How many of the 1001 books have you read? Showing 551-600 of 1,912

[Philip]

189 (at some point in the past)from combined list and working from scratch as of Jan 2011 have managed 12 only 1 of which I had never read before 'Pamela'. Aiming for 100 in 2011.

[Ian]

Glad I am not alone in becoming an obsessive! I am principally using the 2006 edition and stand at 179 read. That equates to 150 of the 2008 edition and I dare not look at the 2010 one.
I love it that everything I have read has some merit, whether it is particularly my taste or not and purely on the lists recommendation, I have been introduced into some wonderful reading experiences that otherwise I would not have thought twice about. George Gissing, anyone?

[[deleted user]]

90 something- darn that's less than a tenth of the entire list. I have set myself a target of 150 by the end of the year. Quite an ask, but let's see how it goes.

[Jaleh Rose]

I've only read 25 of the books, but about half of them are on my to-read list...haha.

[Genia]

I've only recently found this group, and decided to see what was what. So far, just from random reading here, there and everywhere, I've been through 168 books, and have another thirty or so on my to-read shelves. I confess that my literary education is skewed due to a significant presence of Russian and Hebrew authors, and therefore a certain lack in British and American ones. Oh well.

I suppose now I know the list is there, I'll at least use it as a base for recommendation, though I already know there will be titles I'll studiously avoid, such as Finnegan's Wake. Thanks but no, thanks.

[Sophie]

Disappointingly (considering the amount I read) only 77 from the list.

[Emily]

I was an English major in college. Sadly, only about 50 read prior to looking at the list. I'm working on the 2006 list, but still, was pretyt surprised.

[Shay]

I stopped counting at around 300 on the original list. I figured it didn't matter since I'm planning to read all of them, even the ones I've already read. In some cases, it's been 25-30 years since I've read the book, so it's almost like reading it for the first time.

[Deanne]

Read 821 of the original list, getting harder to track down some of the more obscure books.

[Amanda]

Congratulations Deanne O_O

Do you sleep?

[Deanne]

Did nights last weekend and with all the neuro emergencies didn't sleep much at all.

[Liz M]

Deanne wrote: "Read 821 of the original list, getting harder to track down some of the more obscure books."

That is wonderful!

I think you should start a request thread for the books you can't find, perhaps people here can help. I'd send a book to help you reach the magical 1001 number.

[Dylan]

I have read 18, so there is a long way to go, but I'm only 16 years old.

[Kirsten]

I have read 100 so far and I am almost finished Of Human Bondage.

[Cindy]

Liz M wrote: "I think you should start a request thread for the books you can't find, perhaps people here can help. I'd send a book to help you reach the magical 1001 number. "

Oh yes, I would contribute, too! Deanna - I hope you'll someday write a rundown of what were your favorites, what were your least favorites, and which were most and least likely deserving to be on the list. (Which may or may not have overlap with your favorites.) I would love to hear your thoughts.

[Deanne]

The book that I'm having most difficulty tracking down is Adjunct: an undigest, it did come up on Amazon but for about £70, but there's still hope.
I live in a corner of Derbyshire on the borders with Leicestershire,(where Mum lives) and Nottinghamshire where I work. So I belong to all three county libraries, I've only just joined Derby but it means access to a lot of old books kept in storage.
Cindy there are 2 books I hated and both by Henry Miller. I've also discovered a love of Russian writers and some Victorians.

[Liz M]

You can buy Adjunct: an Undigest from the publisher for £10 plus £1 postage.

[Sophie]

Julia wrote: "What has been everyone's favorite?
"

So far I think Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and I have been (sneakily) reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood at work - I'm thoroughly enjoying both!

[K.D.]

186!

[Rosemary]

I just hit 300 with The Rapture of Lol V. Stein.

[laut]

So far I've read 47, but right now I have Drop City, Moby Dick, the Colour, Cloud Atlas, and Dining on Stones out from the library, so that'll rise soon.

[Gemma]

I've just finished number 100! Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

So far, I've found the list a bit hit and miss to my taste, but this was one of the good ones, I throughly enjoyed it.

[Danyelle]

35. Started December 2010, and was very disappointed that The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand wasn't on the list, but am enjoying the selection. Recently finished Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Hours by Michael Cunningham and loved both.

[Vanessa]

147 for me. I also loved The Hours (and Dracula) and have Cloud Atlas at home waiting to be read. Have heard great things about it.

[[deleted user]]

I have read 51. I started last December. I am actually tracked the books chronologically on my blog 1001everything.blogspot.com. I really liked Dracula too!

[Bucket]

I'm up to 83 on the 2006 list and 77 on the 2008 and 2010 lists. Just starting Pride and Prejudice.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I have 101 complete out of the 1294 that are on or were on the list.

[Melissa]

I've read 42 so far, but most of them were already read, either for school or personal reading. I'm loving all the Margaret Atwood!

[Tanya (aka ListObsessedReader)]

Have just hit the 10% mark of the three combined lists with 130 read. (My best individual list is the 2006 version with 118). This was one of my goals for this year so am very happy!

Now focusing on getting 10% of each of the centuries completed.

[Elisabeth]

Read 42... I'm never gonna make it... not enough time to read...

...also, why is there no Orson Scott Card on the list or other Nebula and Hugo winning Science Fiction books... makes me sad. Ender's Game should be on the list.

