Poll
Inspired by The Great American Read from PBS, it's time for The Great ATY Read. Vote for your favorite book from The Great American Read list of 100 books below.
The Lord of the Rings (Series)
The Hunger Games (Series)
The Chronicles of Narnia (Series)
A Game of Thrones (Series)
I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross Mysteries)
Foundation (Series)
Twilight (Series)
The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Series)
Fifty Shades of Grey (Series)
Hatchet (Series)
Left Behind (Series)
Outlander (Series)
Tales of the City (Series)
Poll added by: Katie
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I want to go back and watch some of the episodes as well. I assume they included some *ahem* 50 Shades! *cough cough* to appeal to the masses but there are some great books listed.
Laura wrote: "Love this idea! I also am sensing the start of another personal challenge...
It was really tough to vote for only one. But I definitely want to go back and watch some of the episodes of the show..."
UGH! This is so hard for me.... I need to think.
This was actually REALLY hard for me.... I narrowed it down to 20 books that I have read and loved either for pure pleasure and/or because they made me feel or think something. Of those 19, 10 of them I have read more than once,and 9 I marked in my reading journal as books I would like to read again at some point.
In the end I narrowed it down to 3 based on how much I loved the story and what I felt was some sort of literary merit. I chose classics. My picks were To Kill a Mockingbird Frankenstein, and Rebecca. I ended up voting for Rebecca because I have read it and even listened to it ( the audio is Amazing) I don't know how many times. I'll be re-reading Frankenstein in October for book club, and can't wait to see if I still love it as much as I did the first time. I only just read TKAM last year and it blew me away, so I'm sure this will be one I read over and over if I can ever make the time with all this reading challenge business going on :-)
Laura: I thought about making this into a personal challenge also, but I've read just about half of these books already, and I think most of the rest are on my other challenge lists (1000 to read before you die etc.)
Rachelnyc wrote: "I want to go back and watch some of the episodes as well. I assume they included some *ahem* 50 Shades! *cough cough* to appeal to the masses but there are some great books listed."HAHAHA thats some Great American Reading there Rachel...
Is it horrible that I felt compelled to read them all? And watch the movies?? I mean it literally turned into a piece of sad American Culture. They were probably the worst waste of paper I've ever laid eyes on. It wasn't even the content, it was just fifty shades of horrible writing lol. If you want to read this kind of guilty pleasure , I'm going to have to say that The Complete Crossfire Series: The Five Book Collection is the way to go.
Too hard. I chose The Count of Monte Cristo, but if you asked me tomorrow I might chose any of 25 others.
Tracy wrote: "Is it horrible that I felt compelled to read them all? And watch the movies??"Ha! I think it was brave of you to read them AND to admit to it here! I think if I make this a personal challenge, I will have to allow myself a few exclusions.
I was also surprised to see Flowers in the Attic. I absolutely loved those books when I was a kid but I assumed they wouldn't really stand the test of time. I have thought about re-reading but I'm so afraid I will hate the writing and it will ruin my fond memories, well as fond as memories of incest go, that is.
argggh it is so hard to pick just ONE! I narrowed it down just to make it easier for myself by eliminating books that are not by American authors (it is the "Great American Read" after all) and then picking the book I'd be happiest to re-read. In the end, I was left with: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The Hunger Games, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. And ... I chose The Hunger Games. I feel like I'm admitting to having no culture!!!! But if I had to pick ONE of those to bring with me to a deserted island, it would be Hunger Games (admittedly it edged up in my results because it is actually THREE books. Fair? maybe not.)
This was an easy choice for me because I’ve loved The Handmaid’s Tale since I studied it in English class.
Rachelnyc wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Is it horrible that I felt compelled to read them all? And watch the movies??"Ha! I think it was brave of you to read them AND to admit to it here! I think if I make this a personal..."
Flowers in the Attic is one of my cousins favorite series. I remember she couldn't get her nose out of them when we were younger. I was so blessed to grow up in a family of obsessive readers. I think I stopped after the first one. As I started doing challenges my reading tastes (standards?) changed, so things I used to read and enjoy I now avoid like the plague lol.
As for Fifty Shades, having read them makes for some interesting conversations with the ladies in my office ha!
Nadine wrote: "argggh it is so hard to pick just ONE! I narrowed it down just to make it easier for myself by eliminating books that are not by American authors (it is the "Great American Read" after all) and the..."HUNGER GAMES!!!!!!! Lol , no judgement here Nadine, I've read the whole series 3 times so far and I'll probably do it again. Love those books , especially the first 2!!
Chinook wrote: "This was an easy choice for me because I’ve loved The Handmaid’s Tale since I studied it in English class."Close 4th on my list Chinook, amazing and very scary book.
Mod
I'm torn!
I really wanted to make it so people could vote for more than one book, but it didn't seem to be an option!
It was a hard choice as there are a lot of books I loved on this list, but thinking of the impact it had on me, I had to go with Harry Potter!
Gosh can we have more than one? I love many but if only one, I will be hard pressed to choose other than Harry Potter... but I am no Potterhead! My other favorite is not on here, which is I, Claudius.
I wonder if our vote is representative of how America will vote. I won't be surprised if HP wins. I have a Top 5 but I'm sticking with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as my favorite. It reminds me of my grandmother, who grew up in Brooklyn during that same period, and I absolutely loved the story!
I'm a simple woman. I see Count of Monte Cristo and I click 'vote for'.
I also am sensing the start of another personal challenge...
It was really tough to vote for only one. But I definitely want to go back and watch some of the episodes of the show. I haven't seen any.