Strange Famous

This list was voted for by British public, is obviously subjective and will have some national bias... but it seemed a good starting point, or as good a list, as any:


1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
20. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
26. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch by George Eliot
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
31. The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion by Jane Austen
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
40. Emma by Jane Austen
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56. The BFG by Roald Dahl
57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
61. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
67. The Magus by John Fowles
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
69. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Perfume by Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses by James Joyce
79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
80. Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits by Roald Dahl
82. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
83. Holes by Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
85. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
89. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
93. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine by Anya Seton
96. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
97. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach by Alex Garland
104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
109. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
119. Shōgun by James Clavell
120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
124. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
128. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
130. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
133. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
137. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan
139. Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers by Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
144. It by Stephen King
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
147. Papillon by Henri Charrière
148. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
149. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
152. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement by Ian McEwan
155. Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
159. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
162. River God by Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
165. The World According to Garp by John Irving
166. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late by Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches by Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
172. They Used to Play on Grass by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby by Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
181. The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
183. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner by George Eliot
185. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
186. Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
189. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
190. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
192. Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
193. The Truth by Terry Pratchett
194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
200. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

_____________



And my answer:

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
56. The BFG by Roald Dahl
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
81. The Twits by Roald Dahl
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
101. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
108. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
111. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
144. It by Stephen King
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
169. The Witches by Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
185. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

Lucifer

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
113. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
119. Shōgun by James Clavell
120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
144. It by Stephen King
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
147. Papillon by Henri Charrière
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
162. River God by Wilbur Smith
164. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
165. The World According to Garp by John Irving
168. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
173. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
183. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White

__________________
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
- Job 30:29

1123, 6536, 5321

StellaLuna

Wow... what an odd list. I've never heard of some of these books, and others I read under duress (failing senior English for not reading Heart of Darkness would have been stupid, but I hated that damn book). Also... wtf is VC Andrews doing on this list?!

3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
114. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
200. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

__________________
Screw tradition!

telekinetic

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
20. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
56. The BFG by Roald Dahl
57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
106. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
144. It by Stephen King
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
150. Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
157. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
159. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
161. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
165. The World According to Garp by John Irving
169. The Witches by Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
173. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
175. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Daniel_

About half, I guess (green = one's I've read).

Although, J Wilson didn't write anything until I was older than her targt audience, and she wrote loads on the list...

===============================


1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
20. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
26. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch by George Eliot
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
31. The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion by Jane Austen
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
40. Emma by Jane Austen
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56. The BFG by Roald Dahl
57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
61. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
67. The Magus by John Fowles
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
69. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Perfume by Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses by James Joyce
79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
80. Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits by Roald Dahl
82. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
83. Holes by Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
85. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
89. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
93. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine by Anya Seton
96. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
97. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach by Alex Garland
104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
109. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game by Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
119. Shōgun by James Clavell
120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
124. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
128. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
130. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
133. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
137. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan
139. Girls in Tears by Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers by Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
144. It by Stephen King
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
147. Papillon by Henri Charrière
148. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
149. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
152. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement by Ian McEwan
155. Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
159. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
162. River God by Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
165. The World According to Garp by John Irving
166. Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late by Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches by Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
172. They Used to Play on Grass by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby by Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
181. The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
183. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner by George Eliot
185. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
186. Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps by R. L. Stine
189. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
190. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
192. Man and Boy by Tony Parsons
193. The Truth by Terry Pratchett
194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
200. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

__________________

╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

snowy

Lolita should not be at 178 on that list. It should be in the top 10. Period. Nabakov has a mastery of prose that is not seen elsewhere in fiction.

And the fact that people even consider V.C. Andrews good fiction...ew. I had to scrub my brain after trying to read "Flowers in the Attic."

This is a bizarre list because it includes popular fiction beyond what we would consider literary fiction. The range of books on the list is incredible.
What I've read:
1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
26. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
40. Emma by Jane Austen
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
78. Ulysses by James Joyce
79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
111. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
115. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
118. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
141. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
178. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
189. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
200. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

noodle

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
14. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
20. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
26. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (my favorite book ever.)
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
38. Persuasion by Jane Austen
40. Emma by Jane Austen
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (high on the favorites list since high school)
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
78. Ulysses by James Joyce
79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (ditto)
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
96. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
114. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
117. Bad Girls by Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
125. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
127. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
129. Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
131. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (ditto again)
132. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
133. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
136. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
143. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (oh yeah!)
144. It by Stephen King (every Stephen King written before 2000)
145. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
157. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (my nemesis. THE most godawful book ever forced upon high school seniors in the history of my world.)
159. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
161. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
165. The World According to Garp by John Irving
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
175. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
182. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
189. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I must say that the American version must be very different. I've never heard of Jacqueline Wilson. But a pretty cool list regardless. I'd have added some L'Engle, Chinua Achebe and The Yearling.

