The BBC Book List Challenge
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books on this list. How many have you read?
List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 23 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?
1 Harry Potter and the Sorcer...
by
4.35 of 5 stars 4.35 avg rating — 1,801,840 ratings
2 The Da Vinci Code (Robert L...
by
3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 993,474 ratings
3 To Kill a Mockingbird
by
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 1,405,628 ratings
4 The Little Prince
by
4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 304,735 ratings
5 Animal Farm
by
3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 985,631 ratings
6 The Lord of the Rings (The ...
by
4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 208,482 ratings
7 The Alchemist
by
3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 590,042 ratings
8 1984
by
4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 910,653 ratings
9 Pride and Prejudice
by
4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 avg rating — 973,271 ratings
10 The Hitchhiker's Guide to t...
by
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 517,555 ratings
11 Wuthering Heights
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 430,608 ratings
12 The Hobbit
by
4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 1,053,642 ratings
13 The Count of Monte Cristo
by
4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 352,518 ratings
14 Catch-22
by
3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 273,279 ratings
15 The Catcher in the Rye
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 1,097,916 ratings
16 The Secret Garden
by
4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 avg rating — 321,762 ratings
17 Charlie and the Chocolate F...
by
4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 228,618 ratings
18 Rebecca
by
4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 143,835 ratings
18 Life of Pi
by
3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 483,103 ratings
20 Lord of the Flies
by
3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 911,784 ratings
21 A Tale of Two Cities
by
3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 403,434 ratings
22 Memoirs of a Geisha
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 783,797 ratings
23 Alice's Adventures in Wonde...
by
4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 195,773 ratings
24 A Christmas Carol
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 167,110 ratings
25 Charlotte's Web
by
4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 419,322 ratings
26 Little Women
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 731,097 ratings
26 Bridget Jones's Diary (Brid...
by
3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 393,565 ratings
28 The Time Traveler's Wife
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 693,260 ratings
29 Jane Eyre
by
4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 649,119 ratings
30 Holy Bible: The New King Ja...
by
4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 avg rating — 2,973 ratings
31 The Grapes of Wrath
by
3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 avg rating — 268,790 ratings
32 Gone with the Wind
by
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 464,697 ratings
33 Atonement
by
3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 193,786 ratings
34 The Great Gatsby
by
3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 1,160,907 ratings
35 Brave New World
by
3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 549,826 ratings
36 The Kite Runner
by
4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 879,939 ratings
37 Dracula
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 281,675 ratings
38 The Five People You Meet in...
by
3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 avg rating — 245,312 ratings
39 Love in the Time of Cholera
by
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 180,800 ratings
40 The Shadow of the Wind (The...
by
4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 avg rating — 136,306 ratings
41 Of Mice and Men
by
3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 797,323 ratings
42 Heart of Darkness
by
3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 avg rating — 143,279 ratings
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude
by
3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 avg rating — 324,863 ratings
44 Midnight's Children
by
4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 43,982 ratings
45 The Chronicles of Narnia (C...
by
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 209,018 ratings
46 Sense and Sensibility
by
4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 439,778 ratings
47 The Lovely Bones
by
3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 avg rating — 861,803 ratings
48 The Three Musketeers
by
4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 96,509 ratings
49 Crime and Punishment
by
4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 192,478 ratings
50 Great Expectations
by
3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 avg rating — 228,510 ratings
51 His Dark Materials (His Dar...
by
4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 avg rating — 59,159 ratings
52 Winnie-the-Pooh
by
4.32 of 5 stars 4.32 avg rating — 105,135 ratings
52 Anne of Green Gables (Anne ...
by
4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 262,939 ratings
54 Anna Karenina
by
3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 184,025 ratings
55 Persuasion
by
4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 avg rating — 182,213 ratings
56 A Prayer for Owen Meany
by
4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 avg rating — 136,099 ratings
57 Vanity Fair
by
3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 44,933 ratings
58 The Curious Incident of the...
by
3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 426,028 ratings
59 The Complete Works
by
4.51 of 5 stars 4.51 avg rating — 27,089 ratings
60 A Clockwork Orange
by
3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 215,817 ratings
61 Tess of the d'Urbervilles
by
3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 82,954 ratings
62 Les Misérables
by
4.04 of 5 stars 4.04 avg rating — 312,583 ratings
63 Corelli's Mandolin
by
3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 33,622 ratings
64 Oliver Twist
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 102,123 ratings
65 A Fine Balance
by
4.31 of 5 stars 4.31 avg rating — 51,819 ratings
66 The Bell Jar
by
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 199,949 ratings
67 David Copperfield
by
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 75,444 ratings
68 War and Peace
by
4.05 of 5 stars 4.05 avg rating — 78,999 ratings
69 The Remains of the Day
by
4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 53,827 ratings
70 Madame Bovary
by
3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 79,658 ratings
71 Lolita
by
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 285,290 ratings
72 The Wind in the Willows
by
3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 avg rating — 62,883 ratings
72 The Adventures of Sherlock ...
by
4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 72,981 ratings
74 On the Road
by
3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 140,598 ratings
75 Moby-Dick
by
3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 avg rating — 258,177 ratings
76 Emma
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 231,198 ratings
77 The Secret History
by
4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 54,315 ratings
78 Far from the Madding Crowd
by
3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 36,189 ratings
79 The Handmaid's Tale
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 251,583 ratings
80 A Town Like Alice
by
4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 avg rating — 16,661 ratings
81 Cloud Atlas
by
4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 avg rating — 69,316 ratings
82 The Faraway Tree Collection
by
4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 5,778 ratings
83 Birdsong: A Novel of Love a...
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 23,306 ratings
84 Middlemarch: A Study of Pro...
by
3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 47,214 ratings
85 Bleak House
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 32,390 ratings
86 Brideshead Revisited
by
3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 avg rating — 32,806 ratings
87 Possession
by
3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 34,231 ratings
88 The Woman in White
by
3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 avg rating — 45,346 ratings
89 Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)
by
4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 300,707 ratings
90 Cold Comfort Farm
by
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 13,693 ratings
91 Watership Down
by
4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 150,367 ratings
92 A Suitable Boy
by
4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 avg rating — 17,481 ratings
93 Jude the Obscure
by
3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 24,542 ratings
94 Notes from a Small Island
by
3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 avg rating — 34,840 ratings
95 Ulysses
by
3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 44,196 ratings
96 Swallows and Amazons (Swall...
by
3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 avg rating — 9,509 ratings
97 Germinal (Les Rougon-Macqua...
by
4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 8,947 ratings
98 The Color Purple
by
4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 196,512 ratings
99 The Wasp Factory
by
3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 21,358 ratings
100 A Confederacy of Dunces
by
3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 97,112 ratings

