book list

[kismet09]

Stolen from firecat who got it from someone who got it from The Big Read: "In April the BBC's Big Read began the search for the nation's best-loved novel, and we asked you to nominate your favourite books. The votes poured in from all around the UK and here's the results!"


the ones I hope to read are italicized.

1984, george orwell
the alchemist, paulo coelho
alice's adventures in wonderland, lewis carroll
animal farm, george orwell
anna karenina, leo tolstoy
anne of green gables, lm montgomery
artemis fowl, eoin colfer
the bfg, roald dahl
birdsong, sebastian faulks
black beauty, anna sewell
bleak house, charles dickens
brave new world, aldous huxley
brideshead revisited, evelyn waugh
bridget jones's diary, helen fielding
captain corelli's mandolin, louis de bernieres
catch 22, joseph heller
the catcher in the rye, jd salinger
charlie and the chocolate factory, roald dahl
a christmas carol, charles dickens
the clan of the cave bear, jean m auel
cold comfort farm, stella gibbons
the colour of magic, terry pratchett
the count of monte cristo, alexandre dumas
crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky
david copperfield, charles dickens
double act, jacqueline wilson
dune, frank herbert
emma, jane austen
far from the madding crowd, thomas hardy
girls in love, jacqueline wilson
the god of small things, arundhati roy
the godfather, mario puzo
gone with the wind, margaret mitchell
good omens, terry pratchett and neil gaiman
goodnight mister tom, michelle magorian
gormenghast, mervyn peake
the grapes of wrath, john steinbeck
great expectations, charles dickens
the great gatsby, f scott fitzgerald
guards! guards!, terry pratchett
harry potter and the chamber of secrets, jk rowling
harry potter and the goblet of fire, jk rowling
harry potter and the philosopher's stone, jk rowling
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, jk rowling
his dark materials trilogy, philip pullman
the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, douglas adams
the hobbit, jrr tolkien
holes, louis sachar
i capture the castle, dodie smith
jane eyre, charlotte brontë
kane and abel, jeffrey archer
katherine, anya seton
the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, cs lewis
little women, louisa may alcott
lord of the flies, william golding
the lord of the rings, jrr tolkien
love in the time of cholera, gabriel garcía márquez
the magic faraway tree, enid blyton
magician, raymond e feist
the magus, john fowles
matilda, roald dahl
memoirs of a geisha, arthur golden
middlemarch, george eliot
midnight's children, salman rushdie
mort, terry pratchett
night watch, terry pratchett
noughts and crosses, malorie blackman
of mice and men, john steinbeck
on the road, jack kerouac
one hundred years of solitude, gabriel garcía márquez
perfume, patrick süskind
persuasion, jane austen
the pillars of the earth, ken follett
a prayer for owen meany, john irving
pride and prejudice, jane austen
the princess diaries, meg cabot
the ragged trousered philanthropists, robert tressell
rebecca, daphne du maurier
the secret garden, frances hodgson burnett (It never took)
the secret history, donna tartt
the shell seekers, rosamunde pilcher
the stand, stephen king
the story of tracy beaker, jacqueline wilson
a suitable boy, vikram seth
swallows and amazons, arthur ransome
a tale of two cities, charles dickens
tess of the d'urbervilles, thomas hardy
the thorn birds, colleen mccollough
to kill a mockingbird, harper lee
a town like alice, nevil shute
treasure island, robert louis stevenson
the twits, roald dahl
ulysses, james joyce
vicky angel, jacqueline wilson
war and peace, leo tolstoy
watership down, richard adams
the wind in the willows, kenneth grahame
winnie-the-pooh, aa milne
the woman in white, wilkie collins
wuthering heights, emily brontë

now of the rest of them, are there certain ones I should definitely read, or is this just a silly list all together :)



If you have other summer reading recommendations, especially any based on my favorites:

1. The Little Prince (Saint Exupery)
2. The Eight (Neville)
3. The Mists of Avalon trilogy (Zimmer Bradley)
4. Secret Garden (Hodgson-Burnett)
5. Harry Potter series (Rowling)
6. 100 Years of Solitude (Garcia Marquez)
7. Memoirs of a Geisha (Golden)
8. Redwall (Jacques)
9. A Severed Wasp (L'Engle)
10. The House of the Spirits (Allende)

...let me know :)

Comments

[radegunda.livejournal.com]

it IS a silly list - made me very annoyed, as these things always do - always so damned conservative, which is to be expected, but it annoys me anyway :-)
my top 100 list wouldn't look ANYTHING like this one!!

however, of the others i would recommend, bearing your stated tastes in mind :-

cold comfort farm, stella gibbons - very funny
mort, terry pratchett - if you like harry potter, can't believe you've not read any pratchett!!
perfume, patrick s?skind - european sensuousness - evil and gorgeous
rebecca, daphne du maurier - slow to get going, but fantastic drama! [made into a film by hitchock]
the secret history, donna tartt - big book, but i found it unputdownable

Re:

[kismet09.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I don't even know if I could put together a Top 100 list :) I need to start reading more!

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

You should for sure read 1984, The Hobbit and (probably) Good Omens. Hitchhiker's Guide is fun (bring a towel). The Stand is probably one of King's best. If you like Pooh you'll probably like Wind in the Willows.

Also, you might like Geraldine Brooks' A Year of Wonders, the Glassblower Trilogy by Mindy Klasky and Lynn Flewelling's first trilogy (the name of which is escaping me right now).

Re:

[kismet09.livejournal.com]

I tried to start The Hobbit and couldn't get into it. Hitchhiker's is one of those that I know I should read one of these days... I think I probably even own it.

[tactful-cactus.livejournal.com]

I couldn't get into the Hobbit either.

I second that 1984 is a must.

[anneball.livejournal.com]

i'll recommend my favorite book of all time, the criminally underread The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay, an australian author. terrific book, made into a mostly mediocre movie. don't bother with the movie! i've recommended this book (and given it as a gift) to probably hundreds of friends and family in the 9 years since i've read it, and i've never had anyone NOT love it.

Re:

[kismet09.livejournal.com]

Cool! I've heard of it, but have yet to read it. Will add it to my list. Thanks :)

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I second the Perfume recommendation. Originally written in German, but the translation is gorgeous, and the story itself is lush and disturbing. I love this book.

[medox.livejournal.com]

I have to second any Terry Pratchett book -- especially for summer reading. His creation Discworld has some of the funniest/weirdest/craziest characters I've ever read -- but there is also a philosophical thread that goes through most of his stories that is facinating at well. As you can see, big Pratchett fan. And you can start with any book in the series -- though one of my personal favorites is Mort because Death is in it, and he's my favorite Discworld charcter.


I also would highly recommend Artemis Fowl -- kinda the anti-Harry Potter. Artemis is a young boy who just happens to be an evil genius millionaire , and it's up to a fairyworld police office Holly Short to stop him. But you come to be rooting for Artemis as much as Holly.

Oh, and not on the list but another perfect summer book is Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. I can't believe it's not on a British list like this! It's a hilarious, though also at times very lyrical, story of three dapper young turn-of-the-century gents'(and their dog Montmorency)boating trip on the Thames -- and the series of disasters that ensue. Great to read outside on a beautiful day.

And The Great Gatsby. I re-read this every year. It just might be perfect.