Book Club

[Sooner]

Odd that it is so many young adult type books and books you read in school.   TOP 40 BOOKS (LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, NOT BY VOTE RANKING)

1984
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
And Then There Were None
Anne of Green Gables
Atlas Shrugged
The Book Thief
The Catcher in the Rye
Charlotte's Web
The Chronicles of Narnia (Series)
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Color Purple
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Da Vinci Code
Dune
Gone with the Wind
The Grapes of Wrath
Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
The Handmaid's Tale
Harry Potter (Series)
The Help
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hunger Games (Series)
Jane Eyre
The Little Prince
Little Women
Lonesome Dove
The Lord of the Rings (Series)
Outlander (Series)
The Outsiders
The Pillars of the Earth
Pride and Prejudice
Rebecca
The Stand
To Kill a Mockingbird
Where the Red Fern Grows
Wuthering Heights

The Great American Read returns to PBS starting on Tuesday, September 11, 2018, with 7 new episodes airing weekly on Tuesday nights at 8/7c.  The winner will be revealed in the final episode on Tuesday, October 23, 2018.

[Alison Wonderland]

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@Sooner wrote:

Odd that it is so many young adult type books and books you read in school.   TOP 40 BOOKS (LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, NOT BY VOTE RANKING)

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Not at all weird to me. Books that are required reading in school are chosen as required books for a reason and then read by many people for many years, versus a flash-in-the-pan best seller. Those books have wide circulation and exposure for decades.

And Young Adult books today are read by people of all ages, but the target audience is made up of impressionable people trying to figure out their own life ideas and philosophies, so those books stick with people and are then passed down to their children. That kind of thing doesn't happen with books like Gone Girl.

[smoky22]

I was confused by your post because there were 100 books on this PBS list originally.  But I just received the email that said 2 million votes had now been cast and these were the top 40.

Happily, the 5 books I vote for (almost) every day are still on this list.   

[teganslaw]

The Stand is one of my favorite Stephen King books. It belongs in the top 40. I also like The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck is a master storyteller. 

I'll mention once again that Dan Simmons Hyperion series should have been on the 100 books list, although I  don't think it is. That series is a masterpiece of science fiction, IMO. 

Right now I'm halfway through Wuthering Heights. Interesting , but strange book. 

[Ilovetea]

The Hunger Games is really on that list?

[teganslaw]

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@Ilovetea wrote:

The Hunger Games is really on that list

The Hunger Games is given good reviews on Goodreads and was a popular book. Maybe that's why it's on the list. I didn't care for it, so I wasn't interested in the rest of the series or the movies. 

BTW, has anyone here read Atlas Shrugged? That's a controversial book, and I haven't read it or know of anyone else who has. The subject doesn't seem that interesting to me, although it's considerd a classic. 

[LoriLori]

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@teganslaw wrote:

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...BTW, has anyone here read Atlas Shrugged? That's a controversial book, and I haven't read it or know of anyone else who has. The subject doesn't seem that interesting to me, although it's considerd a classic. 

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Yes, I have.  Had to, for a class.   At one point Ayn Rand had lots of followers of her philosophy she called "objectivism" and "Atlas Shrugged" was very popular.  There are still streets and other things named after its protaganist, John Galt.  (I just checked.  One near where I lived has been renamed.)

Ayn Rand's objectivism is the belief that self-interest is the only thing that is good for our economy and the only thing that matters in our country is the economy.  Self-interest is the only way to go.  Altruism, any kind of help to others, is weak and bad for our society. 

 I remember it as dull and boring.  If I were you I'd skip it.  Or at least read a preview on Amazon before getting it.  I thought objectivism was obselete -- yet there's the book in top 40.  I'm surprised!

ETA:  Actually I just realized there are people in high places who behave exactly like they are objectivists.  But that has to be a coincidence because they're neither well read nor familiar with philosophy.

[LoriLori]

Everyone has a book or books that they think doesn't belong on the list.  It's only natural.

For me it's "Clan of the Cave Bear."  I found it both boring and ridiculous.  But it's gotten top 40 love so lots of people love it, just not me.

[smoky22]

@LoriLori  as I've said many, many times, you do the best reviews.  I agree with you on Atlas Shrugged.  And I think sometimes people only say they love this book because it gives them an excuse to be greedy and opportunistic.

[insomniac2]

I read Atlas Shrugged many years ago and LOVED it.

I plan on re-reading it: I was enthralled!