100 best reads of all time - how many have you read?

[David]

I've only read 10 from the list, but there were at least 15 that have been made into movies and I rarely read the book after seeing the movie. I mean, I've seen at least four different movie versions of the Three Musketeers. That kind of spoils the suspense. There are also a few on the list I started but didn’t like.

On a side note, one book I have read after seeing the movie was Jurassic Park, and let me tell you, the book is so much better.

[Catamorandi]

I think I have read the least of anyone - 11. But I am proud to have read those 11 and am looking forward to reading more.

[Lindsey]

I have read 42 of these books. Now, I have a new goal for the new year. Sheesh.

[Lissa]

So far I have read 5..but many of 'em are on my TBR List!

[Karen]

Only 17.....my oh my, I have some catchin' up to do.
Karen

[Lauren]

11 so far but another 19 on my to read list. but also not interested in harry potter and lord of the rings type of book.

[Libbeth]

44 and a few so long ago, before my records began, that I'm not quite sure if I actually read them or have seen films of them. Sigh, that little exercise increased my To Be Read list by 14 for definite and all the rest to look into except a couple I have started in the past and abandoned .

[Darla]

Right now, I am so disappointed in myself. There are so many books on this list that I've always wanted to read, but for some reason I've never picked them up. Most likely because most of my books come from a used book store and I tend to grab what seems interesting while I'm there. Also because when I go to a 'real' book store, I tend to go there for a specific book that caught my interest for one reason or another. I think I'm going to print out this list and carry it with me in my wallet as a reminder for the next time I go there.


I'm at a very sad and piddly 17, which is horrendous considering I generally read upwards of 4 books a month when I'm in a groove and probably a minimum of 1 in a month or so when I don't have the time to read. I started reading between the ages of 3 and 4. I'm almost 31. You do the math.

:( <---- If I could make a little tear drop falling from his little eye, I would

By the way, Karen.... would you like to have a race? lol

[Julianne]

David, RE: Message 215

You are sooo right about Jurassic Park. I read it YEARS after seeing the movie (and I LOVE the movie), and I like the book so much more. The expanded ideas in chaos theory are awesome (literally, not like awesome as in cool)

[Tkirshmansocal.rr.com]

I've read 33. I was a little surprised that the Da Vinci Code is on it. I liked it, it was a fun read but I wouldn't put it in the same class as Anna Karenina.
I love the lists, thank you for all of them!

[Petra X]

'The Complete Works of Shakespeare'. Anyone read everything Shakespeare wrote? For real?

[Catamorandi]

I haven't. I have read many plays and many sonnets but not all of either one. I wouldn't mind having the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I like him.

[Petra X]

I have read a lot of the plays but that was mostly in school. I'm not big on Shakespeare's poetry. Actually I don't really like reading the plays much either but every year when I go back to the UK I try and take my kid to see a Shakespeare play in London or Stratford and that's even better than reading them.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I *have* a "Complete Works of Shakespeare" but I certainly haven't *read* all of Shakespeare. Maybe about half. So I didn't count it.

[Jenna]

44 for me.. there are a few I considered rather suspect as well.. really the 100 best of all time??

[A.J.]

I'm sure my father's read everything Shakespeare wrote, several times over. He's got half the plays memorized, every line, and quotes Shakespeare continually in conversation.

(Consequently, my head is full of quotations that I can't source. Just yesterday, I shouted at my son, "Stand not upon the order of your going, but go!" Macbeth, apparently.)

This is what happens when you're raised by a Shakespeare prof.

[Anita]

Well, I have only read 8 of them. I have heard of many of them,but just have not read them. So, I got some reading to do ! :O)

[Betsy]

I've read 16. This list has got me thinking of some books I'd really like to read. Watership Down I thought was really good. I'm reading the Count of Monte Cristo right now so that will be interesting!

[Jessica]

I've got a lot of reading to do - only read a measly 13 of those! (But I read a lot of 19th century fiction that no one has heard of).

[Cheryl S.]

I've read 29 of them and have 5 or 6 more I started and just couldn't get into. I have to say not one of them makes my all time favorite list, but it is fun checking out the list.

