I think when you read the book matters too. The fact that a number of those books were typically read as children, one tends to view them more fondly with time.

I made a spreadsheet and I've read 36 of them. Some of them, I think I read when I was too young, like Gulliver's Travels or Pride & Prejudice. I didn't catch the humor or satire in them.

I agree with you Annie about having fond memories of books read as children. But, I read Harry Potter - several times, as an adult and still love it. I loved Little Women as a girl and then re-read it as an adult...still stands the test of time.

gigirambles, I read the Great Gatsby in HS and hated it, so with this list, I decided to re-read it as an adult to see if I "got it" better...nope. Still hated it.

Annie, I know. Some books are just not for you or me. I've tried to read several of the "classics" because as an avid reader I "should" but if you don't love it; you don't love it.

I've read 28 or maybe a few less (I may think I read a few back in school that I actually didn't). Agree with mtn that it's kind of a silly list. Also with Annie that fond remembrance may play a role and, heh, it's PBS. When I first heard about the list, I thought "What would I have chosen if they had asked me?". I really don't have an answer and I bet some of the people who voted didn't either and said "Moby Dick" because it sounds smart. ;-)

One on the list I thought was absolute drivel. On the other hand, I've been thinking recently that it might be time to the read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for the third time.

I've only read 22 on the American list, but there is a UK list as well (from 2003) and I have read 27 of the top 100 on that list. Almost all of the ones I have read were published before 1970 on both lists. I do think I prefer British literature slightly over American. I was surprised that GWTW did not make the top 5 American list, but then I noticed that it was #6. I read that when I was 10 and then reread it two more times, and so it is the only novel I have read three times. Other novels that I think deserve multiple readings are The Brothers Karamazov and The Lord of the Rings. I am currently reading Bored of the Rings, the Havard Lampoon parody from 1969 and am finding that I cannot connect all of the references.

In high school, I read almost all of Thomas Hardy's novels, as I found it easy to identify with all of his tragic heroines. It did make me wonder why I could not identify with any of his male characters. I also read a lot of D.H. Lawrence's short stories, and he was my favorite short story author back then. Since I grew up on a farm, there was not much for me to do besides read that I enjoyed.

I've read most of them. Quite a few are fairly recent young adult books that I read before or after I gave them to my (now adult) kids. I wonder if a large number of schools participated and skewed the voting a bit.

I read GWTW at least 10 times during my middle school years and a few times as an adult. As a kid who lived an hour South of Canada, I found the Southern culture to be fascinating.

Thanks for posting the link. I've read a few handfuls, some I've never heard of. I'll try to add them into the mix.

I also don't get The Great Gatsby. I reread it a couple of years ago. Nice little story, but I never understood what made it a classic.

The voting was open to readers of all ages, and I know that schools and libraries were active in this fun and interesting national conversation. I'm not sure that skewed is the word I would use, but I agree that young people's opinions were heard.

I was glad to see that many of the novels were published so long ago. I've actually read very few of recent books but several intrigue me. My personal total is fifty, many of them read more than once. I was one of the few kids in my high school literature class that actually loved Great Expectations, much to my teacher's relief that she had at least one student to talk to, lol.

I have read 38 on the list, some in high school or earlier.

My favorites from the list are...

Lonesome Dove

Pillars of the Earth

A Prayer for Owen Meany

Memoirs of a Geisha

Outlander Series

There are many more I remember liking a lot but it's been so long since I've read them.

I don't read quite as much as I used to, but here's the thing: there are a lot of books I like. Then I read, or reread, something like To Kill a Mockingbird, or something from Roger Ebert or Dave Eggars, and am knocked out by good writing.

I'm certainly delighted by the Harry Potter series, because I'm a sucker for story, YA lit, language play (The Phantom Tollbooth is my all-time favorite book) and such, but it's not in the same category of good writing; they are good books, though.

i tried to read Lord of the Rings, and other fantasy adventure, but I just can't. It's like reading Russian novels, I can't keep track of names, despite my love of language. I'm bummed, because I really really want to read and like them! But I don't.

I am not a reader of Jane Austen, though. Just, not.

There are some interesting choices on the final list. Some I agree with, some that make me go "hmmmm"... and some that I find intriguing. "Rebecca" has been popping up everywhere for me lately, so I think I have to read and watch it!

Oh, and Lovely Bones was just, oh, amazing.

It would be interesting for us to do our own (personal) list on here sometime. That is, what are your top 5 or 10 books of all time? I know some of mine aren't on that list.

Best LOVED by those voting....not necessarily best Written. "To Kill A Mockingbird" is certainly my best loved, but I know several people who didn't

like it, "Lord of the Rings" is not my kind of book, but I have a friend who

loved it. Go figure. ;)

The purpose of The Great American Read wasn’t to identify the best book, but rather the most loved. The spirit of the programme was to get people talking about books, excited about books and reading. Perhaps one person will pick up Charlotte’s Web and read it to themself or a child as a result. That would be lovely.

This spring we had a mockingbird that would sit right outside our bedroom and practice his repertoire every night from about 1:00 A.M. til 3:00 A.M. At the time I joked that I had never read "To Kill A Mockingbird" but if it is a How-To manual it would be my new favorite book.

I don't even know how I'd put together my list

It'd be-books that affected me the most..moved my "point de suture" so to say at certain time of my life

-books that I love to re-read the most

-books that I consider to be great to the degree of genious level

etc

and sometimes the books from these lists would overlap and sometimes they wouldn't

and no way my list could be 10..100, I would be able to restrict myself to, I think..

and sometimes wouldn't be a book..would be an author. With poetry, for example..hard to choose one book. Or short novels..Yes, you have favorites yet it's already minimum several we're talking about..

(from the above list, I read 30 books I guess..some I know about because they're so famous, or loved by my family, or been ekranized, or I watched a movie..but I didn't read them, so I didn't count them in)

I was surprised to find I've read 10 on the list. I thought it would be fewer.

I don't do well with "literature" or stories that are too intellectual/deep in meaning or symbolism. I read a lot, just not this kind of stuff.

bpath Oh Sophie, you should give Russian novels another try. Tolstoy is easier to keep track of, but I consider Dostoevsky possibly the greatest novelist ever. What makes it difficult to keep track of his characters (besides that there are so many) is that pretty much all Russian names have multiple nicknames, and if you are familiar with these, it makes it easier. Some people take notes when reading Dostoevsky. He got paid by the word, which is another reason his novels are so wordy, but I think the details he provides are what make them interesting. He also develops his characters extremely thoroughly - so much so that Freud used Dostoevsky characters as archetypes to describe the variations of human personalities. I get very involved reading Dostoevsky, but my mother could not get through the confusing names. As I said, taking notes while reading him helps.

Another Russian novelist I really like is Gogol, whom I found to be surprisingly humorous - almost in a Woody Allen way. Fortunately, there are good English translations of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Gogol.

I've read hundreds of novels (I took 27 literature courses in college - eight of them were in German) but most of what I've read is older than what is on the list. I was a bit surprised that Portnoy's Complaint did not make the list and nothing by Richard Brautigan, William Bourroughs (whom I've met), or Saul Bellow. John Updike and Nabokov also appear to be missing. I think the list is skewed toward more contemporary novels, which is to be expected.

Has anyone read Pilgrim's Progress? I've heard of it from reading other books like historical novels where the children were required to read it. I think we have a copy on the shelf, but I've never read it or known anyone who has.

Gogol is both genious-and one I love to re-read..

"Dead Souls" is my favorite.

one of my Mom's best friends was Gogol's grandniece..I still remember her very fondly..died too young-breast cancer

Dostoevsky-I read not everything by him..quite a few books but not everything. One book, I definitely need to re read..

From the rest, I love "Crime and Punishment" and " The Brothers Karamazov"
the most. Yes I re-read them too, several times. I like re-reading, in general.

Unless the book wasn't one I'd consider good

Or it was good- but heavy to a degree even I can't re-read it.

As for what misses from that list..I don't even know where to start. Even though there are several there I love and hold in very high regard (where's Hucklberry Finn though? and so many others?)

I love Nabokov very much. I think some of his novels would be on all three of my lists..I read almost everything.

Chekhov. Here, an example of how one would rather say "author such and such " than "a book such and such"

Pushkin.

I don't want to take everybody's time and delve into Soviet period writers..but I'm personally re-reading Dovlatov right now..from what I heard there are good translations(if yes I really take my hat off..)

Brodsky..

oh well.

it's endless. and it's only Russian literature..

The Great American Read is surprisingly British!

@lily316 - really??! They couldn't name ONE book - that breaks my heart. That coupled with an article I read in the paper about the local schools reading initiative here that has failed miserably...we are failing our children if we don't provide them with a love of reading - or at least the ability to read and comprehend - and it doesn't even need to be literature.

April...I am a huge Chekhov fan, too, but he was a writer of short stories and plays rather than novels and wouldn't be included in this list.

I'd be interested in a list of favorite American novels by American readers. I'd really have to think about it as so many of my much loved novels are by British, Russian, African, French, etc., authors.

Annie, I have Pilgrim's Progress in my Kindle library but haven't read it yet. I recall reading portions of it in high school but don't remember tackling the whole work. Finding out that it has never been out of publication since its publication in 1678 and that it is the first novel written in the English language is remarkable to me. I've got to try to tackle it!

rhizo, I know that:) the conversation kinda went into direction of "what your list would be", or at least that's how I interpreted it

I loved the Harry Potter series and was sad when they ended. For those that also liked them, hearing them on audio with Jim Dale is a must! He is truly amazing!

I think I have read 28 of those books , actually there are a few more that I think I did read (probably in high school) but I really am not sure and have no strong recollection of them.

One thing though is that I realized I have not read some books that most people have, and so I have been following up on that. For example, somehow I never read Anne of Green Gables or Where the Red Fern Grows so I read them recently and was just astounded particularly Anne of Green Gables.. A few of the books that most people read as children I read within the past few years and I so enjoyed them!

It's amazing how easy it is to get wound up in reading more modern books and how the older books are lost sight of. I was lamenting to my librarian how I love the old film noir and so many of those movies were based on books by authors we never hear of any more. I mean a few are still around like Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane, but the rest seem to have fallen into obscurity. She said there used to be a book store in a nearby city devoted to mystery and thrillers, but they're long gone.

I mentioned to someone that Edna Ferber used to live nearby and the response I got was, Who? She wrote Cimarron (best picture oscar winner) and Giant (one of James Dean's 3 movies) and Show Boat (tony winner), and won a pulitzer.

I'm going to have to make more of an effort to dig these old guys up and read their works...

Oh...I started going somewhere with that comment...one of the old books I've never read that's on my list is The Little Prince.

It somewhat annoys me that a lot of people in my bookclub always seem to want to read the newest books published. It's frustrating to me because it makes it harder to get it out of the library to read, and it ignores old books. I really think it's important (and saves money) to support the library. I've suggested A Prayer for Owen Meany," for example, several times and while others agree that it sounds interesting, it sort of gets lost in the dust.

I do appreciate this list. I've read maybe 28 or 29 of them which surprised me. But I'm always looking for suggestions. Another reason why I love these threads.

A vote for Owen Meany! A wonderful book!

I've been away and am now reading this topic from the bottom up so I might be in the wrong place, but I have recently read The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and it is in my top 5 of my favorites - both adult and children. It was soooooo wonderful!

"one of the old books I've never read that's on my list is The Little Prince."

I read that one in the original French in high school as required reading for my French class!!

I've read a lot of the books on the GAR list but then I am a pretty voracious reader and have been since I was a young teen. I've probably read more of the older published books compared to the newer ones on the list but have also read my fair share of those. I am not real wild about fantasy so have not read The Twilight series or The Hunger Games but loved all the Harry Potters.

I've read 34 of them. "Bless Me, Ultima" by our New Mexico treasure, Rudolfo Anaya is on my bedside table to read next. I can't believe I've never read it in all these years living here, but DD had in her books and so I'm borrowing it. So many wonderful ones on the list, although I'm shaking my head that "Fifty Shades of Grey" is on there, but that's just my opinion. UGH! I'm a huge "Huckleberry Finn" fan and would have thought it would have been included. And "The Secret Life of Bees".

Me too, The Little Prince in French. I still remember the odd passage that someone had to "ramoner les volcans", suggesting the volcano shafts were swept clean as if chimneys.

The Little Prince is a must imo

(yes, I've read it in French too..funny, One of very few books I've read in every language I know-or strived to learn)

Why do they call it a novel I don't understand though.

In Russian we'd never call it a novel

I need to google definitions a bit, to find out what's the translation would be. Not neccessarily a novella I guess..but not a novel for sure.

We have a specific name for it.

"A Prayer for Owen Meany" and " Heart of Darkness" are my kids' favorite books..they really want me to read them. I will, some day

(after all takes them a long time to folllow my recommendations too))

Annie, you might enjoy a book written by my friend Mark Vieira called Into The Dark: The Hidden World of Film Noir. I have quite a few of the books that he has written, including several biographies, and he's autographed a few of them for me. For a time, he hired me to do computer work for him, and I also taught him how to use Photoshop and some other programs for editing. His main work is as a photographer.

My mother did not like Edna Ferber because she thought she showed Texas in a bad light, but I did not see it that way. I had Larry McMurtry as a creative writer teacher at Rice University. While at Rice, Norman Mailer came to speak, but I really did not like him as a person - he came off as very arrogant. Andy Warhol also visited and showed his movie Lonesome Cowboys and was around for questions afterwards, most of which he seemed not to really answer.

I've read 41 (6 of the top ten), and tried to read a few more, but gave up. I've tried several times to read Moby Dick--I like all the characters, but I just lose interest somewhere in the middle. I tried to read Harry Potter before allowing my kids to read it, but gave up on that one, too.

Of some others that became a series, I've read them and the books that followed--Lord of The Rings and Dune, Little Women and Anne of Green Gables (of course :). I've read other books by some of the authors, The Fountainhead, The World According to Garp, Billy Budd, Anna Karenina, but not the ones listed.

I wasted my time on Flowers In The Attic and several others in the series--can't believe that's within 85 spots of #1.

From scanning the list, I realized that most of the books I've read were before I had children, found the internet, and needed bifocals.

I'm with you Lynn, when I saw Fifty Shades of Gray on that list...I thought it was one of those anomalies that got so much hype that it went on the best seller's lists, which gave it more hype, but that no one really liked or thought was a good book. Guess I was wrong, or maybe it's one of those books that non-readers got sucked into the hype about and bought it, so it was the only book they could put on their "favorite" list (because it's the only one they read)? I also loved Secret Life of Bees a great deal.

April, A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my all time favorite books, too, so I hope you read it on the recommendation of your children. I think I've written here before that there are a number of books that I've read that I loved SO MUCH, that I couldn't finish them. Just couldn't bear to have them over. Owen Meany was one of those; I've never finished it. I haven't read Heart of Darkness, but will now, based on your family's recommendation to you!

I would have added Middlesex to the list, as well as Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close, a couple I really loved, but did finish. Oh, and the Poisonwood Bible, which I also didn't finish. I know some here really disliked that one and didn't finish it because of that; I couldn't bear for it to end, lol.

Janie, I couldn't read Ivan, because I remember seeing him in that cage when I was a child and it was one of the saddest things ever, ever.

This feels like a confession. I've only read 15 on the list of 100.
Like Elmer Fudd, I thought it would be even fewer than that. I tend to
read non-fiction. However, I have always considered it a short-coming
not to have read more novels. My friends who do seem like wiser people
than me, more like the kind of person I'd like to be. I think their
reading really has contributed to their wisdom. In my next life I will read more fiction. (I'm not ready to do it yet in this life.)

matthias, certainly learning, the development of critical thinking skills and the attainment of true literacy and mental sharpness are greatly aided by reading books recognized as being special or "important". That's why many are often used for school assignments. BUt I don't know that only fiction nor especially the types considered to be true literary or classic ones in that sense (which are not the only kind on the list), have an exclusive lock on developing such skills. I think the reading of good books in general contributes to one's knowledge and mental abilities, whether fiction or non fiction or both.

Lars, I'm most impressed...will have to look into your friend's book. TCM runs a film noir every Sat night/Sun am at midnight hosted by Eddie Muller who provides so much wonderful background on the films, the actors, directors, etc. Plus I love his art deco ties!

I have read nine out of the first ten, thirty seven of the first fifty and after that it really goes down hill.

Who could have War and Peace(50)as a favorite read? I have read that dreck five times thinking I was too young, I didn't understand, I was missing something....gack. I like Russian literature. I have read all of Dickens novels and some of those are so wordy you know he was paid by the page but I adore the words. the stories are just that, stories. I cant claim a favorite novel though I love novels because I seriously love short stories. I love the concentration of thought necessary for writing good ones.

Ah short stories...so under-rated in my estimation. Love saki. Actually Daphne DuMaurier (Rebecca) wrote quite a number of them including The Birds of Hitchcock fame.

I find myself prickling just a little when someone refers to a book they didn't understand as 'dreck'. It must be a personality fault of mine, lol.

I'm also a big short story lover and have several collections. Talk about literature that begs to be read over and over! My little sprites like to be read to, and many of the classic shorts are perfect for them.

Olychick, I completely understand. I'm sure if I saw the real Ivan, I would feel the same. And I have read the real life version of his life and it is terribly sad. Sigh.

"My little sprites like to be read to, and many of the classic shorts are perfect for them."

Rhizo, please, what do your sprites enjoy? Looking for recommendations!

It's so interesting to take novels we enjoyed as young people, and re-read as adults. It's a whole different viewpoint.

I wouldn't include The Little Prince as a novel, but it is a wonderful little book. Every time I read it, or my kids read it, it's different.

April and Lars, perhaps I will try Russian novels again . . . if I own it and can mark it up, and if it's a good translation. But maybe not Dostoevsky. After reading Dickens and Hugo, who were also likely paid by the word, I don't think I have the attention span anymore. My son was in Les Mis in high school, and I decided to read the novel by the time the show closed. Well, through 4 months, wholesale skipping pages dealing with pruning fruit trees, underground sewer systems, and Napoleonic battles, I finished the last page while waiting for him to get home from the cast party. Grueling. Excellent, but grueling.

My favorite books is the series by Jo Clayton. It's the Diadem series. I've read quite a few of the ones on the list but in general I like my books to be as unreal as possible and still clean. Generally science fiction fits the bill