Big Love
I like to read, I think I always have. Since I can remember, reading was a big part of my life. Even though I almost always have at least one book I'm working on, I'm also a "book snob." You see, I don't view books or the arts as entertainment to amuse me, I use them to enhance my perspective. If I'm entertained on the way to being enlightened, then that's cool, and I do indulge in some mind-numbing entertainment, but when it comes to books I mostly read books that are award winning or classics. Because I'm always on the lookout for a good book, I am a sucker for book lists. 100 best books ever, the Pulitzer Prize list, etc etc, friends recs etc. I even look at book sections of the newspapers (but not always, because you can only read so many books, and keep a full-time job.
Anyway, yesterday I was on the BBC's "the Big read" site, Britain readers picked their top 100. I was curious as to how many of these I've read so, here's the first 50 (and a tally of which ones I've completed).
BBC's "The big read"
1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien Have read all except the the last 100 pages of the last book. (I think this was rigged)
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen I don't even know how many times I've read this one.
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams-Love it.
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee One of the best American novels. ever.
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne--the first book I remember my parents buying me that wasn't a picture book. I was three.
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell--big brother is watching you.
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë-Check
11. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller-One of my favorite novels
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë--That Heathcliff.
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier-cool thriller
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame--I vaguely remember not really liking it.
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott--not sure how many times I've read this either.
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell--I nearly missed this one. One of my favorite books from my childhood.
22. Harry Potter something or other--yes
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling--yes
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling--yes
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien--yup
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy--I think I finished this one
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot--enjoyed it
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving--Irving is my favorite
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck--I still ponder the ending of this one in supermarket lines.
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll--I think I've read it.
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald--Love the movie, the book is cooler.
. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen--Austen books are like old friends
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen--see above
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery--I'm a red head of a certain age,of course I've read...them all.
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams--I have very fond memories of this novel.
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald--Honestly, this is one of my favorite books.
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell--Those pigs.
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
29/50.
How do you fare?
8 comments:
14/50
You can get love books from http://lovelovebooks.com
I'm an Anglophile for sure. 40 out of 50. I scare myself. The 10 I haven't read I just hadn't heard of (yet).
I am surprised "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" wasn't on that list.
33/50. :) Not bad for a girl that views reading as candy! To hell with enrichment, I'm in it for the entertainment! :) lol.
Shell Seekers...my mom's a big reader and I remember she went to these writers discussions in the 80's and she would come home and tell me about the interesting people and their interesting lives-like the lady that was psychic...and my mom read the Shell Seekers somewhere in the middle of all this and I can't seperate the people in the book from what she was writing at the time because I was maybe 7 or 8. There's also this Indian song she used to play on the old record player "Hayana" and I named my Barbie dream horse after it.
Funny what memories come with old books...
I was keeping track of this here http://www.listsofbests.com/list/60?page=1, but I know I will never complete the list because it includes every Harry Potter book and every Lord of the Rings book and there's no way I would ever read those. And I think His Dark Materials is supposed to be anti-Christian so yeah, skipping that. I'm surprised I Capture the Castle isn't on it.
24 -- at least I have attempted 24. I am still struggling to finish 100 Years. You must realize this is a British list, so, of course, it includes the Harry Potter series.
I feel the same exact way you do about reading. I'm a book snob and movie snob. Although every once in awhile it's fun to watch or read something mind-numbing. I've only read 8/50.
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