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List love 3.4: BBC’s Big Read list, books 151-200

The previous 3 parts can be found here (no. 1), here (no. 2) and here (no. 3).

Green means I have read it.
Blue means I plan to read it.
The others I am either not interested in or simply don’t know enough about them to decide if I am interested in reading them.

Status abbreviations:
PC = it’s in my Permanent Collection
WL = it’s on my Wish List

  1. Soul Music: by Terry Pratchett. Status: PC
  2. Thief Of Time: by Terry Pratchett. Status:
  3. The Fifth Elephant: by Terry Pratchett. Status: PC
  4. Atonement: by Ian McEwan
  5. Secrets: by Jacqueline Wilson
  6. The Silver Sword: by Ian Serraillier
  7. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: by Ken Kesey. Status: Owned
  8. Heart Of Darkness: by Joseph Conrad
  9. Kim: by Rudyard Kipling
  10. Cross Stitch: by Diana Gabaldon
  11. Moby Dick: by Herman Melville
  12. River God: by Wilbur Smith. Status: Owned
  13. Sunset Song: by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
  14. The Shipping News: by Annie Proulx.
  15. The World According To Garp: by John Irving.
  16. Lorna Doone: by R.D. Blackmore.
  17. Girls Out Late: by Jacqueline Wilson.
  18. The Far Pavilions: by M.M. Kaye.
  19. The Witches: by Roald Dahl.
  20. Charlotte's Web: by E.B. White.
  21. Frankenstein: by Mary Shelley. Status: PC
  22. They Used To Play On Grass: by Terry Venables and Gordon Williams.
  23. The Old Man And The Sea: by Ernest Hemingway.
  24. The Name Of The Rose: by Umberto Eco. Status: PC
  25. Sophie's World: by Jostein Gaarder.
  26. Dustbin Baby: by Jacqueline Wilson.
  27. Fantastic Mr Fox: by Roald Dahl.
  28. Lolita: by Vladimir Nabokov.
  29. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull: by Richard Bach.
  30. The Little Prince: by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.
  31. The Suitcase Kid: by Jacqueline Wilson.
  32. Oliver Twist: by Charles Dickens.
  33. The Power Of One: by Bryce Courtenay.
  34. Silas Marner: by George Eliot.
  35. American Psycho: by Bret Easton Ellis.
  36. The Diary Of A Nobody: by George and Weedon Grossmith. Status: Owned
  37. Trainspotting: by Irvine Welsh.
  38. Goosebumps: by R.L. Stine.
  39. Heidi: by Johanna Spyri.
  40. Sons And Lovers: by D.H. Lawrence.
  41. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: by Milan Kundera.
  42. Man And Boy: by Tony Parsons.
  43. The Truth: by Terry Pratchett. Status: PC
  44. The War Of The Worlds: by H.G. Wells.
  45. The Horse Whisperer: by Nicholas Evans.
  46. A Fine Balance: by Rohinton Mistry.
  47. Witches Abroad: by Terry Pratchett. Status: PC
  48. The Once And Future King: by T.H. White. Status: PC - have read the first two books.
  49. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: by Eric Carle.
  50. Flowers In The Attic: by Virginia Andrews.

That makes 20 out of books no. 151-200 that I have read, and 8 more I plan to read.

I would be interested to hear what you think of this list and how many of the books you have read or want to read. If you want to, you can also leave a comment telling me why I should consider reading the rest.

Conclusion:
 
Taken all together, I have read 93 books on the Big Read list, or 46,5 % of the books. I have plans to read a further 31 books, or 15,5 %.

 I decided to take a closer look at the list, to see which authors had the most books on it and if any conclusions could be drawn from it.
It is clear that a large percentage of the voters must have been children and teenagers, at least judging from the number of children’s and YA books on the list. 

In the author popularity stakes, Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Wilson came out as the winners, and the only authors with more than 10 books each. Third place goes to Roald Dahl. The most popular classic author is Charles Dickens.

Comments

Dorte H said…
I can recommend "One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest" - a scary, but also immensely humerous picture of America in the 1960s. I love teaching some of the sections and showing my students the film afterwards. And once they have got used to the black English, they are very enthusiastic.
George said…
I've only read 19 books on this list. I agree with Dorte on ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. It's haunting. MOBY DICK is the best book on the 151-200 list, but few people read it.

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