The Big Read Test

[Zankapfel]

From BBC's Big Read Project the list of the Top 100 most influential/loved books of all time.
Not a great source, but one has to start somewhere.
Personally, I find a few of the titles are quite questionable, and there are books that have been inexplicably left out. But that's part of the problematic of popular choice.

Here are the rules, which I have altered slightly:

• Bold those you have read in full.
• Italicize those you have started but haven't finished.
• Place an asterisk by those you intend to read/finish someday *
• Mark in red the books you love.
• Mark in blue those you read, but are not particularly fond of.

---------------------

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 May Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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
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 [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
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 - AA 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 Meany - 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
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
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 Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
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 - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
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 [again, why the duplication?]
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

And just out of curiosity, what books would you do away with and what would you choose for a substitute?

I'll let someone else post their results first, and I will follow.

[Sikeliot]

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 May Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger *
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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
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 [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
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 - AA 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 Meany - 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 *
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
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 Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath *
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 - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom *
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
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 [again, why the duplication?]
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl *
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[Lucretius]

too many important titles missing.

[_______]

1.Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen2.The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien3.Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4.Harry Potter series - JK Rowling5.To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee6.The Bible7.Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8.Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9.His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman10.Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
[B]11.Little Women - Louisa May Alcott[/B]12.Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13.Catch 22 - Joseph Heller14.Complete Works of Shakespeare15.Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16.The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien17.Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks18.Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger19.The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger20.Middlemarch - George Eliot
21.Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell22.The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald23.Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24.War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy25.The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams26.Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27.Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky28.Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29.Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll30.The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31.Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy32.David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33.Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34.Emma - Jane Austen35.Persuasion - Jane Austen
36.The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis [odd bit of duplication re: #33]37.The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38.Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39.Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden40.Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41.Animal Farm - George Orwell42.The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43.One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44.A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45.The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46.Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery47.Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48.The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood49.Lord of the Flies - William Golding50.Atonement - Ian McEwan
51.Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52.Dune - Frank Herbert
53.Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons54.Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55.A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth56.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 Haddon60.Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61.Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck62.Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov63.The Secret History - Donna Tartt64.The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65.Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66.On The Road - Jack Kerouac67.Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68.Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding69.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 Burnett74.Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75.Ulysses - James Joyce
76.The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath77.Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78.Germinal - Emile Zola
79.Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray80.Possession - AS Byatt
81.A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82.Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83.The Color Purple - Alice Walker84.The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85.Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86.A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87.Charlotte's Web - EB White88.The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89.Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90.The Faraway Tree Collection
91.Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad92.The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery93.The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks94.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 [again, why the duplication?]99.Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl100.Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[Psychonaut]

Here's mine:

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 (don't judge me! )
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 May Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
    
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
    
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
    
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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
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 [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
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 - AA 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 Meany - 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
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
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 Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
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 - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
    
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I've read most, but not all of Doyle's original stories)
90. The Faraway Tree Collection
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
    
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
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 [again, why the duplication?]
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

And just out of curiosity, what books would you do away with and what would you choose for a substitute?

If these are supposed to be the most important books of all time I can only wonder where all of the friggin classics are! Books that are, IMO, way more important than more than half of the books on the list would include:

1. The Orestia - Aeschylus
2. The Theban Plays - Sophocles
3. Parsifal - Wolfram von Eschenbach
4. Tristan - Gottfried von Strassburg
5. Le Morte d'Arthur - Thomas Mallory
6. The Divine Comedy - Dante
7. Paradise Lost - John Milton
8. Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
9. Faust - Goethe
10. Illiad/Odyssey - Homer
11. The Nibelungenleid
12. Beowulf

[Eldritch]

• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• The Bible
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
• Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
• His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman*
• Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
• Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
• Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
• Complete Works of Shakespeare
• Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
• The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
• Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
• Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
• The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger*
• Middlemarch - George Eliot
• Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Bleak House - Charles Dickens
• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
• The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh*
• Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
• The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
• Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
• David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
• Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
• Emma - Jane Austen
• Persuasion - Jane Austen
• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis [odd bit of duplication re: #33] See above
• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
• The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
• One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
• The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
• Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
• Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• Atonement - Ian McEwan
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• Dune - Frank Herbert
• Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
• Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
• A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
• The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon*
• A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
• Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
• Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
• The Secret History - Donna Tartt
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas*
• On The Road - Jack Kerouac
• Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
• Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
• Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
• Moby Dick - Herman Melville
• Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
• Dracula - Bram Stoker
• The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
• Ulysses - James Joyce
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
• Germinal - Emile Zola
• Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
• Possession - AS Byatt
• A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
• Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
• The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
• Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert*
• A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
• Charlotte's Web - EB White
• The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Faraway Tree Collection
• Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
• The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
• Watership Down - Richard Adams
• A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
• A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
• The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare [again, why the duplication?]
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
• Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

As for what should be on the list, well I'm terrible at making all-encompassing judgments. I would lose Harry Potter and Bridget Jones immediately, though.

Ishiguro's inclusion was a lovely touch. However the title by him on the list should have been The Unconsoled.

Iain Banks is probably the most overrated author ever (only among British Guardian readers and BBC journalists though, afaIk outside that scene not many people think much of him). Look to Windward isn't too shabby though, much better than The Wasp Factory. But of course it's science fiction (bleh! yuck!), so it cannot be included on a list for serious, highbrow people who want to show each other how highbrow they are.

Two novels by Márquez (again, adored by the champagne socialist crowd, so they can say they read a South American author), but nothing by Borges, Bolaño, Llosa, Carpentier, Neruda, etc?

Either Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov should have been included if only for decency's sake (both deserve to be).

Where's Kafka, Hamsun, Mann, Hesse, Eco, Calvino, Márai, etc etc?

As for American authors, it's a disgrace that the greatest living one, Paul Auster, is not included.

And finally, where is the greatest novel ever written, Cervantes' Don Quijote de la Mancha ?!?

[W. R.]

• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• The Bible* - Stopped somewhere in the Old Testament.
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
• Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
• His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
• Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
• Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
• Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
• Complete Works of Shakespeare
• Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
• The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
• Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
• Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
• The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
• Middlemarch - George Eliot
• Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Bleak House - Charles Dickens
• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Forced to read it at school. Not bad.
• The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
• Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
• The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
• Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
• David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
• Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis*
• Emma - Jane Austen
• Persuasion - Jane Austen
• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis* [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
• The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown <= Hallo, Dan! It's so odd to see you here.
• One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
• The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
• Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
• Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• Atonement - Ian McEwan
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• Dune - Frank Herbert
• Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
• Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
• A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
• The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
• Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
• Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
• The Secret History - Donna Tartt
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
• On The Road - Jack Kerouac
• Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
• Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
• Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
• Moby Dick - Herman Melville
• Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
• Dracula - Bram Stoker
• The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
• Ulysses - James Joyce
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
• Germinal - Emile Zola
• Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
• Possession - AS Byatt
• A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
• Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
• The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
• Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
• A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
• Charlotte's Web - EB White
• The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
• Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Not sure if read them all, I think not.
• The Faraway Tree Collection
• Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
• The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
• Watership Down - Richard Adams
• A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
• A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
• The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare [again, why the duplication?]
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
• Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[The Ripper]

---------------------
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Bible*
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy*
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams*
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Emma - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte's Web - EB White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare [again, why the duplication?]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[Groenewolf]

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, had read large part of the new testament and some of the old one but stopped somewhere in all those laws.
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 May Alcott
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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
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 [odd bit of duplication re: #33]
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 - AA 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 Meany - 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
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
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 Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
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 - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
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 [again, why the duplication?]
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[Rainraven]

---------------------
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
The Bible
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens*
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy*
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Emma - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen*
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte's Web - EB White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

As far as changing the list goes, I'd remove the books only made famous by modern movies. Things like The Lovely Bones, Atonement, Bridget Jones' Diary.. I just don't believe they belong on an influential books list