Much Ado About Books and Reviews

[misscam]

In honour of my icon...

Nicked from magika83

Top 100 books by BBC's Big Read

Bold = the ones I've read.
Italic = the ones I'm planning to read.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

The recent discussion on YTDAW had me thinking - I really do review too little. But of course, I can be a very blunt reviewer and some don't much like that. So here's my offer - if you want, give me one story you want me to review (give a link in the comments for convinience, please). Keep it within a fandom I know (since otherwise, I can't much comment on certain aspects of it), and don't pick something way, way long or I'll never finish it. I will review it and I promise it'll be something beyond "Great story! More!"

Comments

[puredeadthingy.livejournal.com]

You've never read 'To Kill A Mockingbird'? I found it very good-and I still like it even though we have to study it in English. I'd send you my copy but it is heavily annotated and therefore bloody difficult to read.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Nope, afraid I haven't. I've just never gotten around to it. So many classics, so little time, etc.

Thanks for the offer :)

[fondued-jicama.livejournal.com]

It's a wonderful book. I was actually going to comment and say that I highly recommend it, but PDT beat me to it, it seems. =)

You could review my story, if you wanted to. It's a little under 2500 words, I think, so not horribly long. ^^; http://www.fanfiction.net/secure/live_preview.php?storyid=2491512

[sinneahtes.livejournal.com]

*cheers the icon on* I like reading. You can't carry life all around in your purse and use it to entertain you while you're on the toilet.

(...well, I'd prefer not to, anyway...)

Reviewing is scary. *highly nitpicky, somewhat blunt (despite pitiful attempts to be nice), but admittedly socially inept reviewer herself* But I should probably do more, myself...

[fondued-jicama.livejournal.com]

Actually, um, I don't think that link will work for you. Silly me.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2491512/1/

[saxihighlandck.livejournal.com]

*looks at list* Wow... What can I say about my reading if I've only read: Holes, Louis Sachar
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

Seems that my interest in reading is just... wow.. Not very brainy.

Ok. I will take you up on your offer to review something.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2424028/1/
CSI, It's Aftermath, a companion to The Spark which you reviewed already.

Thank you Cam.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Done.

[saxihighlandck.livejournal.com]

Oh yes... Please. :)

[fondued-jicama.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. =)

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Snort! How very, very true.

We could all probably review more, but it is sometimes hard to gauge what reactions a review can spark.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Done.

We can all read more, but you're still young. I have a librarian for a mum, so I've been bred into reading.

[saxihighlandck.livejournal.com]

The scary thing is I do read a lot, just not things of substance. I have many paperbacks lying around, and a few books from the discount bin at Barnes and Noble that I have been meaning to read. I get distracted and stop reading.

[elvenpiratelady.livejournal.com]

Mine is at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2320738/1/ (ignore the rest of the stuff I've got there, it's from a couple of years ago and incredibly embarrassing - I might get around to sporking it one day.)

His Dark Materials is... absolutely fantastically bloody wonderful. And then some.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Done.

It is on my list to read, yes. I've heard good things - and not so good things, but such is the case for all books.

[briasoleil.livejournal.com]

I have issues with the British literary lists, in that I come across as very ill-read, when I consider myself to be, if not well-read, certainly adequately-read. I also find the list to be too genre-based, leaving little room for any kind of non-genre contemporary literature.

Granted, as a Canadian, in high school, many of the texts we read were Canadian, as it should be. From what I've seen, there isn't a single Canadian novel. And yet, Canadians are frequently shortlisted for the Booker Award. Ondaatje, Atwood, Mantel. Plus, let's not forget the contributions of Leonard Cohen, Timothy Findley, Margaret Laurence, Mordecai Richler, as well as Anita Rau Badami, Maggie Helwig, among many others.

Ooops, I just saw that Anne of Green Gables is included in the list. Alas, it's not Canada's only book. There have been much better, more sophisticated and interesting books.

Among the texts - those you haven't read - I must insist that read To Kill a Mockingbird. It's one of the greatest texts I've ever read. In that same vein, The Grapes of Wrath is such a heart-breaking, yet hopeful novel. It's one of the few high school novels that I treasure to this day.

I need to read the Tolstoy, as well as Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. The Arundhati Roy and Paulo Coelho, as well. *sigh* There are so many books I need to read. I have been remiss in my reading.

[teenwitch77.livejournal.com]

I recommend the Catcher in the Rye. It's a very interesting book. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird as well. I'm surprised by how many of these I've actually read (though the second half of the list not so much :)

[unendingreverie.livejournal.com]

I second that! It's an amazing book!

[misscam.livejournal.com]

This was as voted by *Brits*, though, so there would be a certain bias. Just like if we voted here in Norway, our Ibsen and Hamlet and Bjørnson might pop up.

I shall have to read To Kill a Mockingbird, at least, given how many have rec'ed it now. If I hate it, I'm blaming you all.

There's always more books one should read than there is time.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Heh, I had more on the top of the list as well. Some of the bottoms ones I haven't even heard of. Bad Cam.

[highwindpav.livejournal.com]

I'm not a terribly well read person...although I'd like to read To Kill a Mockingbird, I've made no effort in that direction. ::hangs head in shame::

Although, if you liked The Stand, I'd recommend The Dark Tower, assuming you haven't read it, if you can overlook an author that needed to butt out a tad more in the last couple of books, it's quite an interesting epic.

I won't inflict any fics on you; I've only got four that are in your fandoms, and I know you've read three of them and the fourth isn't anywhere where you could review it. I did very much appreciate the feedback on them, tho' :)

[aervir.livejournal.com]

If you are planning to read One Hundred Years of Solitude, you might consider putting Love in the Time of Cholera, Midnight Children and Perfume on your reading list as well.

Márquez, Rushdie and Süßkind all manage to combine the realistic, the historical and the phantastic in a thoroughly enjoyable manner, and I've always admired their works because they succeed in appealing both to literary critics and to a mainstream audience -- books that are not only said to be "good", but that are also actually fun to read. :D

[rowanna73.livejournal.com]

I strongly recommend also Follett's Pillars of the Earth. It's not the usual Follett action thriller but a huge historical novel situated in the Middle Ages full of scheming, unexpected events, church-building (oh yes), love and fortunes and misfortunes of a family and its enemies. My top five favourites ever.

[rowanna73.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Donna Tartt's The Secret History is also a wonderful, wonderful book! It's atmosphere is magical. But I've noticed some people just love this book and read it over and over, some find it incredibly boring.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I would be very grateful if you reviewed the only Tolkien fanfiction I have ever written. It's a little collection of drabbles for the challenges at tolkien_weekly which I have decided to put together in my latest blog entry here.

It would be nice if you had a look at the style. I mean I know that I can spell and form coherent clauses (*g*), but I'm never sure whether I'm producing stilted sentences, purple prose or pretentious crap. Thanks a lot in advance!

[falena]

Oh, I love reading.

This quote pretty much sums up what I feel about reading:

Le temps de lire, comme le temps d'aimer, dilate le temps de vivre.(Daniel Pennac)

And I might steal this thingy sooner or later!

[falena]

Also, my recs

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger - I absolutely love this book!

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott and Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell - not great books per se, but they're classics...

Ulysses, James Joyce - You'll probably think I'm mad, but I love the way this is written!

And I'm a bit scared I read so many of these books..but I blame it on the Italian school system...we study English literature for eight years!Starting from Beowulf and Chaucer and so on...

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Not sure I liked The Stand. It had its parts, but I've certainly read better. But I shall keep that rec in mind - sometimes a book can be interesting even if you don't like all of it.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yeah? If I like One Hundred Years of Solitude, I might consider those too. I've struggled my way through some oretty interesting books, but it is nice sometimes with something that flows in more amusing ways.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I'll have a looksie at it later on.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oooh, history fiction. I do like that.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

That's not a bad saying.

Thanks for the recs - we study a fair bit of British lit ourselves in Norway, and of course I grew up with British children's lit. Roald Dahl, C.S Lewis... The Wind in the Willows is still one of my favourites.

[falena]

Rohald Dahl...I absolutely love him!JKR is nothing compared to him...

*ducks tomatoes thrown by HP rabid fans*

[crystalshard.livejournal.com]

If you like The Wind In The Willows, you might want to visit http://www.audiobooksforfree.com. At the end of the fantasy section, it's got the full seven-hour mp3 of the book for downloading.

And if you want to review anything of mine, you can take a look at Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again if you like.

[erhothwen.livejournal.com]

How was Catch-22? I haven't read that one yet and was wondering.

[magika83.livejournal.com]

What do you think about Terry Pratchett? He's on my list, I just don't know where to start...

[chem-nerd.livejournal.com]

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the best books ever.

As for your kind review offer, may I request http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2493935/1/ if you are familiar with Star Trek: TNG or http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2485999/1/ (LotR) if you're not? I think you're already familiar with Xenophobia...thanks, by the way. I think at this point I kinda owe you a hot male or two in addition to all the chocolate for beta-ing that for me.

Speaking of fanfiction, is OFUCSI going to be updated soon? *Makes elkhound puppy eyes*