1984 by George Orwell...

Just to let you know - you have listed 1984 / Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell twice (once in numbers and once in letters). You have room for one more book on your list! ;)

Good list though - I've read 21 of them so far and have about another dozen (at least) sitting on my shelf waiting to be picked out and read. And there are more on the list I had already decided I wanted to read. Best of luck with your challenge.

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll check my list and revise it.

Twenty-one so far. You're doing better than me. I figured if they appeared on three of the top lists they a probably worth reading.

You also appear to have The Awakening by Kate Chopin on there twice!

COME ON! If this is a list of the 100 top books of all time, where are:

THE ODYESSY -- Homer
THE ILIAD -- Homer
THE BEOWULF -- The
Venerable Bead or ?
ANYTHING BY
SHAKESPEARE, but at
least:
MCBETH and
HAMLET
and I suspect that at
least one of the books
in that compilation of
books that has outsold
everything anywhere
for all time called the
Bible:
MATTHEW
MARK
LUKE
JOHN
PSALMS
REVELATIONS
PROVERBS
GENESIS
EXODUS
I CHING
ART OF WAR
THE PRINCE (Machevelli)
THE BELL JAR (Sylvia
Plath)
THE MAHABARHATA
I don't know where you took your list from, but they need to know there was literature before the 18th century (I would have said the 19th century but you had Trisham Shandy and Robinson Crusoe in there. You missed
PAMELA though.

Of the above list, I have read 29 of them and have about 20 more on the shelf awaiting. Cannot force myself at my age to read something I cannot stand, so Joyce's ULYESSES will have to wait for my next life.

Oh come now, andyray. Every time someone makes a list, people instantly make their own lists of what is missing from said list. It's pretty much impossible to include everyone's favorite Great Book on a list of 100. leisa's list does seem fairly reflective of most of those 100 Must-Read lists that seem to pop up all over the place.

Here I'll stop to count the number of times to I used the word "list" in this post and then take a moment for "What, no Fahrenheit 451??"

Have a nice day,
-llamagirl

Andyray

Just to clarify this isn't my recommended list. I took the rankings from five different lists and mathematically averaged them out. I never said these were the ones that I would choose. Each one of these books appeared on at least three top lists. Not my list but lists like the New York Times, Radcliffe and other respected lists. You can see how I selected the books on
My Blog. The top books appeared on all six.

All I am saying is that if that they are probably worth reading so why not. I've read many books that would probably in my opinion be ranked above some of these. But that's not what the list was about. And how do I know unless I read them all.

Leisa

So I do. Thanks. I put it in a spread sheet and sorted by name I thought to make sure I didn't duplicate. It didn't work.

Leisa

I've read 48 of the 98 on the list. I am trying to avoid the tyranny of lists -- but as you can see by this posting, I am obviously drawn to them.

Lynn,

Wow 48. That's great.

I know what you mean by avoiding the tyranny of lists. I put together the list for something else and as I was doing it the thought occurred to me that if the book appeared on at least three of the most respected lists that it would perhaps be worth reading.

It may not end up on my top 100, but how could I know if I didn't make the effort to read it.

Leisa

It's the Trial by Kafka, not The Trail.

;-)

As for what I have read: 42 if I counted correctly.

Tanstaafl

Sure enough it is. I read it the way I knew it was supposed to be and didn't realize the incorrect spelling. Thanks!

Leisa

My understanding of the lists that were looked at and included in the calculation tells me that the books on these lists are novels, which would explain the lack of Shakespeare and books of the Bible. Agreed, no list of great literature would be complete without those two (and many others), but it seems this list is a list of the best novels. Just my 2 cents!