[Jamie]

I've only read these 11 books from the list:

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White

I've got these 16 waiting TBR:

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible (I've always wanted to read it all the way through)
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
34. Emma - Jane Austen
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

[Kate]

Wow, I have only read 15... that isn't a lot.

[Kelly]

What a list? I sure am behind. I only found two that I've read. I guess I'm going to be adding more books to my TBR list.LOL. Any recommendations on which are easy reads and the ones that are harder to get into?

[Kiwi]

I've read only 11. Should've been more but many of the chances escape me. About 5-6 that I should've read, but I think a slightly different English class than others. And a few I have yet to read, such as Love in the Time of Cholera, Harry Potter (yes, I have not finished it yet), Lolita, Alice in Wonderland, Life of Pi, The Little Prince (in French XD), and Little Women.

I just happened to have not read the novel (not the play) of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Hamlet, Oliver Twist, Moby-Dick, The Great Gatsby, and things of that sort that we're supposed to study in school.

[Jamie]

Kelly -

I'd call these easy/quick reads (some are my favorites, though, too):

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Little Women is also a pretty easy read, I think.

[Charity]

Easy, but not short. My unabridged edition of Little Women has almost 700 pages. But, it is really worth it. One of my favorite books.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

True, that.

[Maranda (addlebrained_reader)]

I have read 29 of these books and half of the 30th. I also have several on my to-be-read shelf and several more on my wish list.

[d4]

25, but not crazy about this list. it seems rather inconsistent.

[Jessica]

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
29. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
40. Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
70. Moby-Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
The ones that are bold I know I've read, the ones that are not, I don't remember if I've read. I don't remember exatly.
The list adds to 21. That's really kind of sad...

[Christine]

39 for me! and halfway through another :)

[Holly]

I've read 24 of them. I was just listening to a story on NPR about the debate of changing the "mandatory" reads in highschool/juniorhigh from these well known classics to literature that is equally "good" but more updated interms of issues that "kids" are going thru today. I find that interesting...and I feel that same idea can be reflected in the debate here about what is a "good" read and what is not. No doubt we all have different tastes...but what we may be really identifying with is what is a "classic" and what is not...comparing Harry Potter with Lolita for example. It would seem that Harry may be lacking in that sense to most...but didn't most of the classics become so after sometimes years of bannings, mis-interpretations and black listing? Just a thought.

[Donna]

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - NO
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien NO
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte NO SAW THE MOVIE
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling NO SAW THE MOVIE
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee YES
6. The Bible NO
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte NO OWN IT
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell NO OWN IT
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman NO
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens NO
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott NO
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy NO
13. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller NO OWN IT
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare MOST OF THEM
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier NO
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien NO
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks NO
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger NO OWN IT
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger NO OWN IT
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot NO
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell NO
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald NO OWN IT
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens NO
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy NO
25. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams NO
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh NO
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky YES
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck NO SAW THE MOVIE
29. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll NO ASW ALL OF THE MOVIES
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame NO
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy NO
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens NO
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis NO SAW THE MOVIE AND OWN IT
34. Emma - Jane Austen NO
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen NO
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis NO OWN IT & SAW THE MOVIE
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini YES & THE MOVIE
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres NO
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden NO SAW THE MOVIE
40. Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne NO
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell YES
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown YES & THE MOVIE
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez NO
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins NO
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery NO
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy NO
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood NO
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding NO
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan NO
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel NO OWN IT
52. Dune - Frank Herbert NO
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons NO
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen NO
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth NO
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon NO
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens NO
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley YES
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon NO
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez NO
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck NO
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov NO
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt NO
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold NO OWN IT
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas NO
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac NO
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy NO
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding NO SAW THE MOVIE
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie NO
70. Moby-Dick - Herman Melville NO OWN IT
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens NO OWN IT
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker NO SAW MANY OF THE MOVIES
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett NO SAW THE MOVIE
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson NO
75. Ulysses - James Joyce NO
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath YES
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola NO
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray NO
80. Possession - A. S. Byatt NO
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens NO SAW THE PLAY
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell NO
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker NO OWN IT & SAW THE MOVIE
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro NO
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert NO
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry NO
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White NO SAW THE MOVIES
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom NO
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle NO
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton NO
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad YES
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery NO
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks NO
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams NO
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole NO
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute NO
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas NO
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare YES
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl NO SAW BOTH MOVIES
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo NO SAW THE MOVIE

[Alycia]

I've only read 12 from that particular list.
I only counted Harry Potter once as it was only listed a a series, otherwise that would have given me 7 entries.
Same with LOTR, I read the series and on that list it's only one entry.

