This past week, Borders re-released it’s 100 Favourite Books of All Times. Do you vote in these kinds of polls when they arise? Do you look through the list, or seek out books featured?
I do, if I come across the polls. However, I didn't see this poll, hence, nope to this one!
I try and look through the list, and see which ones I'd like to seek out, and which ones I've already read. So, highlighted in blue are the ones I've read, and in red, the ones I intend to seek out:
- Jane Austen - Pride & Prejudice
- Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
- JRR Tolkien - Lord Of The Rings
- Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper
- Stephanie Meyer - Twilight Saga
- JK Rowling - Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone
- Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
- Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
- George Orwell - 1984
- Raymond E. Feist - Magician
- Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Paullina Simons - Bronze Horsemen
- Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram
- Margaret Mitchell - Gone With The Wind
- Bryce Courtenay - Power of One
- Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code
- Dan Brown - Angels & Demons
- Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist
- Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre
- Tim Winton - Cloud Street
- Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
- Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
- Arthur Golden - Memoirs of Geisha
- LM Montgomery - Anne Of Green Gables
- Joseph Heller - Catch-22
- Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat Pray Love
- Niv Mass Market Bible With Bible Guide - International Bible Society Staff and International Bible Society
- JRR Tolkien - The Hobbit
- Yann Martel - Life of Pi
- AB Facey - Fortunate Life
- Douglas Adams - The Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
- Lewis Carroll - Alice In Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass
- Diana Gabaldon - Cross Stich
- Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
- David Pelzar - A Child Called It
- Li Cunxin - Mao's Last Dancer
- John Marsden - Tomorrow, When The War Began
- Frank McCourt - Angela's Ashes
- Frank Herbert - Dune
- JD Salinger - A Catcher In The Rye
- F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years Of Solitude
- Bryce Courtenay - April Fool's Day
- Ken Follet - Pillars Of The Earth
- Patrick Suskind - Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer
- Matthew Reilly - Ice Station
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow Of The Wind
- Stephen Hawking - A Brief History Of Time
- Christopher Paolini - Eragon
- Louisa May Alcott - Little Women
- Mitch Albom - Tuesdays With Morrie
- Jane Austen - Persuasion
- Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones
- Ian McEwan - Atonement
- Leo Tolstory - Anna Karenina
- George Orwell - Animal Farm
- Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry - The Little Prince
- Roald Dahl - Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
- CS Lewis - The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love In The Time Of Cholera
- Bill Bryson - A Short History Of Nearly Everything
- Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime And Punishment
- Anthony Bourke - Lion Called Christian
- Arundhati Roy - The God Of Small Things
- Paullina Simons - Tully
- John Grisham - A Time To Kill
- John Grogan - Marley & Me
- Vikram Seth - A Suitable Boy
- Alexandre Dumas - Count Of Monte Cristo
- Neil Gaiman - American Gods
- Cormac McCarthy - The Road
- Aldous Huxley - Brave New World
- Brendan Shanahan - In Turkey I Am Beautiful: Between Chaos And Madness In A Strange Land
- Tim Winton - Breath
- Bryce Courtenay - Jessica
- Graeme Base - Animalia
- Donna Tartt - The Secret History
- Mario Puzo - The Godfather
- Anne Rice - Interview With The Vampire
- Steig Larrson - The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo
- Stephen King - Stand
- Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones' Diary
- Eckhart Tolle - New Earth
- Matthew Reilly - Seven Ancient Wonders
- Jung Chang - Wild Swans
- Nicholas Sparks - The Notebook
- Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho
- David Eddings - Belgariad Vol. 1: Pawn Of Prophecy; Queen Of Sorcery; Magician's Gambit
- Louis De Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin
- Melina Marchetta - Looking For Alibrandi
- Celia Ahern - PS I Love You
- John Irving - A Prayer For Owen Meany
- Colleen McCullough - The Thorn Birds
- John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy Of Dunces
- Terry Pratchett - Good Omens
- Hunter S. Thompson - Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas
- Joanne Harris - Chocolat
- William Goldman - Princess Bride
- Charles Dickens - Great Expectations
So, I've read 39 of the 100. That's not too bad... What concerns me is, there's a lot of "new" fiction on here, which probably wouldn't be on the list, if the list was created say, ten years later. For instance, I am not convinced that The Twilight Saga, the Steig Larrson, both the Khaled Hosseinis, and the Jodi Picoult would make it to the list.
On the other hand, I'm quite surprised that books like Rebecca {Daphne du Maurier}, The Fountainhead {Ayn Rand}, The Handmaid's Tale {Margaret Atwood}, Midnight's Children {Salman Rushdie}, Disgrace {JM Coetzee}, Schindler's Ark {Thomas Keneally}, and Anne Frank's Diary didn't make it to the list - and that's just from the top of my head.
Do you think these lists are accurate? Are you surprised to see any of the books here? Which books would you add on?