2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
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Read These or Die! (Part Two)

Ok, as I promised yesterday , I am picking up where I left off on the top 100 BBC “must-read” books.

My Performance on BBC The Big Read List (top 100 books)
Reminder: This is the Top 100 List of the British Broadcasting Company or BBC. It dates from 2003, the most recent BBC list that is available. The books I have read are bolded.

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
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
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
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
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
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

Of these fifty, I have read sixteen. Wow. Stunning. NOT! Again I feel compelled to point out that I have never heard of a number of them – a vast number, in fact, totaling twenty this time (numbers 55, 56, 57, 61, 65, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 89, 93, 95, 96, 98), and four are things (numbers 60, 79, 87, 97) that I have tried (occasionally repeatedly) to read but never finished (take a peak at a previous post for more on that topic, if you are interested).

As far as my overall thoughts on these fifty, well, I think this group is even more random than the last. Seriously. I have not heard of a vast number of these – neither the authors nor the titles. And while I think Terry Pratchett is fun, how on earth does he merit FIVE books on here?! Seriously – five must-reads?? Um, I don’t think so, she said. He gets five and Neil Gaiman only gets one – and a co-written one at that? Also, interesting to note that there are a couple of Roald Dahl’s here and multiple other children’s books. I actually like that – I think there are a lot of very good children’s books that adults should read (again, I have posted on this before, if you are interested) and that it is a mistake to ignore children’s books in any compilation of canonical/influential works.

Combined with yesterday’s list, that means I have read a much-less-than-stellar 45 of the BBC’s 100 must-read books. Less than half. Yikes.

I’ve given my take on each half of the list – all in all it weighs fairly heavily in favor of British authors, which is no great surprise since it is the BBC’s list. There are a surprising number of books that I have not heard of – surprising both because I read so much and because I am an admitted Anglophile. I don’t know what’s up with that – I will obviously have to do some investigating…

I must admit I am not overwhelmed by this list – and not only because of my own poor performance against it, honest. I can’t decide if I am interested in comparing lists and finding other “authoritative” versions of the must-read list or if I just want to say “screw the experts” on this topic. I am also oddly compelled to derive my own list of 100 books that I think everyone should read (a nod again to Thomas Quinn on this – check out his post on this subject, which includes a link to his Facebook note to submit your own, which I intend to do as soon as humanly possible), and am looking forward to sharing that with you soon!

9 comments to Read These or Die! (Part Two)

  • Stopping by from your Book Blogs post. I’ve joined and am looking forward to your future posts. ~Janet~ JLB Creatives

  • Good choice of books and I’m pleased that I’ve read most of them (of course that could be because I’m old enough to have read just about anything and everything)but I would add The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It was originally published as a YA novel but quickly became popular with a general audience and it won quite a few literary awards. It’s a book that left me stunned by the plot as well as the authors gifted use of words/phrases and even the very original point of view. Anyway – that’s my thought.
    Brenda http://www.brendamccreight.blogspot.com

  • Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting Brenda. I LOVE The Book Thief – it is on my list of all-time favorites. Stop by the site tomorrow – I am posting my own Top 100 Must Reads, and you will be pleased to see it is on there. 🙂

  • It’s easy to poke fun of these lists, and I admit I’ve only read a third of them. It does give me ideas on what I should read. I’ve read a few that you haven’t and can tell you which to avoid, seek, IMHO:
    11, 39, 42 – Liked them as a lad, don’t think I’d pick them up now.
    26 – Worth reading, but I liked other Hardy books much more
    27 – I read this one so long ago it’s hard for me to advise
    33 – Are you kidding me? This shouldn’t be on the list. Guilty pleasure reading, sure, but classic?
    60 and 87 – Classics worth reading
    92 – This one you should read but stay away from the sequels.
    Ahh, I feel like such a novice – so many books I haven’t read 🙁

  • Tell me about it KJ – I feel like I read a lot, always have, and have read a lot of the “classics”. Yet every time I see one of these lists, I’m hovering in the 50% range… I agree that some of the books on here are not “classic” in any sense – but I think some of the non-classics are still worth reading by the masses. My post today gives my top 100 books to read, but makes a careful point to NOT call it a “must read because they represent the canon” list! I am sure many of them will have people scratching their heads, but they are things that have meant something to me at one time or another – I’d love to hear your thoughts on that too, if you have time! Thanks again for reading/visiting/commenting!

  • laine

    hi babe! its lalaine, you left a msg on my “follow me Ill follow you” @bookblogs

    Cool blog, Ive actually bumped in this book The woman in white, its actually a good book, creepy but nice..

    im following you now thank you xx

    Lalaine’s ficbookreviews

  • Off of this list I’ve read the following:

    1. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
    2. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
    3. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
    4. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

    The only one I liked was The Alchemist, the other 3 were so crappy in my opinion lol.

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