BookCrossing Top 100 books

This posted a few days ago, and I thought it would be fun to stick it here and mark it up with read, unread, on my submitted top 20 list, wouldn't consider it in a fit for my list, etc. Maybe some others will play along (or throw things at me for knocking their favourites or loving their pet hates!)

1. THE LORD OF THE RINGS- J.R.R. Tolkien - read it, love it, was on my top 20 (so nyah to you, Dorian. ;) ).

2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD- Harper Lee - think I've read it, but so many years ago that I might as well not have. Kids tell me I must reread!

3. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE- Jane Austen - read it, love it, consider it the pinnacle of perfection, was on my top 20, etc. etc.

4. The "Harry Potter" series- J.K. Rowling - read the first 4, couldn't bear to wade through number 5. Not a fan.

5. JANE EYRE- Charlotte Bronte - read it many times. Odd to track different responses from a recent read for OU study from those as a teen - how could I have thought Mr. R. was so wonderful?? :)

6. THE HANDMAID'S TALE- Margaret Atwood - nope. Probably should, when I'm in a high tolerance for bleak mood. Read Orxy and Crake recently and was very impressed, though it was far from comfortable.

7. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY- Douglas Adams - love it.

8. 1984- George Orwell - back in school, I think.

9. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY- John Irving
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE- Gabriel Garcia Marquez - no to either of them.

11. THE STAND- Stephen King
GONE WITH THE WIND- Margaret Mitchell - neither. (Won't embarrass myself with 'but I've seen the film'!)

13. LITTLE WOMEN- Louisa May Alcott - couldn't take it as a kid, though I loved Alcott's An Old-Fashioned Girl, which is almost equally sentimental, but funnier.
THE HOBBIT- J.R.R. Tolkien - love it.

15. LIFE OF PI- Yann Martel - no - own it, but not sure when/if will get around to it.
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (book 1) - Lucy Maud Montgomery - loved it, put it on my list.

16. THE NAME OF THE ROSE- Umberto Eco - read it, may not have been in the right mood, though I did like it ok.

17. THE MISTS OF AVALON- Marion Zimmer Bradley - no.
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE- J.D. Salinger - well, of course. ;) I love some of his others more, but haven't reread in ages.

19. WATERSHIP DOWN- Richard Adams - a while ago, not recently enough to remember particularly how I felt about it.
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH- Ken Follett - no.
PERFUME- Patrick Suskind - no.

22. THE DAVINCI CODE- Dan Brown - I was saved from this by generalblossom's timely review - for which I'm still heartily grateful!
THE LITTLE PRINCE- Antoine de Saint-Exupery - yup - even taught it as part of a (not-for-pay) ESL class.
THE GRAPES OF WRATH- John Steinbeck - yes, years ago.

25. FAHRENHEIT 451- Ray Bradbury - no.
The Narnia Chronicles- C.S. Lewis - grew up on them! Haven't reread all recently, but keep meaning to.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE (SORCERER'S STONE) - J.K. Rowling - read it, see entry no. 4.
HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN- J.K. Rowling - as above.

29. WUTHERING HEIGHTS- Emily Bronte - never read it, never really wanted to.
DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL- Anne Frank - several times. Not a favourite, but still a had-to read for me.

31. DUNE- Frank Herbert - years and years ago!

32. THE POISONWOOD BIBLE- Barbara Kingsolver - just this year. Not perfect, but very, very moving.
REBECCA- Daphne du Maurier - not yet, but going to be studying it next year.

34. PERSUASION- Jane Austen - vies for place as favourite Austen with Pride and Prejudice! So wonderful. On my top 20.
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA- Arthur Golden - have it now, going to read next-but-one.

36. THE GREAT GATSBY- F. Scott Fitzgerald - read it in school. Think I liked it!
A WRINKLE IN TIME- Madeleine L'Engle - as a kid, and then to my daughters. I like her non-fiction better, but still liked this on reading to the girls.
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE- C.S. Lewis - see entry 25.

39. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND- Lewis Carroll - yup.
LORD OF THE FLIES- William Golding - had to read it for school - ugh.
BRAVE NEW WORLD- Aldous Huxley - no.
ANGELA'S ASHES- Frank McCourt - no. (And haven't seen the film and don't want to!)
THE LOVELY BONES- Alice Sebold - no.


44. THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS- Isabel Allende - no.
CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR- Jean M. Auel - no.
ENDER'S GAME- Orson Scott Card - thanks to a loan from Dorian, yes.
GOOD OMENS- Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - love it to bits.
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA- Gabriel Garcia Marquez - no.
ANIMAL FARM- George Orwell - another back in school read.
OF MICE AND MEN- John Steinbeck - no, but I did see my daughter sobbing uncontrollably over it, by about the third page!
THE COLOR PURPLE- Alice Walker - we studied it. One of the very few books I have ever felt ended too happily.

