This list is the results of a 2006 poll of British librarians conducted by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), in which librarians around Britain were asked, "Which book should every adult read before they die?"
It looks like the list reflects a split between those librarians who popped off with the name of the book that most recently captured their fancy and those who considered what should really be the one book everyone should read. I mean, The Time Traveler’s Wife was extremely popular, but is it really a book deserving of every adult’s bucket list? On the other hand, The Bible is a space-hogging gimmee. I agree that everyone should read it, but my rule is that all Must Read lists come with a silent caveat: “a list of books other than The Bible . . . .” So take this one with a grain of salt.
Here's the list, with notes for those I've read, are on my TBR shelf, or are available as an audiobook from my library.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee FINISHED
The Bible FINISHED
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien FINISHED
1984 by George Orwell FINISHED
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens FINISHED
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte FINISHED
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen FINISHED
All Quiet on the Western Front by E M Remarque FINISHED
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman ON OVERDRIVE
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks FINISHED
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck FINISHED
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding FINISHED
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon FINISHED
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy FINISHED
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne FINISHED
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte FINISHED
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (reviewed here) FINISHED MANY TIMES
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell FINISHED
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (reviewed here) FINISHED
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger FINISHED
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold ON OVERDRIVE
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran FINISHED
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens FINISHED
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho FINISHED
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov FINISHED
Life of Pi by Yann Martel FINISHED
Middlemarch by George Eliot FINISHED
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver FINISHED
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess FINISHED
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn ON OVERDRIVE
NOTES
Last updated last on December 28, 2022. I've read 27 of these 30 books, some of them several times! I could see myself reading the last three and wrapping this one up for good.
I never understood why we don't write The Bible by God :)
ReplyDeleteI think you are right though in that adding The Bible to a list of must reads, somewhat taints said list. Being that we already are all walking around with that "to-do at some point" in the back of our minds.
Re the Colourful Reading Challenge. The six required colours White,Black,Blue,Red,Gold
ReplyDeleteand Silver. You can get full details from Rebecca at:
http://imlostinbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/colorful-reading-challenge.html