__________________

Tophat665

Sorry, this list is wrong. I have read 51 of the books on it, but seriously, All the Harry Potters? Damn Near All the Terry Pratchett? Pretty much all of the Roald Dahl? ONE Kipling? No Zelazney, Moorcock, Heinlein? And what the suffering fuck are VC Andrews and RL Stine doing there?

That said there are a lot of good books on there and a lot of books that everyone has to read to survive high school because they're "seminal" whatever that means. I guess the pages stick together. (I know what it means, but seriously, John Steinbeck was one hell of a typist.) But overall that list is full of Fail.

All Best X Y of Z lists are wrong because only the reader knows anything about Y.

__________________
Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns.
Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

mixedmedia

I have read 53 of the books on this list, but I take great exception to its selections.

******************

Also, this list should be titled The 200 Best Novels Ever Written

looking at the list again, I can only further express my bewilderment at its selections...I would say that at least a third of them have been written within the last 20 years...by British authors.

I hate lists anyway.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Grasshopper Green

I've read about 40, and I'm with mixedmedia...

__________________
"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king"

Formerly Medusa

Baraka_Guru

I've read just over twenty. And as far as this list goes, I'm a mixedmedian, too.

There is a lot on this list that I wouldn't even consider reading.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Redjake

I've read 8! Interesting list.

__________________
Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

Willravel

It seems Britain and I have a lot to discuss. Jane fucking Austin? No Ender's Game? Dune is 39?!

Was this list actually compiled by my snotty junior year of high school english teacher?!

Baraka_Guru

willravel, you have a problem with Jane Austen but not J. K. Rowling? I wouldn't take this list too seriously, especially since we really don't know the criteria for selection besides being chosen by Britons. I'm guessing this is merely a popularity list--perhaps chosen from a survey conducted by a popular magazine.

Besides, I'm always wary of lists that include works by V. C. Andrews.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

World's King

I'd say about 75%


I do have a degree in English after all...

__________________
heavy is the head that wears the crown

Baraka_Guru

So do I, but I'm sitting at around 10%. This is a weird list.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

casual user

i've only read 19 of them...one of which i'm currently in the middle of (good omens). i'm not liking it much and havn't touched it in over a week, so lord knows if i'll finish it

roachboy

i started going through the list, which was difficult because it took me a while to stop laughing at the idea that lord of the fucking rings is understood anywhere as "the best book ever written"...
and
OF COURSE
english is the only language in which fiction worth listing is written.

anyway, i've read about 1/2 of the list elements.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

abaya

Key words:

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

Frosstbyte

There's a second list voted on by academics and critics, which is a bit more geared towards books that we might think of as having traditional literary merit rather than fan favorites like Tolkein, Lewis and Rowling. No, I'm not using this as a platform to argue their relative value, but if that's the kind of list you were expecting, you'll be happy to know that Joyce's "Ulysses" tops it!

Chiyachan

I've read 36 of them.
DO NOT READ "HIS DARK MATERIALS"
Ssrsly, that series has to have one of the saddest endings ever. Made me cry! =(

Seer666

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
53. The Stand by Stephen King
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
93. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
102. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
119. Shōgun by James Clavell
126. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
135. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
37. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
144. It by Stephen King
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
148. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
151. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
152. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
193. The Truth by Terry Pratchett
194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
197. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

__________________
Bad spellers of the world untie!!!

I am the one you warned me of

I seem to have misplaced the bullet with your name on it, but I have a whole box addressed to occupant.

Frosstbyte

While I certainly won't contest that it is a bleak world view, it's an amazing set of books. I'm not sure I'll ever buy that it "Does for atheism what Narnia did for Christianity" or particularly care, but it's a beautifully imagined world with some wonderful characters.

roachboy

i understood the origin of the list in general terms, and factored that in as i went through it weeding things out that i had read...but even so i am baffled that it seems only works written originally in english are included (except dosteovsky, bulgakov and tolstoy, if memory serves). ltr i found interesting when i was 15 and was reading it while being driven around on interminable sunday rides by my parents--but when i looked at it again a couple years ago, i found it...well...blech.

just in terms of stuff that i like--which isnt anything like a list of the greatest anything of all times obviously--i prefer anything by w.g. sebald or peter handke or alain robbe-grillet or michel butor or georges perec or raymond queneau or bruno schultz or vitkor pelevin, or jacques roubaud to anything on the list.

but it isnt my list.
and that's fine.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

m0rpheus

My list
1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
69. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
93. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
102. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
104. Dracula by Bram Stoker
120. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
126. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
135. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
137. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
144. It by Stephen King
146. The Green Mile by Stephen King
148. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
151. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
152. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
158. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
170. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
171. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
185. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
187. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
193. The Truth by Terry Pratchett
194. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
197. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
198. The Once and Future King by T. H. White

So I love Pratchett and all, but seriously, that many in the top 200? Did a fan website get everyone to vote for his books? I mean I could understand one or two because some of them are fantastic reads but seriously there are fourteen on this list.

