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Original poster

How many of the BBC top 100 books have you read?

307 replies

Bluemooninmyeyes1 · 23/01/2021 09:58

I came across this list yesterday and I’m ashamed to say I’ve only read about 15 and most of them are the Roald Dhal books and Harry Potter Blush I’ve obviously read more than 15 books in my life but they just don’t appear on this list! I’m making a conscious effort to read more classics this year.

How many have you read?

www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

OP posts:
apalledandshocked · 23/01/2021 10:11
  1. Some of them I liked, bit some I found a bit meh...(I know on the road is supposed to be a classic but its self regarding shit if you ask me). If you are aiming to read more from that list specifically I can recomend Cold Comfort farm, all of the Terry Pratchets and hitchhikers guide :)

I am not sure if that number reflects that I am reasonably well read though or just have very generic tastes?

Whathappenedtothelego · 23/01/2021 10:11

I think I have read (or at last, started and given up) about 50 of them.

But a fair few that I know I have read, I don't particularly remember and haven't left much of an impression (hence wondering if I started them and gave up!)

There's a few I haven't even heard of.

seaweedhead · 23/01/2021 10:12

I've read 56, I think. That list is from 2003 though, and has an awful lot of Terry Pratchett on it, I bet the books would be different if they produced a new list.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Books
smallandimperfectlyformed · 23/01/2021 10:13

I have read 33 of them. Not all for fun, I did English at A level and degree. Like you all of the Harry Potter books. I was surprised by how much I loved Gone With The Wind and I really didn't enjoy The God of Small Things - both of which I read through choice.

apalledandshocked · 23/01/2021 10:13

Oh and Middlemarch, which is quite long and therefore seen as quite intimidating but I love the interlocking stories, and characters. Its like a very well written soap opera.

Blueemeraldagain · 23/01/2021 10:15

47 but there are some very average books on that list!

DontGoIntoTheLongGrass · 23/01/2021 10:15
  1. Lot of Terry Pratchett, Harry Potter, Told Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson though.
DontGoIntoTheLongGrass · 23/01/2021 10:16

Roald*

Chemenger · 23/01/2021 10:17
  1. I’m held back by the fact I don’t like Dickens, I am too old to have read Jacqueline Wilson and I’m just can’t believe Jeffrey Archer is on that list.
Kljnmw3459 · 23/01/2021 10:18

I've read 6. But I've seen movie versions of another 12 which I will count to get my total to an acceptable 18......

margaritasbythesea · 23/01/2021 10:19
  1. I think it's a very weird list.
StColumbofNavron · 23/01/2021 10:19

22 but I’m never likely to read the fantasy/sci fi stuff or any of the DC stuff that I haven’t already. I have read most of the very big books though. It’s not a very diverse list. All the usual suspects.

apalledandshocked · 23/01/2021 10:19

I am also suprised, given they have Terry Pratchet, Stella Gibbons etc on the list that there isnt any Wodehouse. That would still count as a classic I would have thought. And it cant be lack of popularity/relevance since there are a lot of older, drier books on the lis as well.

BalloonSlayer · 23/01/2021 10:19

I have read about 55. No one's ever going to have read them all. If you've made it through Ulysses you're unlikely to bother with Kane and Abel. . .

fruitpastille · 23/01/2021 10:19

About 50. There's a lot of Jacqueline Wilson which I know the story of but haven't actually read. It's quite random with such a mix of children's books but then things like Ullyses in there. I can imagine the people who voted for them writing down their favourites and then putting down another choice to make them seem a bit more intellectual Grin

lockedownloretta · 23/01/2021 10:20

37 but a lot if the books on that list are ones that just don't appeal. I couldn't get into captain corelli's mandolin, i hate terry pratchett etc

CormoranStrike · 23/01/2021 10:20

10 - that list is very eclectic

user686833 · 23/01/2021 10:20

29, did you click next page at the bottom? I only had 15 on the first page too. I think it's a crap list though tbh, for e.g, Vicky Angel? By Jacqueline Wilson? Plus at least two other JW books? Maybe just put one on there. Why was all the HP books listed separately and His Dark Materials as a series? So many questions.

ThreeLadsPointingAtAStar · 23/01/2021 10:21

49
But to be honest any list that includes a Jeffrey Archer novel can probably be disregarded Smile

fruitpastille · 23/01/2021 10:21

Showing my lack of culture with mis spelling of Ulysses!

user1471530109 · 23/01/2021 10:22
  1. Mostly as a child/teenager. Many at school. Also pleased my daughters have read some (or had read to) and one is only 7 (love faraway tree).
user1471530109 · 23/01/2021 10:23

Actually, every time I look at list I spot another one. Very odd mix of classics and modern. Bridget Jones! Grin

CrepuscularCritter · 23/01/2021 10:24
  1. I've yet to read Terry Pratchett Blush so that would up my score a bit. Agreed that it's a very odd list though.
Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 23/01/2021 10:25

63 - read cover to cover. Another 16 started, but not finished.

But some of the choices are bizarre. Kane and Abel? Katherine? The Magic Faraway Tree? I’ve read these 3, and even enjoyed them ( Blush, to enjoying Archer). But I can’t understand why they’re on any list.

StColumbofNavron · 23/01/2021 10:25

I didn’t realise there was another page - 35.