topic Re: Great America Reads Winner in Book Club

Great America Reads Winner

JCath — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 00:56:03 GMT

Just annouced. I won't spoil it for you but here were the top 5 (not in the correct order): Harry Potter, Outlander, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, and Lord of the Rings. Happy rEADING

Re: Great America Reads Winner

reiki604 — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 01:02:07 GMT

All are wonderful books!

Re: Great America Reads Winner

PA Mom-mom — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 01:08:49 GMT

Can't understamd why P&P would be ahead of Persuasion or Mansfield Park.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

ValuSkr — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 01:16:06 GMT

Thank you! And thank you for not revealing the surprise. I forgot to watch tonight. Well, the World Series was on and I was watching that. Did Meredith announce it by way of a sealed envelope delivered by men in suits from PricewaterhouseCoopers?

Re: Great America Reads Winner

millieshops — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 10:42:03 GMT

@PA Mom-momIn a poll like this one, the answer has to be that many more people have read P&P than the rest of her works.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

jackthebear — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 12:08:42 GMT

It's a book I have never read or probably never will

just googled it

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:41:01 GMT

@JCath wrote:
Just annouced. I won't spoil it for you but here were the top 5 (not in the correct order): Harry Potter, Outlander, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, and Lord of the Rings. Happy rEADING

I can't understand a lot of things with this show and not knowing who they polled it all seems random. Pride & Prejudice is one of the most popular books in the world, so much more than her other works. So many movies and miniseries made from it and wasn't it the first of the classics to get the "and Zombies" treatment? Even a movie of that. This was strictly a popularity contest but popular with who? (whom?)

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:43:05 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
Thank you! And thank you for not revealing the surprise. I forgot to watch tonight. Well, the World Series was on and I was watching that. Did Meredith announce it by way of a sealed envelope delivered by men in suits from PricewaterhouseCoopers?

They had different pairs of people, many recycled from the show, read ten at a time in order starting with #100 and going up to #5. Meredith Viera spotlighted one of the top five throughout and the winner was announced at the end. People (who?) sat at tables clapping for each one. IMO it was a silly format and not worthy of many of these books.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:49:09 GMT

Here's the list in order. I was yelling at my tv like I do during a basketball game until it dawned on me how foolish and random the whole idea and execution of this thing has been.

https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/results/

Best Loved

Results

To Kill a Mockingbird was voted by viewers as America’s #1 best-loved novel in The Great American Read.

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than forty million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and voted one of the best novels of the twentieth century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father—a crusading local lawyer—risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

To Kill a Mockingbird lead The Great American Read voting from the first week, and kept the lead for the entire five months of voting, despite strong competition from the rest of our five finalists. It also topped the list of votes in every state except North Carolina (who went for Outlander) and Wyoming (who preferred Lord of The Rings). Such widespread support from readers across the country make To Kill a Mockingbird a worthy winner of The Great American Read.

Finalist

Outlander (Series)Finalist

Finalist

Harry Potter (Series)Finalist

Finalist

Pride and PrejudiceFinalist

Finalist

The Lord of the Rings (Series)Finalist

Full Results

To Kill a Mockingbird
Outlander (Series)
Harry Potter (Series)
Pride and Prejudice
Lord of the Rings
Gone with the Wind
Charlotte's Web
Little Women
Chronicles of Narnia
Jane Eyre
Anne of Green Gables
Grapes of Wrath
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Book Thief
Great Gatsby
The Help
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1984
And Then There Were None
Atlas Shrugged
Wuthering Heights
Lonesome Dove
Pillars of the Earth
Stand
Rebecca
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Color Purple
Alice in Wonderland
Great Expectations
Catcher in the Rye
Where the Red Fern Grows
Outsiders
The Da Vinci Code
The Handmaid's Tale
Dune
The Little Prince
Call of the Wild
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy
The Hunger Games
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Joy Luck Club
Frankenstein
The Giver
Memoirs of a Geisha
Moby ******
Catch 22
Game of Thrones (series)
Foundation (series)
War and Peace
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Jurassic Park
The Godfather
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Notebook
The Shack
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Hunt for Red October
Beloved
The Martian
The Wheel of Time (series)
Siddhartha
Crime and Punishment
The Sun Also Rises
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
A Separate Peace
Don Quixote
The Lovely Bones
The Alchemist
Hatchet (series)
Invisible Man
The Twilight Saga (series)
Tales of the City (series)
Gulliver's Travels
Ready Player One
Left Behind (series)
Gone Girl
Watchers
The Pilgrim's Progress
Alex Cross Mysteries (series)
Things Fall Apart
Heart of Darkness
Gilead
Flowers in the Attic
Fifty Shades of Grey
The Sirens of Titan
This Present Darkness
Americanah
Another Country
Bless Me, Ultima
Looking for Alaska
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Swan Song
Mind Invaders
White Teeth
Ghost
The Coldest Winter Ever
The Intuitionist
Doña Bárbára

