BBC Book List

[Lord and Master]

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

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 M 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 Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
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
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 - A.A. 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 Meaney - 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 Inferno - Dante
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 - E.B. 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 - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in English)
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
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I've read 43 and started but not finished 7, not too bad! Admittedly a lot of the ones I've read was in school when I HAD to read 'em!

[Timminz]

I've read at least 15 of those, and I haven't been a casual reader in over 15 years. I didn't count the ones where I didn't finish the book (or series).

Edit to add: 6 seems an awfully low number. Of the 15 I've read, at least 10 of them were mandatory for school in grades 7-12.

[thegreekdog]

Not that anyone else cares, but, well, I like lists. I've indicated which books I've read. Note that I read most of these in school and virtually none of them after school was complete (although I'm an avid read). I'm not sure what that means.

I've read 46.

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - read
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - read
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - read
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - read
6 The Bible - partially read
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - read... vastly underrated by most
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell - read
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - read
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - read
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - read
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - read
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - read
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - read
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell - read
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - read
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - read
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - read
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - read
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - read
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - read
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - read
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis - read... is this not redundant with #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 - A.A. Milne - read
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - read
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - read
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - read
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - read
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert - read
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 - read
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - read
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 - read
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas - read
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 - read
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens - read
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker - read
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce - read
76 The Inferno - Dante - read
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 - read
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - read
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White - read
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - read
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - read
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in English)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams - read
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas - read
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - read
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl - read
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I've read 43 and started but not finished 7, not too bad! Admittedly a lot of the ones I've read was in school when I HAD to read 'em!

[Haggis_McMutton]

I'm not from an english speaking country(so had none of them for school), and I'm not a huge fan of literature either, but i've still read 11 of those.

6 seems kind of low.

[rdsrds2120]

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.


4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (Only the first ones, but not all)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee Loved it
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell Good
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens Didn't Like it
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott ~Ok
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare Who has? You might as well claim you've read everything by Stephen King
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger Really Good
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald ok
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck Yes
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll Yes
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame Yes
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis Yes
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ♥
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown You betcha'
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding Yup
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck vYup
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens Yes
76 The Inferno - Dante Yes
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker Yes
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White Yes
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl Yes
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo Yes

I'm only 17 and yes, a lot of those were read in school, these to name just my school:

• The Color Purple
• Grapes of Wrath
• Of Mice and Men
• The Inferno
• Oliver Twist
• Les Mserables
• To Kill a MockingBird
• 1984
• Great Expectations
• Great Gatsby
• Catcher in the Rye

So six seems underrated by far.

-rd

[kevusher]

These things keep popping up periodically, but they're always really badly put together - eg "Lion, Witch & Wardrobe" listed seperately from "The Narnia Chronicles", and reading the Bible, or the complete Works of Shakespeare or Harry Potter counting as just 1 entry..??

I'm in the 30's, but I don't even consider myself a typical "well-read" person. My Missus has probably read 30+ too, but there'd be very little crossover.

[AndyDufresne]

I've read at least 15 of those, and I haven't been a casual reader in over 15 years. I didn't count the ones where I didn't finish the book (or series).

Edit to add: 6 seems an awfully low number. Of the 15 I've read, at least 10 of them were mandatory for school in grades 7-12.

This was my result as well. I feel a lot of major books are missing from this list as well. In addition to other genres like drama and poetry. But I know most wouldn't classify those as 'books.'


--Andy

[Gypsys Kiss]

These are the one I've read. I have read bits of the bible and several more Shakespeare plays, but not the complete works. Oh and I've read everything by Stephen King.

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR TolkienJust read it will ya!!
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee Highly recommend
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
24 War and Peace - Leo TolstoyBit of a trek, but I thought it was worth it..lol
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
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
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain BanksHighly recommend
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

[squishyg]

These are the ones I've read or am working on (The Bible is proving hard to get through, sorry). A few of these I've read multiple times actually (GWTW, Narnia, Little Women, Bridget Jones, HP, Hamlet). I'm sad to say that I haven't read the two Marquez works listed here, but I have read The Autumn of the Patriarch and No One Writes to the Colonel. I was pleased to see Roald Dahl on the list, I believe I've checked off his entire library.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (In progress)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
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
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis (this is part of 33, why is it repeated?)
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in English)
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (is this not one of Shakespeare's works as listed in #14?)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl


The list is a bit odd though, why are there repeats? And why no Toni Morrison?

[Lord and Master]

Yes 6 is ridiculously low, dunno where the research was done!
I agree that having Narnia/Lion... separately is silly too, as is having complete works of Shakespeare and then listing Hamlet by itself, surely that's a play not a book?! (Plus MacBeth is better)

[squishyg]

Yes 6 is ridiculously low, dunno where the research was done!
I agree that having Narnia/Lion... separately is silly too, as is having complete works of Shakespeare and then listing Hamlet by itself, surely that's a play not a book?! (Plus MacBeth is better)

The Scottish play is a work of brutal genius, but Hamlet is the greatest play in the English language and may be the reason the aliens spare our planet when judgment day comes.

The lack of Tennessee Williams on this list made me disregard its legitimacy altogether.

[Timminz]

Am I just blind, or is there no Vonnegut on there either?

[squishyg]

Am I just blind, or is there no Vonnegut on there either?

You are correct! How troubling...

Also no Ray Bradbury.

[Gypsys Kiss]

Its not claiming to be the 100 best books of all time though is it? If we all listed our top 10 books, the lists would be vastly different, nevermind our top 100. Mine wouldnt include Mr Bradbury, I've tried, but just cant get into it.

[squishyg]

Gypsy raises a good question. What is the basis for this list?

[The Bison King]

I read about 8 of them for school and about another 4 on my own time.

[Genghis Khant]

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - No, but I have read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - Yes, twice.
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Yes, we did this in school. Excellent book.
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell - Twice
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - Yes
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - not all of them, but we did Macbeth in school, and I've been in professional productions of Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo & Juliet, so I've read those two ad nauseam
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - several times as a kid and I'll probably read it again before the film comes out.
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - got less than halfway through this. Easily one of the most over-rated books I've read. I suppose I was probably too old by the time I got around to reading it (early 20s)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - several times, and its sequels. I love these books.
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - Yes, as a child.
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis - it seems that this, and Hamlet, is on the list twice.
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - several times. A good, slim book that can be blitzed in a day. Ideal for long train journeys & weekends away.
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - Yes, years ago and I want to read it again.
52 Dune - Frank Herbert - 3 times. Absolute classic. The sequels were a bit of a let-down though.
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - Yes, another classic. This, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are a dystopic trinity that everyone should read.
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon - Yes, quite good, but I doubt I'll read it again.
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker - Yes
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson - Yes, although I struggled to finish it because Bryson is such an arse.
76 The Inferno - Dante - No. I picked it up this summer while on tour with Romeo & Juliet and put it back down once I realised it was in verse. I was having too much of that in work.
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in English) - I read Le Petit Prince (in French) when I was living out in Marseilles.
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks - oooh yes. This was the first Iain Banks I read.
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl - yes, as well as most of his others.

So that's 17/98. Only 3 of these were read in school; Macbeth, To Kill A Mockingbird and Animal Farm.

[nietzsche]

Every time I'm reminded of Book I want to read I think life is good. When I'm reminded of a list of books I want to read I think life is great!

[BigBallinStalin]

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - No, but I have read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

It's like the original, just not boring.