I watched a programme on Channel Five which had compiled a list of the top thirty British novels. From what I recall Waterstones the book shop had provided a list of their best selling 50 British novels and people voted for their favourite. I love a nice list of books so I was hooked. I am pleased to say that I have read 20 of them, and even more pleased that this gave me 10 good books to read this year, especially handy to have when all but the central library in town closed for 8 weeks to redeploy library staff. Here is the list- the ones in bold are the ones I haven’t read yet, but hope to do so this year.
30 Lady Chatterley’s Lover– D H Lawrence
29 White Teeth- Zadie Smith
28 Casino Royale- Ian Fleming
27 Bridget Jones Diary- Helen Fielding
26 Small Island- Andrea Levy
25 Knots and Crosses- Ian Rankin
24 Howards End- E M Forster
23 Lord of the Flies William Golding
22 Vanity Fair– William Makepeace Thackery
21 Atonement- Ian McEwan
20 Dracula- Bram Stoker
19 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- Conan Doyle
18 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy- John le Carre
17 The Day of the Triffids- John Wyndham
16 The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro
15 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night- Mark Haddon
14 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin-Louis de Bernieres
13 Far from the Madding Crowd– Thomas Hardy
12 And then there were none- Agatha Christie
11 Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel
10 Middlemarch- George Elliot
9 Birdsong- Sebastian Faulks
8 David Copperfield- Charles Dickens
7 Hitchhiker’s guide to life in the galaxy- Douglas Adams
6 Rebecca- Daphne du Maurier
5 Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
4 1984 – George Orwell
3 Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
2 Lord of the Rings- Tolkien
1 Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austin
How many of these have you read? Is your favourite here? Since I watched this programme I have found the Independent newspaper had compiled a list of 40 books, some are here, some I have read, but all in all lots of excellent reading ahead for me, plus of course all the recommendations that you give me.
The weather in the UK is cold for us, so a weekend under the crochet blanket with a good book seems like a plan for me. Will you be reading over the weekend?