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Original poster

100 books to read before you die. What's your score?

399 replies

CeceIsMyFave · 03/01/2019 22:50

I got a nice round 50 and I'm slightly freaked out- if I don't read the other 50 can I still alive longer?!

www.listchallenges.com/bbcs-top-100-books-you-need-to-read-before-you-die

I did cheat slightly and tick both the Bible and Shakespeare.... I've read the greatest hits, as it were.

OP posts:
Bouledeneige · 05/01/2019 01:10
  1. I read a huge amount before having children but now I'm only getting through 2 or 3 books a year...
GoneFishingNC · 05/01/2019 01:11

Oh, but to a PP who said they won’t miss reading Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell is a really spectacular writer who doesn’t get nearly enough press or fanfare.

Definitely one worth looking into.

Whyohwhy65 · 05/01/2019 01:12

7 Confused

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Books
ZenNudist · 05/01/2019 01:15

Id nominate Kate Atkinson- life after life and a god in ruins

EBearhug · 05/01/2019 01:17

Oh, but to a PP who said they won’t miss reading Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell is a really spectacular writer who doesn’t get nearly enough press or fanfare.

Nah, I didn't get on with Cloud Atlas. Loved the idea of it, but just didn't enjoy it. I have a couple of friends who rave about him, but not me.

Giraffey1 · 05/01/2019 01:17

I stopped reading what was on the list when I got to The Da Vinci Code. How on Earth that got into the top 100 is beyond me.

goose1964 · 05/01/2019 01:17

50 for me too, some I wish I hadn't, the great gatsby I'm l at you

PatPhoenix · 05/01/2019 01:19

73 on the Beeb one and 17 on the Guardian one. The Guardian one seems quite personal but at the same time I do think reading that would take you a lot further intellectually.

I was pretty honest with both - I have read a couple of the Harry Potters but certainly not the whole series so I didn't tick that. I did award myself the Shakespeare though I don't think I've ever read or seen the Merry Wives of Windsor or Timon of Athens.

BartonHollow · 05/01/2019 01:27

I got 66

I don't think it's a good list though as it's one the Beeb did the year of the Big Read and has books on there that are very none essential

Bridget Jones?
Da Vinci Code?

I think them being on the list dates it and is telling they wouldn't be on it now

LurpakIsTheOnlyButter · 05/01/2019 01:39
  1. I'm happy with that.

I think there are a few missing from this list that would be on my top 100. Some of these I will never ever read, just not my thing.

As for da Vinci code.....pah. absolute codswallop. That bloke wouldn't know how to write if he went to a sixth form college evening class and stopped nicking other people's ideas

drigon · 05/01/2019 02:44

51, after including a couple I started but didn't finish.

dudsville · 05/01/2019 04:40

52, and I'm not anxious to read the rest, not my cup of tea.

Purplewithgreenspots · 05/01/2019 05:53

13 but I’ve read lots of other non-listed books so its no skin off my nose. I just wanted to see where our ideas converge. Blush

Coffeecoffeebuzzbuzzbuzz · 05/01/2019 06:02
  1. As others have said though some of the remains ones I’ve started and abandoned or have no interest in reading.
Racecardriver · 05/01/2019 06:06

That’s a really random list. The complete works of Shakespeare together with the Harry Potter series Hmm

QueenofLouisiana · 05/01/2019 07:40
  1. There are a few in there I’d like to try. I haven’t read Life of Pi for example. Most of the rest, I don’t think I’ll bother, I have zero interest in Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Little Women.
grannycake · 05/01/2019 07:50

50 but again mot many I'll end up reading. I've tried and tried with Middlemarch but just can't get into it. Similarly War and Peace. I have no intention of reading Harry Potter at my age (62) and won't be reading Dan Brown

irregularegular · 05/01/2019 08:02

About 70. In some cases I wasn't sure whether to count or not if I hadn't read the whole thing/series. And occasionally I couldn't 100% remember.

Returning2thesceneofthecrime · 05/01/2019 08:23

Only 46 but I disagree with a lot of choices on that list. It is a BBC list so I think they have gone for popularism. There is far too much Dickens on that list!

GinIsIn · 05/01/2019 08:31
  1. But I did an English Lit degree.
mumlost1940 · 05/01/2019 08:33

Sophie Sellerman - I value your opinion. The Line of Beauty sold well. I agree with you: there are exceptionally brilliant sentences that resonate.

GandolfBold · 05/01/2019 08:37

17 here. I read a lot but some of these choices seem a bit dull!

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 05/01/2019 10:27

63 - DM gave Dune to DF for Christmas many moons ago and I read his copy (it's not something I would pick up now though!). There are some 'classics' gaps in my reading, including To Kill a Mockingbird and Grapes of Wrath. Think I favour European over American literature.

EBearhug · 05/01/2019 10:29

I've read 28 on the Guardian list and 60 on the Amazon list.

BadlyAgedMemes · 05/01/2019 10:39

46, but to be honest not all of those are books I'm all that interested in reading. Several that I've tried and given up on, because they just didn't grab me at all.