Read This, Not That

The so-called BBC book list is making its way around Facebook and the blogosphere again.  The first time that I saw the list -- over a year ago -- I remember wondering what the selection criteria was for the books on the list.  How could Bridget Jones' Diary be on the same list as Dracula and Great Expectations?  Why does Da Vinci Code get a special mention but nothing for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein?  Why did the Chronicles of Narnia (series) and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe appear as separate entries?  Something smelled fishy.

Of course I ignored the fishiness for a while.  I participated in the "challenge" and didn't do so well.  Plenty of books were works I started but then put down either because I was busy or bored or because the book was just horribly written (just because it's a classic doesn't mean it's good writing).  Other books that I read I found were a complete waste of time and I hated them.  Some books I loved.  And so when the list started circling again, I decided to figure out what the selection criteria was and then see if I could improve the list.

From what I can tell, the book list does not actually exist.  Or, more accurately, it exists but is not BBC.  In searching the BBC website, there are two articles about 100 books, one written in 2004 and one written in 2011.  The 2004 article is very similar to the pseudo-BBC list -- they have about 2/3 of the book titles in common -- but that list was a survey among readers of their favorite books.  I guess that could translate into 100 must-reads, but not necessarily.  It would, however, explain why something like Bridget Jones' Diary made it on to the list.

I am fairly convinced that this BBC list making the rounds on Facebook and blogs has no connection with the BBC.  The list is too vague in its purpose and criteria.  And so instead of worrying about how I don't measure up to this list, I've decided to create my own.  At least my own list for novels -- to have the category opened to any book would make it far too difficult to choose 100 titles.  Maybe one day I'll create a list for top non-fiction, too.

My Version of the so-called “BBC Book List” – 100 Novels to Read*

1.     Outlander (and the whole series, seven books right now) – Diana Gabaldon  This is hands-down the best historical series I’ve ever read.  I love it and can’t put it down (which can be a problem when the books are huge).

2.     The Book Thief – Markus Zusak. I’ve read plenty of books about the Holocaust and genocide.  I have to – I wrote a thesis on the subject years ago.  But this book was one of the best novels set during the Holocaust.

3.     Maus – Art Spiegelman.  This graphic novel about the Holocaust was very well done and the first graphic novel that exposed me to the genre.  As a whole, the genre is not my favorite, but I do like a few graphic novels and memoirs now.

4.     A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hossini.  This author is best known for The Kite Runner, but this book was so much better.

5.     The Kite Runner – Khaled Hossini

6.     The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory.  I love all of her books, but since this was the first one that I read it holds a special place in my heart.

7.     The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova. Hands down this is the best story about Dracula ever.

8.     The Monk – M.G. Lewis.  This is better known as one of the first full-length gothic novels.  You’ll never guess, after reading the content, when this book was written!

9.     Tom Jones – Henry Fielding

10.  The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  Terrifying.

11.  The Master & Margarita – Mikhail Bulgokov. One of my favorite memories with Honey is when I had to read this book for a class – Honey started reading while I was doing something else and then we both sat together and read through it because neither one of us wanted to relinquish the book!

12.  Dead Souls – Nikolai Gogol

13.  Buddenbrooks – Thomas Mann

14.  No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith. Every time I need to feel good and just enjoy life, I turn to this author.

15.  Winter Solstice – Rosamund Pilcher

16.  The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin. One book in a Russian mystery series that is quite enjoyable.