Re: Great America Reads Winner

Sooner — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:50:39 GMT

I didn't watch any of it and didn't understand the whole point of the series. What I didn't understand is why they didn't try to highlight some really exceptional books from different literary periods that might not be the most popular but that people would enjoy if they knew about them.

I would have liked it if they would have taken popular authors, told us about them and how their background influenced their writing, put it in context and talked about the times, and give us lists of books that are similiar but less known that we would enjoy.

And they could also have talked about foreign authors that give people a look at other cultures and highlighted some more accessible books of theirs. Like Garcia Marquez and so many others.

They just rehashed what people are familiar with. What's the point of that?

Re: Great America Reads Winner

Sooner — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:54:24 GMT

Looking at the list, I'm thinking a lot of people haven't read a book since high school (remember the reading list and the classes?) or college (some of the most studied pop up here).

I say this is jest, but maybe that's true thinking about it? Some of the choices are REALLY odd, or look like something that captured the imagination in youth. . . or the movie. . .

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:00:22 GMT

@Sooneragree with all you said and find the constant repetition of "your list" which drove me nuts (and they put those words in others' mouths last night, not just Viera's) even more annoying than ever last night.

It's very curious that they never explained how they came up with those who voted, who they are, how many and where they got them from. Which makes me go hmmm.

Not only a lot of high school lit but a disproportionate amount of YA.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:02:46 GMT

I lost it when "Fifty Shades of Grey" beat "Bless Me Ultima" and other quality works. I'm trying to remember if they ever used the word "literature" -- I don't recall and it would be inappropriate given the list. I think they used "read" as a noun over and over and one can't argue that yes, these are all books that can be read LOL.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:12:21 GMT

I think I figured it out:

They surveyed the same 100 people that Family Feud does!

Re: Great America Reads Winner

teganslaw — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:21:45 GMT

I never read To Kill a Mockingbird. I saw the movie a long time ago, but don't remember much of it it. Maybe it didn't impress me, I don't know.

My first choice on the top five list is Lord of the Rings series. Great book and also movies.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

CANDLEQUEEN — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 15:44:20 GMT

To Kill A Mockingbird was a superb book, and the movie was excellent as well and very well cast.....

Sometimes Movies aren't as good as books, or they are awful, but I felt with this book, the movie was excellent as well.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

smoky22 — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 17:11:53 GMT

@LoriLori wrote:

It's very curious that they never explained how they came up with those who voted, who they are, how many and where they got them from. Which makes me go hmmm.

Not only a lot of high school lit but a disproportionate amount of YA.

@LoriLori My thoughts exactly. How big was the sample of people who picked the original 100 and where did they get these people.

To this whole thing I want to say Meh! I'm sad (mad) that I spent the time voting on this every day. They said the number one book was the number one book during the entire voting period.

I put up with Meredith Viera for this? Ugh

Re: Great America Reads Winner

smoky22 — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 17:18:19 GMT

One more thought: The book that was dead last at #100 (Dona Barbara) was one I've been trying to get my library to order. I guess they never will now, lol.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

AuntG — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 17:18:45 GMT

For a truly American book, I would have thought #15, The Great Gatsby, would have won.

Re: Great America Reads Winner

LoriLori — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 19:26:38 GMT

@AuntG wrote:
For a truly American book, I would have thought #15, The Great Gatsby, would have won.

@AuntG, hi, good to see you! I have an extra hour to read now that I don't watch the soap

The book didn't have to be American, and many weren't including at least two of the top five...

.. but I'm sure people who have been on this thread regularly are thinking, uh-oh, Auntg, don't get Lori started on "The Great Gatsby." Because I never shut up about it. Did you know Princess Eugenie used a reading from it at her wedding? I have a long post about it upthread. Strange.

I agree with @smoky22 that I wish I never wasted my time voting and as everybody here knew I was voting for The Great Gatsby, every single day since the summer, on line and on the phone. I feel foolish and wish I had that time back -- I'd use it to read.