The new World Book Night list is out, so time to count off how many we've read again.
So, blue I've read. Purple I've heard as an audio book or seen as film/tv adaptation.
It seems that these lists always evolve in my favour. Perhaps my reading habits are becoming more populist.
1 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Read at school, and bought for myself after I left uni.
2 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
I think I read this, but can't remember clearly. I may be confused by the film/tv adaptations I've seen. Anyway, Jane Austen doesn't do it for me, but I'd choose her over any of the Brontes.
3 The Book Thief Markus Zusak
4 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Seen more than one film/tv version.
5 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
6 The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien
I've now seen two of the three films, and still don't want to try to read it.
7 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
Love this, still funny many times over.
8 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
Found this very very dull as a teenager. May be I should try it again?
9 Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
10 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
Have this as an audio book.
11 American Gods Neil Gaiman
12 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
13 Harry Potter Adult Hardback Boxed Set J. K. Rowling
I have the standard versions though.
14 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
15 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien
Made me decide never to read any more Tolkien.
16 One Day David Nicholls
17 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
18 The Help Kathryn Stockett
Heard this on the radio then read it.
19 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
Scary stuff.
20 Good Omens Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
21 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks
22 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
23 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
I liked it, but don't see the reason for the fuss about it.
24 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
Should try this again.
25 Little Women Louisa M. Alcott
26 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
27 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
28 Atonement Ian McEwan
Better than the film, but hard to follow.
29 Room Emma Donoghue
30 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Have to concentrate on this when you read it. Another I should read again.
31 We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
Heard it adapted for Radio 4.
32 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
33 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
Some one borrowed my copy and never gave it back, otherwise I probably read it again, but don't want to so much that I'd buy a new one. Awful film.
34 The Island Victoria Hislop
35 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman
Was on tv when I was a teenager.
36 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
37 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
I don't think I've ever quite figured this one out. Holden Caulfield confuses and annoys me.
38 Chocolat Joanne Harris
39 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
40 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom
41 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42 Animal Farm George Orwell
43 The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
44 The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde
45 Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
I have no desire to read more Hardy, but glad I did read some.
46 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
Loved Roald Dahl as child, still like the wicked humour. I really dislike all the film adaptations of his books.
47 I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith
48 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
49 Life of Pi Yann Martel
50 The Road Cormac McCarthy
51 Great Expectations Charles Dickens
52 Dracula Bram Stoker
53 The Secret History Donna Tartt
54 Small Island Andrea Levy
55 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
56 Lord of the Flies William Golding
Scarier left to imagination than on film.
57 Persuasion Jane Austen
58 A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
Heard it adapted for Radio 4.
59 Notes from a Small Island Bill Bryson
Funny enough not to read in public for fear of giggling.
60 Watership Down Richard Adams
Quite scary.
61 Night Watch Terry Pratchett
62 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
63 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon
Must read this again.
64 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke
65 The Color Purple Alice Walker
66 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult
67 The Stand Stephen King
I know I read this, but can't remember it.
68 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
69 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov
70 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
Heard it adapted for Radio 4. I think.
71 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
72 Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
73 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer
74 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
75 Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell
76 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman
77 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
78 The Princess Bride William Goldman
79 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
80 Perfume Patrick Suskind
81 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
82 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
83 Middlemarch George Eliot
Same as for Hardy.
84 Dune Frank Herbert
85 Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
86 Stardust Neil Gaiman
87 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
88 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
89 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling
90 Shantaram Gregory David Roberts
91 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
92 Possession: A Romance A. S. Byatt
93 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin
94 Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami
95 The Magus John Fowles
96 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne
97 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
98 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
99 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami
100 The Wind-up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami