Sunday, March 21, 2004

These books, i have discovered were in the big read done by the BBC.
The ones that I have read are in Italic, the ones that are fantastic and should be read by everyone (IMHO)are in Bold.
I rarely go back and edit posts but I do in this instance to keep it updated. Why? I don't know. I'm just a big book geek.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien read before the films, when I was 8 and they are miles more in depth and better than the films (which are my most favourite films ever)
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Elizabeth is 18th century girl power!
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams The Hunter lent this series to me and its funny!
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling I am a HP addict. Come on Book 6!!!!
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee I read it for the 1st time when I was 9, and then again for GCSE, its cool, I love Scout and Jem and Boo and now I understand the racism bit better.
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne Hehe.
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell frightened the life outta me
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte very cool read on a rainy day aged 7, also good is the prequal WIDE SARGASSO SEA about the mad Mrs Rochester
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte one of the best books ever. Full stop.
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks the battle scenes are really intense and vivid.
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier /i only read this recently, I really don't see the hype. I love however Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek.
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger Absolutely hated this, kept expecting something good to happen!
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame made me very excited when I realised that the Water Voles I will hopefully be studying for my I.S was Ratty.
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott Jo was great, but she went girly and disappointed me
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy I dunno how I feel about this, I don't think I'm cut out for Russian Literature, its just so vast and epic with so many characters and similar names. It certainly didnt get going for me until the "war" part of it.
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, JK Rowling just cos the HP books are for kids dont mean they should be limited to kids.
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
please do this as a film!
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck read for Eng Lit A-level, good but depressing
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl again Kids books can be cool and i love the oompa-loompas
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson living in rainy London and longing for an adventure, it took me away to deserted islands.
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery too girly for me, although she had a great imagination
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams not half as scary as the animated film (definately not for kids I was traumatised when i saw that as a kid
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald. I did not rate this at all. What is the hype about?
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas I love, love, love this. Fuck the Three Musketeers. That's SHIT. The Count wanks all over them.
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell I nearly cried when they took the old horse away and the pigs went back to the humans
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett I wanted to be that boy who got on with the animals (Dickon?)
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck a play, nicked of off my Bro's GCSE's and the film is very good.
53. The Stand, Stephen King worth shelling out for the extended version, the whole idea of a plague ridden world, is an old one but very realistically brought to life here, can't believe that Nick died though!
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy See my Comments about Russian Literature. I also couldn't get on with Anna. She's a stupid jealous bint.
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl i was seeing giants forever after that
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome Inspired read after my trip to the Lake District. Such a classic kids story.
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell I was inspired to read it cos i love horses and have ridden since I was 6 - Poor Ginger and Merrylegs, I cried for them
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky - mental, mental russians,
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens another very sad book, poor Sydney *sob sob*
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding boys on an island running riot, fun
71. Perfume, Patrick Suskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding I hated this and hated her patheticness
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens started but have never got round to finishing
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo - THE FILM IS COOL. BUT THE SEQUEL IS BEST
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel cave people, very cool
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker spooky and atmospheric - I loved it
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy - I don't think I can bring myself to read this after seeing the film and the suicide of the children. "cos we're too meeny" (sic) Honestly, its traumatising me now thinking about it.
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13?, Sue Townsend didnt like either
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde read for Alevel. Its ok but im not too keen, but am glad we read it.
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray just realised I never finished it, must remember to re read it
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle creepy, but I was on the side of the hound all along
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl go Danny, get those Pheasants lol!
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl me and my bro were always copying this
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque brings home the uselessness and pointlessness of WW1
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King just read this, its sad, funny, gory, and very sweet, makes you sad that the friendships could'nt continue as adults
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere. Fantasy? Or reality? Either way its impressive his singlemindness.
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey classic, I keep looking out for the film
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad Incidently my first Kindle read - When I started this list Kindle's didn't exist!
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville very hard to read but the old descriptions of whales is interesting
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving Pah, Get reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. Better.
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore 1st read on a plane to Florida when I was 12.
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley another Alevel book that I first read when i was 8, felt so sorry for his monster
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway 
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl not one of his best, in my opinion
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens MOOOREE! YOU WANT MORE!! I liked Nancy and Bill too before I realised what a maniac he was
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans better than the film, but my personal fave of his is the Smoke Jumper
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle who didnt love this book when they were kids, only equalled by the angry ladybird.
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

Wow I feel intellectual now, and it distracted me from work for a bit.
Current score 89/100 - 15.3.14