Get Results & Compare With Friends »




Patrick
Patrick
502 books
527 friends
LVR
LVR
147 books
10 friends
Ben
Ben
851 books
40 friends
Otis
Otis
678 books
1606 friends
Lelli
Lelli
171 books
15 friends
Keriann
Keriann
296 books
7 friends
Brian
Brian
1146 books
126 friends
Jen
Jen
864 books
22 friends

More voters…


Comments (showing 1-31 of 31) (31 new)

dateDown_arrow    newest »

message 1: by Ben (new)

Ben It looks like Pride and Prejudice is listed twice.... which means there is one book missing.....


message 2: by LVR (new)

LVR It was Emma! Fixed.

Ben wrote: "It looks like Pride and Prejudice is listed twice.... which means there is one book missing....."


message 3: by Dave (new)

Dave This must be a dynamic list. I printed it several years ago and started reading them and checking them off. Comparing it with this list there are numerous differences. I'm enjoying the reads anyway, up to 75. this difference will just give me that many more to read


message 4: by Megan (new)

Megan I'm at 33. And a whole bunch more are already on my to-read list!


message 5: by Amy (new)

Amy currently at 24, and when I finish the one I am currently reading will be at 25... trying to cross several off the list this year... and I agree with Dave, the list has changed from the one I previously printed off


message 6: by Penelope (new)

Penelope This isn't working. Every time I try to add To Kill A Mockingbird it gives me Da Vinci Code. Anyway, I have read 51 of these books!


message 7: by Louise (new)

Louise I have seen several versions of this list with each one having slightly different books. In one version I had read 15/100 whereas in this version I have only read 9.


message 8: by Sherrie (new)

Sherrie Starting my 31st book according to this list...


message 9: by Antonomasia (new)

Antonomasia Ooh, this is annoying. It messes up the shelves by having to mark as read things I've already got shelved as part of collected editions.

