasantly surprised, however, and really enjoyed it.
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte Well, technically I haven’t read it yet since I’m still in the middle of reading it, but so far I love it. It’s been a slow read since it’s the one I have in my car to read when I’m not driving… (during breaks between clients). I did enjoy WH, though Jane Eyre is still top IMO.
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell I’ve read this one a few times. Orwell’s writing could be so prophetic at times. I read this (and Brave New World) again with one of my students as part of his summer reading assignments.
8. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman Never heard of this one. Anyone know if it’s good?
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens I can’t remember if I’ve read this or not, but I’ve never been a fan of Dickens. I guess eventually I’ll try again, but I don’t plan to anytime soon, there are too many other good ones out there waiting to be read.
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott I read this as a little girl and loved it—and all of her others.
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy I listened to this book on cd recently, and wasn’t impressed. I think I’ll skip Hardy in the future unless I hear something else is great.
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller Never heard of it.
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare I’ve read a lot of Shakespeare, but not all….I’ll get there eventually
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier Beautiful.
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien I don’t really think this should get a separate listing from LOTR, but I did love it. ‘Chung and I are reading it aloud together.
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger I finally got around to reading Catcher after helping students write papers on it for, oh, six years. I didn’t love it….I’m not 100% sure why, but I think it was because I
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger WHAT ON EARTH is this book doing on this list? It was entertaining, ok, a little creepy, but on (any) top 100 lisst?!?
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot Very good book.
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald I read it in high school, but didn’t really like the stream of consciousness style.
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy This is on my list as soon as I can find an unabridged audio version. I can’t see myself spending enough time reading it, but I’ve got lots of time to listen. I tried to get it from my library, but they only had the first of four volumes (in the whole county’s library system). Well, now the library has the first 2 of 4 volumes, so still haven’t read it yet.
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams I’m undecided about this one. I saw the movie and was bored, but one of my students swears that the book is great…and he’s probably one of the few kids I tutor who likes to think critically, so maybe I’ll read it. I really enjoyed Hitchhiker’s Guide, it was silly, and not necessarily what I’d consider a masterpiece of literature, but I think it’ll be around a long time, it was thoroughly entertaining, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequels.
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky Give me anything Dostoyevsky and I’ll love it.
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck I’m also undecided about this one, I tried reading Steinbeck once before and didn’t really get into him, but I feel like I should read this ‘cause it’s on just about every best books list I’ve seen. Still haven’t read Grapes of Wrath, but I did read The Pearl, and didn’t love its style. I’ve currently just started East of Eden, and am so far enjoying it.
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame My mom read this to me when I was young. I never really got into it. I remember being bored a lot. Maybe I’ll try again.
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis Uh, why is this separate from #33. There aren’t enough great books in the world, so they need to have duplicates??
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden I haven’t read all of this, but it’s another that’s been added to my “to be read” list since student seem to frequently have to read (and write papers on) it.
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell Another great Orwell high school read.
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown How on earth did this make the list?? 20 year rule, anyone?
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery I love anything by LM Montgomery. Her books make me want to have a little girl to read to.
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood I tried reading this one…didn’t get through the first ¼. Maybe another time.
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding Another one my students have all had to read and I think I should. I finally read LOTF this year, again, after “tutoring” students on it for about 6 yrs. I didn’t love it, but see its purpose.
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel I tried reading Life of Pi, but didn’t get very far. I’m not sure why.
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley Prophetic.
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck Didn’t like.
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Couldn’t finish it…I don’t think I do well reading about pedophiles and adulterers.
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas Amazing. I love Dumas.
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding One of the best books???
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie I’d also like to read the Satanic Verses Still have’t gotten to these, but they’re getting higher on the list.
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville I’d like to re-read this one too. Althrough this time around I still thought Melville spent too much time “blubbering” about the intricate details of whales and whaling, but this time I was able to follow and enjoy the story. He’s a little verbose for my preferences, but it was a great book.
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker This one’s newly being added to my to be read list.
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett One of my favorites as child
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker I was far too young to read this when I did, I wish I had skipped it.
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn I’m planning to read Tuesday’s with Morrie, then we’ll see. Well, I read Tuesday’s, and I think I’ll skip The 5 People…just too many great books out there.
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams Great book.
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas See #65, I think this is one of my all-time favorite books.
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare Another duplicate?? I think this might just fall under the category of “the complete works of Shakespeare”
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
7 comments:
Thanks for the great list! I have a ways to go, but am looking forward to reading my way through the list.
Wow! I have read MAYBE 5 on that list! If it were just a matter of the knowing the storyline- I might know double that via movies :)
Ashley got the Memory, Rahime got Literacy and me... well... I have waaaaays to go.
lOVE YOU SISTERS
About Pullman's books, they are anti-Christian. I have read many many reviews of them.
Evidently most children have read them, and they would be bad for children if not read together with parents. Here's a page http://www.dads.org/goldencompass-pullman-quotes.asp that simply lists quotes, but there is much more in-depth analysis in various places at www.touchstonemag.com .
GretchenJoanna, thanks for the info and the links. I'd never heard of Pullman. It sounds like he's pretty blatant about his agenda.
I'm pretty sure we need a Brembo/Animal update soon! :)
Did you finish East of Eden? I'd be interested in your response to it.
I did finish East of Eden a while back.
I liked it better than the other of Steinbeck's works that I've read. From a literary stance, I thought it was well written.
I also appreciated the themes of depravity and the desire for the father's approval--and the pursuit of it through the wrong channels. I loved the character of Samuel Hamilton and ending on a note of hope with "timshel" after so much tragedy. In many ways it was a reflection of life. In other ways, it was a that from a depraved perspective.
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