Earlier this year I posted the Top 101 reads of 2010 as collated by Dymocks, one of our bookstore chains. Now, we have the Top 100 from Angus and Robertson as voted by over 100000 readers! The books I have read are itallicised, and the ones I own but haven't read yet are bolded.
1 The Twilight Saga Stephenie Meyer
2 Harry Potter 1-7 J.K. Rowling (I've read most of them anyway)
3 The Millennium Trilogy Stieg Larsson
4 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
5 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
6 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
7 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult
8 Sookie Stackhouse Charlaine Harris
9 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
10 The Book Thief Markus Zusak
11 Lunch in Paris Elizabeth Bard (Never even heard of this one before)
12 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
13 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
14 61 Hours Lee Child
15 Dragon Haven Robin Hobb
16 Vampire Academy Richelle Mead
17 The Silent Sea Clive Cussler
18 Mao's Last Dancer Li Cunxin
19 The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien
20 Tuscan Rose Belinda Alexandra
21 The Power of One Bryce Courtenay
22 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks
23 The Pacific Hugh Ambrose
24 Ransom David Malouf
25 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
26 Dear John Nicholas Sparks
27 Magician Raymond E. Feist
28 The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
29 House Rules Jodi Picoult
30 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
31 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
32 Marley & Me John Grogan
33 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls Jane Austen & Steve Hockensmith
34 Breath Tim Winton
35 The Bronze Horseman Paullina Simons
36 Cloudstreet Tim Winton
37 The People's Train Thomas Keneally
38 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
39 Truth Peter Temple
40 Little Women Louisa May Alcott
41 Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert
42 The Host Stephenie Meyer
43 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
44 The Book of Emmett Deborah Forster
45 Ice Station Matthew Reilly
46 The Road Cormac Macarthy
47 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards
48 Persuasion Jane Austen
49 Jessica Bryce Courtenay
50 Atonement Ian McEwan
51 Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom
52 The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
53 The Alchemist Paulo Coehlo
54 April Fool's Day Bryce Courtenay
55 Life of Pi Yann Martel
56 Angels & Demons Dan Brown
57 The Pact Jodi Picoult
58 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom
59 Parrot and Olivier in America Peter Carey
60 Always Looking Up Michael J. Fox
61 Seven Ancient Wonders Matthew Reilly
62 The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien
63 Nineteen Minutes Jodi Picoult
64 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Burrows
65 The Lost Symbol Dan Brown
66 Solar Ian McEwan
67 Fallen Lauren Kate
68 The Historian Elizabeth Kostova
69 P.S. I Love You Cecila Ahern
70 The Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
71 Obernewtyn Isobelle Carmody
72 A Fortunate Life A.B. Facey
73 Handle with Care Jodi Picoult
74 Cross Stitch Diana Gabaldon
75 Dirt Music Tim Winton
76 It Stephen King
77 Hourglass Claudia Gray
78 Tully Paullina Simons
79 The Mists of Avalon Marion Zimmer Bradley
80 Shantaram: A Novel Gregory David Roberts
81 The Princess Bride William Goldman
82 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
83 Requiem for a Species Clive Hamilton
84 The Other Boleyn Girl Philippa Gregory
85 Break No Bones Kathy Reichs
86 Animal Farm George Orwell
87 The Six Sacred Stones Matthew Reilly
88 The Five Greatest Warriors Matthew Reilly
89 Maralinga Judy Nunn
90 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk
91 One for the Money Janet Evanovich
92 Worst Case James Patterson
93 Once in a Lifetime Cathy Kelly
94 The Stand Stephen King
95 Anybody Out There Marian Keyes
96 The Secret Rhonda Byrne
97 Temple Matthew Reilly
98 All That Remains Patricia Cornwall
99 The Slap Christos Tsolkias
100 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice
So out of that 100 I have read 31. There were two entries in this list that surprised me quite a bit. The Tuscan Rose by Belinda Alexandra was one, mainly because it has only been out a couple of months. I have enjoyed the other books by her, and bought The Tuscan Rose the first day I saw it in the shops, but haven't actually read it yet. When I went through the list again there were quite a few other really new books as well. I guess the true judgment of their place on the list will be if they continue to make it into the list in future years.
The other was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls Jane Austen & Steve Hockensmith mainly because I have an aversion to the profusion of classic mashups that are out at the moment. I won't be reading any of them any time soon, especially if I haven't read the original yet.
I thought it might be interesting to compare the top 10. Here was the top 10 from the Dymocks list:
1 The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
2 The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
3 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
5 The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
6 The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
7 To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
8 The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson
9 My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
10 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
They proved to be very similar with the exception of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Lovely Bones.
And just in case you would prefer to look at a visual presentation instead of reading the list, here is a Youtube video of the Top 100. The fact that it is freeze framed at Paullina Simon's excellent novel The Bronze Horseman is purely coincidental!
It's not really a best list, is it? It's a "what's popular" list, which is a very different thing. And obviously, I don't read what's popular, as I've read very little on that list (but I live happily in my genre ghetto). Mostly the Jane Austen.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
I haven't read it yet but Dawn of the Dreadfuls isn't a true mashup. It's a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and therefore Pride and Prejudice, so there's no original material to mash.
ReplyDeleteI always find the inclusion of really new material on these lists interesting. It means that in six months if you asked the same people you'd probably have a different list.
i've read 23 of them... hmm...
ReplyDeleteCan't believe Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is on that list! Just wrong...
Wow, you are organized with your italics and bolding! I've read 20 from that list. Of the ones you've bolded, I've read Life of Pi and the first 1 1/2 books of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I thought Life of Pi was great, and I hope you enjoy it if / when you read it.
ReplyDeleteThe cool thing about this list is that is voted for by the public. There is no interference with it from the publishers, or Angus & Robertson. And I can say this, because I'm one of the people that worked on this promotion!
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, it is a list of popular titles - but it's not meant to be a list of anything else.
And, yes, if you asked the same people in 6 months what their favourites are it might potentially be a different list.
There are problems with the list, we're all aware of that. But then, it is a list of popular books, and not everyone likes what is popular! I've only read 25 on the list so far...
How amazing is The Bronze Horseman!!
ReplyDeleteBecky, AMAZING! Have you read all three books in the trilogy? If you have a look for posts about Paullina you will see that I am something of a fan girl.
ReplyDeleteRooeymaree, my comments weren't really meant as a criticism, just that it was more comment worthy because a lot of those books haven't been on the previous lists.
Charley, I swear I bought Life of Pi about 6 or 7 years ago because I had to read it. Still haven't even read the first page.
Anothercookiecrumbles, I think that is the one that I struggle with the most. I like to think that I am not a book snob, but that is one category of books that I really have no inclination to try.
Sassymonkey, I guess I still wouldn't read it because it would borrow from the original material at least partly!
Kerry, you are right. It is a what's popular list more than anything else.