Also: history of a meme:
http://www.purplecar.net/2009/03/how-...


message 10: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth 18/100? That is, yet again, a shockingly low score for me.


message 11: by Ben (new)

Ben Hart 16. Although I hope these aren't in order by perceived quality...


message 12: by Chance (new)

Chance Maree What a strange list. Does any one know the rationale behind this particular grouping of novels and why the BBC compiled it?


message 13: by Antonomasia (new)

Antonomasia Have a look at the link I posted above. It explains that this is an internet meme containing some books from an old BBC Big Read list, and some others.

It's been doing the rounds on Facebook, in the UK at least, for several years; this is the third or fourth time I've responded to it in some form.


message 14: by Chance (new)

Chance Maree Antonomasia wrote: "Have a look at the link I posted above. It explains that this is an internet meme containing some books from an old BBC Big Read list, and some others.

It's been doing the rounds on Facebook, in ..."


Thanks Antonomasia! I hadn't seen this on FB, but found the link interesting.


message 15: by Dave (new)

Dave Very interesting reading about the meme. I had never heard of that, helps me understand why I found a different list everytime I searched for it.


message 16: by Bryn (last edited Nov 08, 2012 11:53pm) (new)

Bryn Hammond Unfortunately they won't always be on people's shelves. I've read 61 but have 10 shelved. That's bad for the stats.


message 17: by Ebonny (last edited Nov 09, 2012 03:59am) (new)

Ebonny Between my husband and I we have read probably 7 of the books. Pretty dismal but I am of the impression that you read what you want to, not what someone thinks you should be reading. :)


message 18: by Sherry (new)

Sherry ah, well... 6/100. and three out of those I only read because I had to in english class. I liked them, though.


message 19: by Suzanne (new)

Suzanne Read 17 but not able to get the results without messing up my shelves.... (not all I have read are on there as they were read a long time ago)


message 20: by Fatin (new)

Fatin I've read 25, and I have about 20 more at home, and I'm slowly getting around to reading them. And some of them I've just never been interested in.


message 21: by Sharnie (new)

Sharnie Only ten, I shall have to remedy that.


message 22: by Marysue (new)

Marysue I have read 14, but none were on my shelves. I didn't add any books to my shelf that I read before I joined goodreads. It's funny how long ago I read some of them, dating all the way back to high school, more than twenty years ago.


message 23: by M.C. (new)

M.C. Planck Any list that has both To Kill a Mockingbird and The Da Vinci Code is... bizarre. Sorry, Dan, but it's true.


message 24: by Samhy (new)

Samhy That's very interesting. I think I'll try to give a shot at half of that list, if I can. Some of them are in my room, waiting to be picked.

Even though my read shelf doesn't reflect it, so far I've read 13.5 of those books (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is done, but Through the Looking Glass has yet to be read).


message 25: by Stephen (new)

Stephen Yeah! I've read 29 of the top 100! Though I feel like I should get some partial credit for a few others for which I've "only seen the movie" (sometimes multiple VERSIONS of the movie), a few that I've re-read a number of times, and a few that I've only partly read (How many people have read many or most of the Shakespeare plays but not the full canon, the same goes for the Bible)

BTW why is Frank Herbert's first volume of the Dune chronicles on the list rather than the full series?
(Philip Pullman got HIS full series on the list)


message 26: by Belldandy (new)

Belldandy 38 so far!


message 27: by Jessica (new)

Jessica I've read 39 so far. I guess I have a long way to go, but I'm only 24, so I think I have time. : )


message 28: by Kelly (new)

Kelly Exactly 23! Brilliant, I'm average.. *starts reading*


message 29: by Eszter (new)

Eszter Ha! I have read 25 books, but this will soon improve, as many of the books are on my TBR pile already!


message 30: by Dyanne (new)

Dyanne 28/100...i think...something like that...now I need to read the other 72 books that I haven't read that are on this list!


message 31: by Jackie (new)

Jackie Whaley 14/100. Will add a few to my 'to be read' list.


back to top



flag as offensive (?)

This is a static list.