Books

Having worked my way through the 2003 BBC Big Read Top 100 books, I am creating my own list of "must-read" books. Instead of basing it on the votes of the great British public however, this time I want books that have been personally recommended to me by the readers of this blog, books that have had rave reviews, or those classics that we can't do without.

Which books do you think everyone should read at some point in their lives? To add to the list, please leave a comment and if I like the sound of your idea (and haven't already read it!) I'll add it to this page. Thanks!


The List
  1. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (Catherine) READ! 9/10
  2. Afterwards - Rosamund Lupton (Helen Walker)
  3. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (S.P. Clark)  READ! 7/10
  4. An Equal Music - Vikram Seth (Meg)
  5. Art and Lies - Jeanette Winterson (Nomi)
  6. The Amnesiac - Sam Taylor Wood (Nomi)
  7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (Ceve)  READ! 10/10
  8. The Brontes - Juliet Barker (billyblogger) 
  9. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (Emma)  READ! 8/10
  10. Dear Life - Alice Munro
  11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery (Abby) 
  12. The English Teacher - RK Narayan 
  13. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green  READ! 9/10
  14. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson (Marie) READ! 7/10
  15. The Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracey Chevalier (Willa)
  16. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn READ! 10/10
  17. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (Bethan) READ! 9/10
  18. The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Abi) READ! 9/10
  19. The House on the Strand - Daphne du Maurier (Ceve) READ! 7/10
  20. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (Derek)
  21. Kim - Rudyard Kipling (Derek)
  22. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness READ! 9/10
  23. Last Night in Twisted River - John Irving (Nomi)
  24. Life After Life - Kate Atkinson (Costa 2014)
  25. Light a Penny Candle - Maeve Binchy 
  26. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (David) READ! 8/10
  27. Marathon Man - William Goldman (billyblogger)
  28. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris  READ! 9/10
  29. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides READ! 8/10
  30. Mr. Chartwell - Rebecca Hunt (Nomi)
  31. Music and Silence - Rose Tremain (Ceve)
  32. Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (Bruce Fletcher) 
  33. Norweigan Wood - Haruki Murukami (Ben DuPree)
  34. The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens (Various)  READ! 8/10
  35. One Day - David Nicholls READ! 10/10
  36. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford  READ! 7/10
  37. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro READ! 10/10
  38. Room - Emma Donoghue READ! 10/10
  39. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes READ! 6/10
  40. Stolen: A Letter to My Captor - Lucy Christopher
  41. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
  42. Tell No-One - Harlan Coben (Derek)  READ! 8/10
  43. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe READ! 7/10
  44. To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf (Ian) 
  45. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal - Jeanette Winterson
  46. Wild Swans - Jung Chan (billyblogger)

5 comments:

  1. I'm a big Daphne fan and loved House on the Strand, but surely Jamaica Inn and Rebecca must top it?!

    I'm not sure if non-fiction is allowed here but Wild Swans by Jung Chan is probably the most powerful book of it's kind I've ever read. Juliet Barker's The Brontes is the best biography I've ever read. And Marathon Man, William Goldman, is the best thriller I've ever read!

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  2. All great suggestions! I have read both Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, or they would be on here! Great books. I'm definitely up for all genres, so I will add these to the list. Thanks :)

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  3. 'Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss

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    1. Oooh, I've heard good things of Rothfuss. I shall put it on! Thank you.

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  4. 'Extremely loud and incredibly close' by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's one of my absolute favourite books. You should definitely check it out. -Jeanneke

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