I do have a few of those on my bookshelf and one on my "to buy" list on my next bookstore trip which is scheduled for tomorrow.

[[deleted user]]

43, but I didn't include the bible, as I haven't read every word, nor the complete works of shakespeare, cause I haven't read them all, ditto the adventures of sherlock holmes.

Interesting mix of books... who and/or what is the big read?

[Amber]

I have read 25 of this list, but I see a lot of titles that I will be adding to my TBR list!

[Robin]

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
4. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
5. The Bible
6. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
7. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
8. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
8.5 Complete Works of Shakespeare
9. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
10. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
11. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
12. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
13. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
14. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
15. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
16. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
17. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
18. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
19. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
20. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
21. Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne
22. Animal Farm - George Orwell
23. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
24. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
25. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
26. Dune - Frank Herbert
27. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
28. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
29. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
30. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
31. Moby-Dick - Herman Melville
32. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
33. Dracula - Bram Stoker
34. Ulysses - James Joyce
35. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
36. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
37. Charlotte's Web - EB White
38. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
39. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
40. Watership Down - Richard Adams
41. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
42. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
43. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
44. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan
The Crown Conspiracy (Oct 2008)
Avempartha (April 2009)

[Robin]

Overall a pretty good list - though I question some of the things on it - I'm surpised that there is not a Stephen King or Ayn Rand on there.

And who can say "All of Shakespere's works - thats a high requirement. I would think the "biggies" like Romeo and Julliet, MacBeth, King Lear etc.

--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan
The Crown Conspiracy (Oct 2008)
Avempartha (April 2009)

[Elizabeth (NC)]

I think it's interesting that they include the complete works of Shakespeare and Hamlet near the bottom--seems like they could have used that space for something else. I've read 44. This is an interesting list. Who created it? There are definitely some of my favorites on there, but a few that seem to be ones that you must read, but aren't that enjoyable (at least to me.)

[Robin]

I thought the same thing..about both Hamlet and Complete Shakesphere
--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan
The Crown Conspiracy (Oct 2008) - Fantasy Book Critic Review
Avempartha (April 2009)

[Tango]

I've read 51 completely and have started, but not finished, about another ten.

[Kandice]

I feel so proud of myself! I have read 54. I am really pleased at some of the "unusual" choices on the list. The Handmaid's Tale, Dune, Brave New World, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy-these are some of my all time favorites!

[Troy]

hmm only 14 all the way through. A few I was suppposed to read in high school but didn't...hopefully I have many reading years ahead of me, cause there's a lot on that list I'd love to discover.

[Melissa]

Yep, 6 for me. I guess I'm the average adult. Of course, I've read one of The Lord of the Rings and one Harry Potter, but I didn't count it because they're listed as a group.

Little Women
The Hobbit
The Great Gatsby
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Winnie-the-Pooh
Lord of the Flies

[Troy]

How does one create a hyperlink with the book titles?

[A.J.]

Click on the "add book/author" link above the text entry box, and you get a popup that allows you to search for the book and then creates the hyperlink for it.

[Timothy]

The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Bible
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
Complete Works of Shakespeare
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
Winnie-the-Pooh - AA Milne
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Charlotte's Web - EB White
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare

I guess that makes 27. There are few on there that I started some even more than once that I just couldn't finish:
Dracula
Great Expectations
Gone with the Wind

and my wife has been wanted me to read The Lovely Bones for some time now and I have had Confederacy of Dunces on my list to be read for a long time. I guess it is time to get to work.

[Elena]

I've read 36... In fact, this list is quite debatable I think: Winnie-the-Pooh and Zafon in the same list with Shakespeare and Austen?

[Nikki]

I have read 24