The Outsiders, The Shack, The Sirens of Titan, The Eye of the World ( a series), Their Eyes Were Watching God, Things Fall Apart, This Present Darkness, Watchers, Where the Red Fern Grows, and White Teeth.
Then there are the remaining books that I have heard of but not read:
The Lovely Bones, The Martian (I saw the movie), The Notebook (this movie too), The Pilgrim's Progress, The Stand (though I tried. I just do not like Stephen King), Twilight Saga, and War and Peace.
Needless to say, when I watched the PBS special on these 100 novels I felt like I had not read anything at all.
Finally, those that I have read:
To Kill a Mockingbird - Released in 1960, I read it soon after while I was in high school. It is a powerful story and one I will never forget.
Wuthering Heights - I saw this movie long before I read the book. But the copy I have on my shelf is one I took from my mother's bookshelf. It was printed in 1941. BTW, when I went to check out the date of this book, I found that I had a copy of Little Women dated 1929. It has my name in the front but I am sure I never read it. Just kept it for some reason.
And last, but certainly my number one choice, The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've been voting every day.
So, if you were to pick your top 100 books, would some of these be included? I did find that some of the books on the list I have not read for various reasons. There are certain topics I just avoid. And some of them found their way onto the list.
But I am glad to see some of my favorites here. I should go check out my bookshelves and see what was missed that I would have included. Happy reading to you.
The Shack is a stupid book; I could only get through half of it and had to stop and I think I even threw it away. Of course I felt it was stupid because of my faith, others raved about it. To Kill a Mockingbird was a favorite of mine between 8th and 9th grade. I was so thrilled when my kids had to read it for high school English. Neither really liked it, why I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I tended to read books over and over again. Now not so much. I sometimes can't remember if I've read a book based on its title, but have to go in and read a few lines and hope it jars something in my memory that I have or have not read it.
Lots of good books out there; the important thing is to read what we can :)
betty
I loved The Shack! Isn't it funny how someone can hate it and another can love a book? I only read To Kill A Mockingbird in the last few years and cannot wrap my mind around all the hoopla that surrounded it all these years! I loved The Notebook book but not the movie. Again, I feel that way about most books made into movies! I used to be a BIG Stephen King fan and then 'not so much' anymore. I enjoyed these posts.
ReplyDeleteI read War and Peace several times. I really like it. I enjoyed the movie too although it had to cut some stuff out. I was told skip the first 100 pages because it is all names, go back and read it later. I didn't do that. Did you read Go Set a Watchman, which is, I understand the part of To Kill a Mockingbird that didn't get published at the time. It changes the story radically I understand.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you have written, I don't think I would rank very high on that list of American reads. But maybe Europeans have a different list.
Forgot, The Eye of the World is a fantastic series. Surprised you haven't read it Denise.
The Eye of the World never crossed my radar. Go Set a Watchman got terrible reviews so I never read it. Many English books on that list so it would be curious to see what their list would look like.
DeleteThings Fall Apart is an incredibly good novel about the arrival of colonial rule in West Africa. Powerful but sad. White Teeth is also really worth reading - a funny, satirical story about growing up biracial in London. And I really liked War and Peace. Haven't read any of the others. My favorite books - there are so many, but I would start with Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, Birds Without Wings by Louis DeBernieres, and The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. Also The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to live a really long time to read everything on my tbr list.
DeleteI am behind..so behind but I so want to read many of the books you mentioned. I have read To Kill a Mockingbird more than once and love it.
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