Reading Challenge: The Great American Read from PBS
Have you ever done something new and exciting, only to discover that everybody else is doing it, too, maybe even before you thought of it?
To Read or Not to Read…
I started the Read Along With Emilie Richards Reading Challenge for the fun of it after participating in another challenge in 2017. As it turns out, reading challenges are everywhere this year, although I didn’t notice them until I decided to do one.
I’m happy to say that this is not a contest. In my opinion, the more reading challenges, the more people reading for any reason, the better. Right? So my end of the month reading challenge post for May features PBS’ THE GREAT AMERICAN READ.
Here’s their description: THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, hosted by television personality and journalist Meredith Vieira, launched with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, at 8 p.m. on PBS stations and introduced viewers to the full list of America’s 100 favorite novels selected through a demographically representative national survey conducted by YouGov. If you missed the program (I did) you can view it here.
Can we choose great books with a poll?
I’m not really clear on how representative of all citizens’ reading tastes a public opinion poll can be–especially a poll many of us never head about–but the list is great fun anyway. Viewers will be able to vote at pbs.org/greatamericanread and through hashtag voting via Facebook and Twitter using #GreatReadPBS. In the fall, viewers will also be able to cast their vote toll-free by phone and through SMS texting.
So today I’m posting the PBS list. Count and see how many you’ve read. If I ‘cheat’ a little, I’ve read 47–a few of these I started and didn’t quite finish. Just because they’re on this list, doesn’t mean we have to like them.
Below is the full list of America’s 100 favorite novels according to PBS, in alphabetical order by title:
1984 | Hatchet |
A Confederacy of Dunces | Heart of Darkness |
A Game of Thrones | The Help |
A Prayer for Owen Meany | The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy |
A Separate Peace | The Hunger Games |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | The Hunt for Red October |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | The Intuitionist |
The Alchemist | Invisible Man |
Alex Cross Mysteries** | Jane Eyre |
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | The Joy Luck Club |
Americanah | Jurassic Park |
And Then There Were None | Left Behind |
Anne of Green Gables | The Little Prince |
Another Country | Little Women |
Atlas Shrugged | Lonesome Dove |
Beloved | Looking for Alaska |
Bless Me, Ultima | The Lord of the Rings** |
The Book Thief | The Lovely Bones |
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | The Martian |
The Call of the Wild | Memoirs of a Geisha |
Catch-22 | Mind Invaders |
The Catcher in the Rye | Moby Dick |
Charlotte’s Web | The Notebook |
The Chronicles of Narnia** | One Hundred Years of Solitude |
The Clan of the Cave Bear | Outlander |
The Coldest Winter Ever | The Outsiders |
The Color Purple | The Picture of Dorian Gray |
The Count of Monte Cristo | The Pilgrim’s Progress |
Crime and Punishment | The Pillars of the Earth |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Pride and Prejudice |
The Da Vinci Code | Ready Player One |
Don Quixote | Rebecca |
Doña Barbara | The Shack |
Dune | Siddhartha |
Fifty Shades of Grey | The Sirens of Titan |
Flowers in the Attic | The Stand |
Foundation | The Sun Also Rises |
Frankenstein | Swan Song |
Ghost | Tales of the City |
Gilead | Their Eyes Were Watching God |
The Giver | Things Fall Apart |
The Godfather | This Present Darkness |
Gone Girl | To Kill a Mockingbird |
Gone with the Wind | Twilight |
The Grapes of Wrath | War and Peace |
Great Expectations | Watchers |
The Great Gatsby | The Wheel of Time** |
Gulliver’s Travels | Where the Red Fern Grows |
The Handmaid’s Tale | White Teeth |
Harry Potter** | Wuthering Heights |
**Denotes a series title
Now that you’ve counted to see how many of the books you’ve read, what books would you have added?
Are there books here you really don’t like and don’t think should be on the list?
If you’re doing my reading challenge and wondered what constitutes a classic, do you think any/all of these books qualify?
Are there books here you’ve never heard of? (The answer for me is yes, indeed.)
I’ll look forward to reading your responses, but I will be away from my computer next week for anything other than answering a little mail. Hoping June shapes up exactly the way you want it to
I think Little House on the Prairie should be on the list. I would like to have seen Bell Jar on there also, because it is such a powerful read.
The Nightingale should definitely be on the list.
I would liked to have seen “Treasure Island” and “Robinson Crusoe” to great books that open the imagination to adventure and travel.