52. THE NEVERENDING STORY- Michael Ende - I tried a few pages.
FAUST- Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe - no.
BLINDNESS- Jose Saramago - no.
HAMLET- William Shakespeare - read it last year for the first time, and also the first time I have ever whole-heartedly loved a tragedy. On my top 20 list.
EAST OF EDEN- John Steinbeck -Eons ago - don't remember much.
CHARLOTTE'S WEB- E. B. White - years ago - only remember being very upset by the ending.
The "Little House" series- Laura Ingalls Wilder - yup - read them all to the girls, even read a few biographies of Laura Ingalls Wilder

59. BRIDGET JONES' DIARY- Helen Fielding - no, read the second one, but not this.
SOPHIE'S WORLD- Jostein Gaarder - no- it's upstairs though - I had a look and wasn't that taken with it.
CATCH-22- Joseph Heller - years ago and only remembered liking it a lot.
THE SECRET HISTORY- Donna Tartt - no.

63. GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING- Tracy Chevalier - no, daughter read it and wasn't impressed, so I'm not that interested.
MIDDLESEX- Jeffrey Eugenides - no.
The "His Dark Materials" series- Phillip Pullman - read the first two, couldn't face the third.
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN- Betty Smith - years ago.

67. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY- Jane Austen - several times, not my favourite Austen.
THE RED TENT- Anita Diamant - my mother was given it, but it didn't sound at all my cup of tea!
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT- Fyodor Dostoyevsky - no.
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO- Alexandre Dumas - no.
AMERICAN GODS- Neil Gaiman - no.
THE CIDERHOUSE RULES- John Irving - no.
SHE'S COME UNDONE- Wally Lamb - no.
WINNIE-THE-POOH- A.A. Milne - yes indeed! Love them all.
The "Anne of Green Gables" series- Lucy Maud Montgomery - yes - they sag considerably in the middle or I'd have put the series in my top 20.
NORTHERN LIGHTS/THE GOLDEN COMPASS- Phillip Pullman - yes.
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE- Anne Rice - no.
ROMEO AND JULIET- William Shakespeare - yes, but years ago.
THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER- Mark Twain - yes.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY- Oscar Wilde - blushing madly - no.
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND- Carlos Ruiz Zafon - no. I haven't even heard of this (still blushing).

82. EMMA- Jane Austen - yes.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS- Charles Dickens - ended up studying this twice. Love it, though wouldn't have put it on my top 20.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES- Charles Dickens - no.
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE-STOP CAFE- Fannie Flagg - no.
THE SCARLET LETTER- Nathaniel Hawthorne - no.
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH- Norton Juster - oh yes, love it!
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES- Sue Monk Kidd - no.
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING- Milan Kundera - no.
A FINE BALANCE- Rohinton Mistry - no, though a friend recently raved about Mistry - must check it out when I get a chance.
LAMB: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD PAL- Christopher Moore - no.
THE BELL JAR- Sylvia Plath - years ago.
The "Discworld" series- Terry Pratchett - some, not all. Love what I love of Pratchett dearly, but don't love it all.
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS- Wilson Rawls - no.
THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS- Arundhati Roy - no.
WAR AND PEACE- Leo Tolstoy - yes, back when I was in school and had more reading time! Loved it, but very unlikely ever to reread.

97. THE EYRE AFFAIR- Jasper Fforde - oh yes! Actually even more impressed with the Well of Lost Plots.
NEVERWHERE- Neil Gaiman - yes - almost at the borderline of Gaiman's being too violent for me, but this side of it. I'm pretty wimpy about things like this!
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES- Thomas Hardy - no, though I was involved in a very interesting discussion about resonances between Hexwood and Tess once. ;)
STEPPENWOLF- Herman Hesse - no.
HIGH FIDELITY- Nick Hornby - no, but I'd like to sometime. Saw the film (said in very quiet voice).
ULYSSES- James Joyce - no thanks.
METAMORPHOSIS- Franz Kafka - no, but do I get partial credit for the Kafka section in Lost in a Good Book?
ATONEMENT- Ian McEwan - read half of the first section.
LONESOME DOVE- Larry McMurtry - no.
THE ENGLISH PATIENT- Michael Ondaatje - no.
THE SHIPPING NEWS- E. Annie Proulx - no.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM- William Shakespeare - yes.
DRACULA- Bram Stoker - studied it two years ago. Very interesting to have read it and a dream of a text for study of the 19th century novel, but I can't even imagine putting it on my top 20!
THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN- Mark Twain - yes.

So, I didn't really expect any Martha Wells, didn't totally expect any Diana Wynne Jones, I guess, but no Connie Willis?? She wins huge awards just about every time she publishes, and I find this very odd. Unless everyone put up a different favourite and it just got too diluted. Like myntti, I'd also love to see the list of books that didn't make it to the top 100.

This took longer than I'd expected, and now I must get back to the Iliad, a book which will also never make my top 20! Though I guess it also won't make my bottom 20. Hmm, now there's another list to ponder....