Thursday 10 July 2008

Thursday Thirteen - The Big Read


In my blog hopping today / tonight I found this on Mrs Spock's site

"Apparently, the Big Read (a program of the National Endowment for the Arts) guesses that the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books on this list. I went on the Web site and tried to find this list (and the NEA's thing about the average adult only having read six)"I couldn't find it."

Well I just spent 20 mins checking and I can't either. I've read more than 13 of them. I just skimmed the list and picked these quickly because I have had a busy day and I am stuffed for what else to blog. ..yes I am honest ! I really wanted to check it is an authentic list but it is still an interesting one.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

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

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

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

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame


33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown


46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

87 Charlotte's Web - EB White

90 The Faraway Tree Collection

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

I promise I will post the rest of the list when I have time to do the meme that accompanies it and I read a few more books.

I lot I read at school or a very long time ago ... don't ask questions !!

What are your favourite books ?

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13 comments :

Anonymous said...

I have read more than 13, Pride and prejudice I've watch more than 13 times in the last 5 years. :)

CelloBella said...

23 on that list... some a VERY long time ago. Some more than once. :) I too would be interesting in seeing the full list.

Anonymous said...

Does it count if you've seen the movie? This has turned into a great summer reading list.

Tricia said...

I've read everything on your 13, and a lot more. I am definately a book person. Somewhere in my grand collection I have a link to a list from a book club I belonged to awhile back, if I find it I'll come back. Good list.

Cathy said...

I've read I think about 13 on that list and maybe started or read bits and pieces of others...like you, most at school or a very long time ago! So maybe we aren't the average adults?!

M the Mommy said...

I have many favorite books, but one of my most recent favorite reads is Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup. Check it out if you can it is a truly moving and thoughtful piece of literature.

Alison said...

I've read quite a few on that list.. Lots of the "children's" titles I read aloud to my babies when they were in my tummy.
I tend to like more abstract titles than top sellers though, so I'm quite surprised that I've read or at least heard of most of those books! lol

Anonymous said...

Wow, I was surprised to see I'd read 29 of the list. Some more than once (such as To Kill A Mockingbird).
Might print off the list and track down a few more though...

Wayfarer Scientista said...

Hi! I'm back after a hiatus. We helped sponsor a "Big Read" locally and from what I understand it is something that is voted on by a locality (here it was a valley wide thing). There is also a "Little Read". All of those books you have listed look more like school reading lists for middle schoolers.

Jayne said...

Have you got several blog pages and about, oh I don't know, say...a week, maybe? for me to list all my fav books lol.

Anonymous said...

Surprisingly, I've read about 12 of them. I'm not a big fiction reader. My husband on the other hand is working his way through The Booker Prize winners list at the moment. I'll let him know about this list as well - there's sure to be a few on there to interest him too.

On the subject of great stories, I've tagged you for the Six Word Memoir meme :-) (Mine publishes in the morning) No pressure though. Only do it if you wish to.

MissyBoo said...

Suprisingly I've read exactly 50. Albeit all of them too long ago...

~ej said...

i think i've read about 11, i did it quickly in my head...i think there must be different versions of this list though....

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