Great America Reads Winner - Page 4

kcladyz · ‎04-30-2012

I also noticed that reading list is very dated I mean some of those books are super old classics and not current reads. They need to have a separate category for books written in the past 10 years. We have great authors like Dean Koontz, Arthur C Clarke, Stephen King, John Grisham that never make the list. At least some James Patterson made it

Also obvious classic famous books should not be listed. Lord of the Rings? Like Really? I want to discover new material.

LoriLori · ‎03-12-2010

@kcladyz wrote:
I also noticed that reading list is very dated I mean some of those books are super old classics and not current reads. They need to have a separate category for books written in the past 10 years. We have great authors like Dean Koontz, Arthur C Clarke, Stephen King, John Grisham that never make the list. At least some James Patterson made it

Also obvious classic famous books should not be listed. Lord of the Rings? Like Really? I want to discover new material.

@kcladyz We had a discussion thread about the PBS show, the thread has been going on all the while the show has been on including its debut. The OP started this thread just about the winner...

...Look at the whole list and you will see that Steven King and Dean Koontz both made the list for "The Stand" and "Watchers" respectively. And others like Tom Clancy and Dan Brown. And a lot of science fiction and "50 Shades of Grey!"

Here is a link to the original list of 100, now ranked by how they came out in the voting:

https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/'

As for the authors you say "never make the list" I don't understand the "never" since this was a one-time thing. They never explained who they polled, how many, how they arrived at the sample size, nothing, it was all unexplained and the list seems almost random. And in each episode they the same people mostly spoke over and over.

This was never meant, obviously, to be akin to The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of All Time and their 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time. That said IMO and others who posted all along this was handled poorly by PBS.

esmerelda · ‎03-10-2010

I googled to find the winner. It’s a book I read, but I can’t tell you much about it. I remember the important things I suppose, but it didn’t make as much of an impression on me as it seems to have made on others.

Contest like this are just popularity contests as I think someone else said. It filled some hours, maybe got people talking and more importantly maybe it got people reading.

*********************
Keepin' it real.

insomniac2 · ‎02-20-2016

I was a bit wary about this whole project, but I'm really pleased with the results.

One reason the list includes books from time past is probably that not that many people keep up-to-date with their reading.

I keep up with trends in reading, but I still prefer books that won the top spots in the PBS endeavor.

Sublime Saumya · ‎11-02-2018

I LOVE Harry Potter! The level of details and the storytelling is amazing. Currently, though I'm reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand for the second time. I was the first novel my mom introduced me to when I was 15, the same as her mother gave it to her. After this, I'm going to start reading To Kill a Mockingbird..

LoriLori · ‎03-12-2010

@esmerelda wrote:
I googled to find the winner. It’s a book I read, but I can’t tell you much about it. I remember the important things I suppose, but it didn’t make as much of an impression on me as it seems to have made on others.

Contest like this are just popularity contests as I think someone else said. It filled some hours, maybe got people talking and more importantly maybe it got people reading.

@esmerelda, you're talking about "To Kill a Mockingbird?" That was number one. That doesn't sound like the book you're describing.

And yes it was pure popularity contest and poorly executed but the one good thing was seeing people talk about their love of a certain book and/or of reading in general.

pateacher · ‎04-16-2010

I feel that a good test of a novel is its ability to stand the test of time.

The classics, like To Kill a Mockingbird, are as relevant today as they were when written. The embody universal themes and conflicts that many of today's novels imitate.

Also, there is a difference between popularity and substance.

esmerelda · ‎03-10-2010

@LoriLoriYes, I knew it was that book when I posted. Maybe I'll have to read it again to "get" how wonderful and timeless it is. Because when I read it, it was just a book I was reading.

*********************
Keepin' it real.

LoriLori · ‎03-12-2010

@esmerelda wrote:
@LoriLoriYes, I knew it was that book when I posted. Maybe I'll have to read it again to "get" how wonderful and timeless it is. Because when I read it, it was just a book I was reading.

I can see that. Someone here (who? Sorry, I can't remember) made me realize that some of my love for the book is derived from my love for the movie.

smoky22 · ‎05-30-2010

@LoriLori wrote:
@esmerelda wrote:
@LoriLoriYes, I knew it was that book when I posted. Maybe I'll have to read it again to "get" how wonderful and timeless it is. Because when I read it, it was just a book I was reading.

I can see that. Someone here (who? Sorry, I can't remember) made me realize that some of my love for the book is derived from my love for the movie.

Dear @LoriLori of course it was me! As I said previously, To Kill A Mockingbird is a very good book and was popular when it was released, but I think its continuing popularity has a lot to do with the movie, especially Gregory Peck.