__________________
"it never got weird enough for me." - Hunter S. Thompson

Plan9

Wow, only 10. I need to go rack up some library card action.

American Psycho definitely needed to be on there. Creepy.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

abaya

Gabriel Garcia Marquez as well, I think...

Anyway, 60 of those are under my belt, though don't expect me to remember them all well enough to write a book report. (What's with all the Terry Pratchett, btw?!). I was an English major, anyway.

This should be titled "Books you were supposed to read in high school + cheap-ass paperback bestsellers in the last 10 years"... or something.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

mixedmedia

Right!

I was glad to see The God of Small Things on there, though. It truly is one of the best books written in the last couple of decades.

Well, in my opinion.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

intecel

I have read 24 of the above... More than what I would have expected since I don't read novels often.

abaya

Hehe. Yeah, I never got around to reading that one, actually... but personally, *I* was shocked that none of David James Duncan's books made the list. Brothers K, The River Why... seminal stuff, at least for me.

I'd like to see a list of the Nobel Prize in Literature winners... I've slowly been making my way through at least one novel from each author (as I stumble upon them in the library), though it's mostly very heavy reading. I'm more into the international aspect of the Nobel list, I guess.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

Jack The Lad

I remember this list. It was compiled a few years ago as the result of a nationwide poll conducted by the BBC. Members of the public were asked to vote for their favourite book - I seem to remember that I chose The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

The survey was given a lot of publicity, including a weekly television programme in which British celebrities would champion their favourite book. Schools were encouraged to participate, which probably accounts for all the Roald Dahl titles and so forth. A lot of fan clubs, for the novels traditionally loved by geeks, like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and 'Insert Title Of Random Terry Pratchett Book Here' took the chance of coming top in the list very seriously, and campaigned heavily for votes.

Harry Potter mania was at its height, and Lord Of The Rings was in the cinema - so this list is more a snapshot of the literary tastes of the English public at the time, rather than any kind of critically definitive assessment. If that were the case, I think Gormenghast would be rated more highly than Lord Of The Rings, and His Dark Materials would be considered preferable to anything by J.K. Rowling.

I consider myself to be quite well-read, and I've only read about forty of those books - and some, admittedly, under duress, when I was an English Literature student. I did once work in a bookshop though, and I can say that the place sold more copies of Goosebumps by R. L. Stine (No. 188) than something like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (No.2) so make of that what you will.

__________________
"If I was any more laidback, I'd be horizontal."

intecel

This may be a bit off topic. I'm curious... How do you find a good *newer* book if you just walk into the bookstore without a clue?

<-- clueless

Basically, I know nothing about the great authors of now, not sure if I'd like anyone's writing style. Is the best bet to ask the opinion of someone working in the book store? Are there popular book forums to see what people are enjoying?

I'd like to read more books, but can never find anything interesting just by looking at the name, author and cover pictures.

abaya

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I've bumped into quite a few Nobel Prize winners just hanging out on the display shelves at the library... and many of those turned out to be pretty good and challenging, a step above the usual paperback trash. It won't always be "bestseller" material, so may be a little harder to bring it up around the water cooler... but the Nobel is still some indicator of value.

You might also check the NY Times bestseller list to see "what people are reading," for more water-cooler type stuff.

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran

snowy

I go into my local bookstore (I have two I choose between, both locally owned, one sells a mix of used/new books, the other only new) and look around. I look at the staff recommendations, at what's out on display, and read the backs of books.

I also go into the library and check out stuff from the new books shelf that looks good.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Chiyachan

I agree, the story is amazing, It's the ENDING of the series. It made me cry, and VERY few things, let alone books make me cry. =\
I'll go watch the films, but I'll think LONG and HARD about watching the conclusion of the series... Ssrsly, it's sad =(

Jack The Lad

You might find one of these links useful:

http://www.whichbook.net/

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

Good luck.

__________________
"If I was any more laidback, I'd be horizontal."

intecel

I appreciate the info guys. Thanks.

QuasiMondo

No Starship Troopers?
No Ender's Game?
Nothing by Phillip K. Dick, or even William Gibson?
How the hell do you leave Isaac Asimov off the list altogether?
Four Harry Potter books? This is beyond British bias, they have Rowling on the brain. This list sucks.

But to keep it on topic, I did read 1984.

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

Miss Mango

Eh? Jane Austen has written some awesome novels...

Strange Famous

I agree, Jane Austen is one of the most important writers in English language.

The biggest problem I had with the list personally was all of the Roald Dahl - I read a lot of his books when I was a kid, but other than The Witches I didnt like them much. Plus he was a terrible anti-semite. (which doesnt mean he can't write, but it prejudices me against him)

There are a lot of books I can't believe didnt make it, and a lot I can't believe were on the list too. If someone wants to put up and American list I'll see which one's Ive read off that!

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas