NPR's Top 100 Beach Reads...
Jul. 31st, 2009 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akujunkan...as voted upon by NPR listeners and ganked from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pussreboots. Apparently the NPR audience divides pretty evenly between people who take brain candy to the beach and people who take serious literature. The titles I've read cover to cover are bolded, the titles I've yet to finish are underlined, the titles I own but haven't read yet are italicized, and hotlinks redirect to my reviews of the novels or authors in question.
1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
At least large portions of the online were able to develop the potential in these novels that Rowling couldn't deliver.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
One of the few classics I read in high school that I feel deserves the description.
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Terribly overrated.
4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
My favorite Austen.
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This book leaves me cold.
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
Total: 7
11. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Perhaps one of the worst books I have read.
13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first adult novel I ever read, around first grade. It took months.
15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
I think most readers of this journal are already well familiar with my thoughts on Tolkien.
19. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
Total: 3
Unfinished: 1
21. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
22. The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
23. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
24. The World According to Garp, by John Irving
25. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
One of the best war novels ever.
26. The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
27. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
Intelligent chick lit, but chick lit nonetheless.
28. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
One of the few books where I feel that the movie is better.
29. The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler
30. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
One of the most mockable books, ever.
Total: 5
Unfinished: 1
31. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
32. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
33. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
34. Beach Music, by Pat Conroy
35. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This book left me with no desire to ever read any more GGM.
36. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
No one does impending doom like Du Maurier.
37. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
38. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
39. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
Total: 2
Unread: 1
41. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
42. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
43. Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
The only good book AR has ever written.
44. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
45. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
46. Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
47. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
48. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, by Tom Robbins
49. I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb
50. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
Total: 1
51. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
52. The Stand, by Stephen King
53. She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
54. Dune, by Frank Herbert
55. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
56. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
58. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
59. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
60. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
Total: 0
Unfinished: 1
61. Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver
62. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
63. Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner
64. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
65. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
66. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
67. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
68. Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut
His second best novel, and one of the his most universal. Try reading it without forgetting it’s the Vietnam war he's criticizing, not Iraq, and see how far you get.
69. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
70. The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
Total: 2
71. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
72. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
73. Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
74. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
74. Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe [tie]
76. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
77. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
The series jumped the shark approximately two books later.
78. The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
80. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
Total: 1
Unread: 1
81. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
81. The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve [tie]
83. All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy
84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
85. The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
86. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Scifi for people who are too pretentious to realize that this is just a mediocre scifi novel.
87. One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich
88. Shogun, by James Clavell
89. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
90. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
Total: 1
Unfinished: 2
91. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
92. Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger
93. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
94. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris
95. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
96. The Shining, by Stephen King
97. How Stella Got Her Groove Back, by Terry McMillan
98. Lamb, by Christopher Moore
99. Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen
I'm pretty sure I read this, but I remember the plots of Hiaasen's books, not their titles.
100. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Total: 3
Grand Total: 25/101. Not bad.
That will be all.
pussreboots. Apparently the NPR audience divides pretty evenly between people who take brain candy to the beach and people who take serious literature. The titles I've read cover to cover are bolded, the titles I've yet to finish are underlined, the titles I own but haven't read yet are italicized, and hotlinks redirect to my reviews of the novels or authors in question. 1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
At least large portions of the online were able to develop the potential in these novels that Rowling couldn't deliver.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
One of the few classics I read in high school that I feel deserves the description.
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Terribly overrated.
4. Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
My favorite Austen.
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This book leaves me cold.
8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
Total: 7
11. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Perhaps one of the worst books I have read.
13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The first adult novel I ever read, around first grade. It took months.
15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
I think most readers of this journal are already well familiar with my thoughts on Tolkien.
19. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
Total: 3
Unfinished: 1
21. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
22. The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
23. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
24. The World According to Garp, by John Irving
25. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
One of the best war novels ever.
26. The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
27. Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
Intelligent chick lit, but chick lit nonetheless.
28. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
One of the few books where I feel that the movie is better.
29. The Accidental Tourist, by Anne Tyler
30. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
One of the most mockable books, ever.
Total: 5
Unfinished: 1
31. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
32. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
33. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
34. Beach Music, by Pat Conroy
35. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This book left me with no desire to ever read any more GGM.
36. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
No one does impending doom like Du Maurier.
37. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
38. Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
39. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon
Total: 2
Unread: 1
41. Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
42. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
43. Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
The only good book AR has ever written.
44. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
45. Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
46. Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes
47. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
48. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, by Tom Robbins
49. I Know This Much Is True, by Wally Lamb
50. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
Total: 1
51. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
52. The Stand, by Stephen King
53. She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
54. Dune, by Frank Herbert
55. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
56. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
57. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
58. Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
59. The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
60. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
Total: 0
Unfinished: 1
61. Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver
62. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
63. Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner
64. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
65. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
66. The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
67. The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
68. Breakfast of Champions, by Kurt Vonnegut
His second best novel, and one of the his most universal. Try reading it without forgetting it’s the Vietnam war he's criticizing, not Iraq, and see how far you get.
69. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
70. The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
Total: 2
71. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
72. The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy
73. Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns
74. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
74. Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe [tie]
76. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
77. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
The series jumped the shark approximately two books later.
78. The Shell Seekers, by Rosamunde Pilcher
79. Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
80. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
Total: 1
Unread: 1
81. Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
81. The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve [tie]
83. All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy
84. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
85. The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
86. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Scifi for people who are too pretentious to realize that this is just a mediocre scifi novel.
87. One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich
88. Shogun, by James Clavell
89. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
90. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
Total: 1
Unfinished: 2
91. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
92. Franny and Zooey, by J.D. Salinger
93. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
94. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris
95. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume
96. The Shining, by Stephen King
97. How Stella Got Her Groove Back, by Terry McMillan
98. Lamb, by Christopher Moore
99. Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaasen
I'm pretty sure I read this, but I remember the plots of Hiaasen's books, not their titles.
100. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Total: 3
Grand Total: 25/101. Not bad.
That will be all.