Sunday 5 December 2010

The BBC list

This list has been doing the rounds for a while. I first saw it on facebook I think, and it's going around for the second time just recently. And now it's now doing the rounds of the blogosphere.  The BBC believe most people would have read 6 of these.  I've put the ones I've read in red and the ones I've partially read in italics

I've got 32 in red. And 11 in italics. Pretty good. Last time I did this about 18 months or so ago, I think I had about 35 in total. I'm not frightfully well red, but am working towards it. 


So how many have you read?
 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling  
 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 
 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (OMG incomprehensible)
14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
 19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
 24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 
 28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 
 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 
 30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
 31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (gave up after 600 of the 800 pages)
 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis 
 34 Emma -Jane Austen
 35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
 36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis 
 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
 40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 
 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
 45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins 
 46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
 47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
 48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood 
 49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (see my review)
 *50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (never got past 30 pages)
 51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
 52 Dune - Frank Herbert
 53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons 
 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 
 55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon  
 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
 62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
 63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 
 65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
 66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
 67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
 69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie 
 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville 
 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker 
 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
 74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
 75 Ulysses - James Joyce 
 76 The Inferno - Dante  
 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
 78 Germinal - Emile Zola
 79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
 80 Possession - AS Byatt
 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 
 82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
 83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
 85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
 86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
 87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (on the plan for next year)
 90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
 92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery 
 93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks (I really, really want to read this)
 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
 95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
 96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas 
 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl 
 100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Update March 2013, I now have 35 in red, 10 in italics. I'm planning on reading Les Miserable in the next few months.

Nov 2013. 36 in red, 10 in italics.

13 comments:

Kath Lockett said...

58 read and five partially read :)

Louise said...

That's mighty impressive Kath. Would love to see your list.

Hilary said...

here's my lot - 54 that I am sure of - parts of 10 or so.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (most of)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (first book only)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (bits of - for literature study)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte


10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (pretty sure I've read this)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare (quite a few of, but not all!)

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (for school, poss didn't finish!))

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (for school - again, probably didn't finish)

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons (you should read this Louise!!)
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth



59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie


73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (think so but cannot be sure)




79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (90% of)
80 Possession - AS Byatt

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (some of)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White


90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (some of)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

Hilary said...

here's my lot - 54 that I am sure of - parts of 10 or so.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (most of)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (first book only)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (bits of - for literature study)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte


10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (pretty sure I've read this)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

14 The Complete Works of Shakespeare (quite a few of, but not all!)

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (for school, poss didn't finish!))

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (for school - again, probably didn't finish)

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons (you should read this Louise!!)
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth



59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie


73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (think so but cannot be sure)




79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (90% of)
80 Possession - AS Byatt

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (some of)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White


90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (some of)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

Hilary said...

doh! sorry about the two comments, and the alias. Hilary (reveling in books!)

Susan said...

I ended up with 30 read, a few more partials and a bunch on my TBR list. I wonder how they came up with the list.

Louise said...

Great effort Hilary. Why do you think I should read Cold Comfort Farm particularly? Did you like The Wasp Factory?

Susan the list wasn't actually made up by the BBC, it was a survey of 2000 people for world book day in 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/01/topstories3.books
I'm not quite sure how the BBC 6 meme thing started, and can't find an online reference to that, but it is fun, and a great conversation starter.

Unknown said...

it's very funny, that's why! And I loved the Wasp Factory - really creepy as I recall. I also loved his Walking on Glass - in fact, they are my two favourite Banks.

Louise said...

Hmmm, that link didn't quite work

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/01/topstories3.books

Susan said...

Hi Louise,
Thanks for visiting my list on my blog. The deal with my husband and I reading everything from 73 down meant I had a formatting error. It looked right before I posted, and afterward, I didn't proofread all the way to the bottom. My font switch got stuck. I think it's straightened out now! Thanks for making me aware of the error.

Louise said...

It didn't actually occur to me that it was an error! I just thought it was a bit unusual/funny. Glad it helped anyway.

Anonymous said...

This list has books in it that I don't feel I should read and I wonder what the BBC was about in compiling it. It sort of makes me not want to count up those that I have read.

Louise said...

Sue, the BBC didn't compile this list. The meme going about book blogs and facebook says that the BBC reckons most people will have read 6 books from the list (although I've never managed to find any reference to the BBC actually saying this). The list itself comes from a survey of 2000 readers (general public I presume) for world book day in 2007, which is why there are some surprising titles. Although P&P did still come out on top so I don't know that you can wholly dismiss it can you? ;-)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/mar/01/topstories3.books