BookRiot's Top 50 Books

Saturday, December 22, 2012


 
BookRiot, that wonderful resource for all things bookish, compiled a list of BookRiot reader's favorite books. They narrowed it down to 50 and of course I had to see how I did. I've read 42 or the 50 books and most are ones that I really love. That tells me two things; one is that BookRiot readers have great taste! The other is that I really want to read those final 8 books! I've listed the ones I haven't read at the bottom of this post. Now I don't think I'll be getting to Infinite Jest or Ulysses next year, but I'd like to try to tackle the rest. If you haven't read many of the books on this list I would encourage you to check them out. There are some incredible ones!

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
12. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
13. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
14. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
15. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
16. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
17. The Stand by Stephen King
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
20. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
21. Persuasion by Jane Austen
22. The PIcture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
23. The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
24. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
25. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
26. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
27. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
28. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
29. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
31. 1984 by George Orwell
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
33. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
34. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
35. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
36. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
37. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
38. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
39. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
40. Ulysses by James Joyce
41. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
42. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
43. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
44. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
45. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
46. Dune by Frank Herbert
47. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
48. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
49. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
50. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Books I haven't read: *updated 2014
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Ulysses by James Joyce

Check out BookRiot here.


8 comments:

annieb said...

Wow, that is quite a list. I was surprised at how many I had read, but what really surprised me is that I have at least heard of every one. That doesn't always happen with these lists. But, it was only 50, not 1001. I have to assume that this exposure to book bloggers and the whole book conversation has enlightened me a great deal. It has been a good year for reading.

Care said...

OH! I might twist your arm about IJ??? I am going to do it on audio in 2013... join me? and I really want to finish Ulysses some day. THe Night Circus will be quick and you will likely enjoy it. I refuse to try again with One Hundred Years, tho. Bro-K might be a big fat no, too.

Donna said...

WOW! You're much farther along on this list than I am, but I do have a couple of these on my TBR challenge for 2013.

Dale said...

I've only read 21...but I highly recommend Gilead and Brothers Karamazov.

Jenners said...

I read only 28 but quite a few are on my TBR list for 2013. Of the ones you haven't read, I'd highlyl recommend The Secret History. I read it ages ago but want to reread it (and I almost never do that).

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

annieb - I liked this list because it's made up of the favorites of other book bloggers. This isn't some list compiled by literary critics.

Care - Oh man, I might be able to do IJ on audio! When are you doing it?

Donna - Oh fun! I hope you find some you like, there are so many great ones on this list.

Dale - Maybe I can get to both in 2013!

Jenners - I've tried to focus on re-reading just a little more in the past year and it's be so much fun to rediscover some of my old favorites.

Nikki Steele said...

This was such a fun list, because it was more about enjoyment (at least it seemed to me) rather than trying to put together books that people *must* read to be more smart, educated, etc.

I'm at 28 out of 50! There are obviously way too many that I need to read. I'm sure you'll see the same in the other comments, but man oh man, get on The Secret History and Gilead. They were both just the most aching types of books.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Nikki Steele - I completely agree! The only exception to that might be Ulysses. I've never actually met anyone who loves that book. I'm going to have to make Gilead a priority now!