17.  The 19^th Wife – David Ebershoff

18.  Douglass’s Women – Jewel Parker Rhodes

19.  Across Five Aprils – Irene Hunt

20.  My Brother Sam Is Dead – James Lincoln Collier

21.  Sam the Minute Man – Nathaniel Benchley

22.  Much Ado About Nothing – William Shakespeare

23.  Romeo & Juliet – William Shakespeare

24.  Hamlet – William Shakespeare

25.  Let’s just have this line indicate more Shakespeare, in whatever form that may be.

26.  Pride & Prejudice & Zombies – Seth Grahame Smith (and Jane Austen)

27.  1984 – George Orwell

28.  Animal Farm – George Orwell

29.  We – Yevgeny Zamyatin

30.  Utopia – Thomas More

31.  The Crucible – Arthur Miller

32.  The Inferno – Dante

33.  Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer

34.  The Decameron – Giovanni Boccaccio

35.  The Moonraker’s Bride – Madeleine Brent

36.  The Treasure of Montesegur – Sophy Burnham

37.  Bridge to Terebithia – Katherine Patterson

38.  Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

39.  A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

40.  To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee

41.  Covenant with the Vampire – Jeanne Kalogridis. My favorite trilogy about Dracula.

42.  Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks

43.  The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd

44.  The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

45.  The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

46.  Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell

47.  The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis All the Chronicles of Narnia are good, of course.

48.  The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket This is the beginning of my favorite children’s series

49.  Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

50.  Native Speaker – Chang Rae Lee

51.  Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

52.  Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

53.  Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

54.  Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon

55.  A Spot of Bother – Mark Haddon

56.  The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

57.  The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

58.  The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

59.  The Color Purple – Alice Walker

60.  Possessing the Secret of Joy – Alice Walker

61.  Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

62.  Johnny Got His Gun – Dalton Trumbo.  This is probably the most powerful anti-war novel available.

63.  The Ruling Class (a play) – Peter Barnes

64.  Semmelweiss (a play) – Jens Bjorneboe

65.  S. A Novel About the Balkans – Slaveka Drakulic

66.  The Foreign Student – Susan Choi

67.  The Red Tent – Anita Diamant

68.  Seven Days to the Sea – Rebecca Kohn

69.  The Bonesetter’s Daughter – Amy Tan

70.  The Plague – Albert Camus

71.  Paradise Lost – John Milton

72.  Persepolis (graphic novel/memoir) – Marjane Satrapi

73.  In the Time of the Butterflies – Julia Alvarez

74.  Portrait in Sepia – Isabel Allende

75.  The Dress Lodger – Sheri Holman

76.  Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff – Christopher Moore 

77.  The Secret History of the Pink Carnation – Lauren Willig

78.  The Courtesan – Susan Carroll

79.  The Feast of Roses – Indu Sundaresan

80.  Thursday Next – Jasper Fforde

81.  Pilate’s Wife – Antoinette May

82.  The Alienist – Caleb Carr

83.  In Her Shoes – Jennifer Weiner

84.  Beloved – Toni Morrison

85.  Cry, The Beloved Country – Alan Paton

86.  The Robe – Lloyd C. Douglas

87.  Ben Hur – Lew Wallace

88.  Angel on the Square – Gloria Whelen

89.  The Devil’s Arithmetic – Jane Yolen

90.  The Cage – Ruth Minsky Sender

91.  Night – Elie Wiesel

92.  The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri

93.  The History of Love – Nicole Krauss

94.  Motel of the Mysteries – David Macaulay.  This book reminds me to keep everything in perspective.

95.  Oh the Places You’ll Go – Dr. Seuss

96.  Weslandia – Paul Fleischman This is my favorite children’s book of all time – the best picture book ever. I give it to everyone I know as a baby shower gift.

97.  The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox – Jennifer Lee Carrell One can learn a lot of history through this account that has fictionalized things to make it more readable.

98.  Frankenstein -- Mary Shelley

99.  North & South – Elizabeth Gaskell

100.                 Persuasion (or Sense & Sensibility or Pride & Prejudice) -- Jane Austen

*I invite you to compare, comment, or create your own.  Also, you'll notice that I didn't comment on every title and why I chose it -- eventually I realized that would be too much work.  I also provided a blend of fiction, everything from a child's picture book (Weslandia) to modern (20th century) classics (The Plague) to chick lit, so there should be something for everyone on this list. And the last three titles are italicized because while I've started them I haven't finished, but I do love the story lines and intend to finish reading...one day....
**UPDATE (4/9/11): I woke up this morning and realized I forgot to add Frankenstein to the list.  Now that problem is solved!