[Cindy]

Elisabeth wrote: "Read 42... I'm never gonna make it... not enough time to read...

...also, why is there no Orson Scott Card on the list or other Nebula and Hugo winning Science Fiction books... makes me sad. End..."

There are a handful Hugo/Nebula/Locus award-winning books: Watchmen, Foundation, Contact, Neuromancer, Cryptonomicon. Maybe Ender's Game didn't make the cut because it's considered to be young adult?

[Gini]

Elisabeth wrote: "Read 42... I'm never gonna make it... not enough time to read...

...also, why is there no Orson Scott Card on the list or other Nebula and Hugo winning Science Fiction books... makes me sad. End..."

I am taking the attitude that this is an excellent guide to books that are worth reading, but that there are also lots of other books worth reading and it would be a pity for me to miss out on them by obsessing over these - currently not reading any list books at all, but reading many other wonderful things.

And I agree that Ender's Game deserves a place on the list.

[J_BlueFlower]

I would like to see Ender's Game on the list, too.

I have read 44 books from the list. Just discovered the list a few weeks ago, and will try to read systematically from it.

[Jaime]

91 books read. Starting "The Trial" today.

[Deanne]

Just reached 84% of the original list, some of the books have been great, some haven't. I've discovered authors I never would have read and now love, and books which I found intimidating are on my favourite list.

[Anna]

89 books read.

Did anyone actually enjoy reading Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes? It's on several "best book" lists and I don't get it. I had to force myself through it.

[Ellen]

I did. It actually was one of my favorite books ever.

Of course, I also loved the Flaubert stories it was taken from & I liked the theme of author obsession. But I also liked Barnes' writing-it's my favorite of his books by far.

[Cindy]

La Liseuse wrote: "I just broke 100 out of the 1294 from the combined lists."

Well done, La Liseuse! I'm hoping to hit that number this year. But I've been picking some of the very long list books this year, so I may not make it.

[Robin]

123 when I start with this group.

[Mikela]

Afraid I'm way behind with only 66 definately read. There are probably another 20 that I think I've read but can't positively say I have because the plot escapes me.

[laut]

Mikela wrote: "Afraid I'm way behind with only 66 definately read. There are probably another 20 that I think I've read but can't positively say I have because the plot escapes me."

You've read 9 more than me, so you've not read the least of anyone on here for sure.

[Anna]

Ellie wrote: "I did. It actually was one of my favorite books ever.

Of course, I also loved the Flaubert stories it was taken from & I liked the theme of author obsession. But I also liked Barnes' writing-it's ..."

Wow, really? Maybe I don't have enough of an appreciation for Flaubert. I loved Madame Bovary, but found Bouvard and Pecuchet pretty tedious because he tried to cover so many different themes.

Do you have a favorite Flaubert book you would suggest? I don't think I'll go back and re-read Barnes' book, but maybe I'll at least understand the infatuation a little better. I’m sure many of his allusions were lost on me because of my minimal reading of Flaubert.

[Ellen]

It may just be a difference in taste, although many people who life Flaubert's Parrot feel the same way as you about Bouvard et Pecuchet. I personally find it an hilarious book but that's my odd taste.

Bouvard is my second choice. I like the stories in Three Stories, especially A Simple Heart & it's the backdrop for Flaubert's Parrot so it would be worth reading.

A Sentimental Education is his other big work, & more popular than Bouvard (although much less funny, imho).

Good luck!

[Jennifer]

I just started but going off the 2006 list I've already read 21.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I'm just starting to track by the list, too, Jennifer. The combined list says I've read 57. Some of these I read eons ago, which go toward the total, and I didn't count the ones I attempted, but will never finish.

[Inna]

364

[Lisa]

I just went through the website list & have read 48 of the ones they listed. Has anyone noticed that a LOT of the books on that list are children's classics? I made a list of the first 15 that I'm going to read, headed back to the library this week anyway, LOL.

My initial picks are:
Wuthering Heights
Walden(although I can recall reading On Walden Pond in high school, does that count?)
Veronika Decides To Die
Vanity Fair
Uncle Tom's Cabin(had that on my to read list for a long time anyway)
In The Name of the Rose(another that's been on my to read list)
The Naked Lunch(LOL, sounds like my kind of lunch!)
Island of Dr. Moreau(saw the movie, wicked)
The Handmaid's Tale
The Color Purple(saw the movie, wanted to read the book to compare)
The Black Dahlia
The Song of Solomon
The Poisonwood Bible(nearly picked that up LAST time I was at the library)
Lolita(saw the movie ages ago)
Lady Chatterley's Lover(read parts of it here & there years ago)

[Shay]

Lisa wrote: "I just went through the website list & have read 48 of the ones they listed. Has anyone noticed that a LOT of the books on that list are children's classics? I made a list of the first 15 that I'..."

I think that some of them that we've come to think of as children's books weren't really published/marketed with that specific intention. One of the books on the list, The Children's Book, deals with the shifting of the notions of "childhood" and the changing of types of books that mirror that shift.

[Jennifer]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I'm just starting to track by the list, too, Jennifer. The combined list says I've read 57. Some of these I read eons ago, which go toward the total, and I didn't count the ones I attempted, but wi..."

I didn't either. I also realize I should probably go back and reread some of them now that I'm older, but there is never enough time for all the reading I want to do!

[Roger]

I have 71, and parts of many others.

Going through the list is a good motivator to get reading some great books.