Top 30 Must Read Books
Here are the results of a World Book Day poll conducted by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), in which librarians around the country were asked the question, "Which book should every adult read before they die?"
(Books I've read, books I've partially read, books I haven't read)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn
I agree with some and am flabbergasted by others. I can't believe trendy Oprah-lit like the Lovely Bones made the list. (I read it, not that impressive, and certainly not worthy of the Top 30.) The standards like To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, etc are easy to overlook as "school" books, but I agree that they really are worth it. Jane Eyre is a classic, but I found it kind of soap operaish. And I'm especially intrigued by One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Bob, you told me before that that was one of your favorite books but I never got around to reading it. Although your recommendation should have been enough, now I'm going to make a more concerted effort to find it.
And now, since I'm a comment-whore, tell me which you agree with and which you don't!
(Books I've read, books I've partially read, books I haven't read)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn
I agree with some and am flabbergasted by others. I can't believe trendy Oprah-lit like the Lovely Bones made the list. (I read it, not that impressive, and certainly not worthy of the Top 30.) The standards like To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, etc are easy to overlook as "school" books, but I agree that they really are worth it. Jane Eyre is a classic, but I found it kind of soap operaish. And I'm especially intrigued by One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Bob, you told me before that that was one of your favorite books but I never got around to reading it. Although your recommendation should have been enough, now I'm going to make a more concerted effort to find it.
And now, since I'm a comment-whore, tell me which you agree with and which you don't!
posted by CK at
12:22 PM
5 Comments:
Hey baby, 8:30 sound ok?
oh. not that kind of a . . .
Yeah, anyway, I used to see Ulysses all the time on these lists, but since I'm violently opposed to anything James Joyce, its refreshing to see its absence
By
Anonymous, at 3:49 PM
I tried reading Great Expectations once, but stopped half way through. I always thought it would be better.
By
Anonymous, at 1:51 AM
Agree: David Copperfield
Disagree: Winnie the Pooh
Confused: All quite on the western front.
All quite what? Jolly with tea and crumpets?
By
Anonymous, at 3:58 PM
Surprised by Lovely Bones, I thought it was awful. The Prophet is very good and we even had a section from it read at our wedding. Gotta get cracking on Winnie the Pooh next, I suppose.
By
Ferg, at 9:56 PM
I read for entertainment, just like I watch TV and movies. The world is tough enough without being forced to think deep thoughts on escape time.
By
Anonymous, at 3:04 PM
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