In April 2003 the BBC’s Big Read began the search for the nation’s best loved novel, and the public was asked to nominate their favourite book. Below is the BBC Big Read 100 Books.
Around a decade later, shortly after graduating from university with a degree in English Literature and Language, I set myself the challenge to read the BBC Big Read Top 100 Books before my thirtieth birthday. I finished the final book with just an hour to spare on the eve of my third decade, You can read about what it felt like to read the BBC Big Read list in its entirety here.
The BBC Big Read Top 100
The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien- Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
- His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
- Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
- Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
Catch-22, Joseph Heller- Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
- Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
- Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
- The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
- The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens- Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy- Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
- Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
- Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
- Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
- The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas HardyMiddlemarch, George Eliot- A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
- The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
- Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
- The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
- One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
- The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens- Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson- A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
Persuasion, Jane AustenDune, Frank Herbert- Emma, Jane Austen
- Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
Watership Down, Richard Adams- The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas- Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
- Animal Farm, George Orwell
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy- Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
- The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
- The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
The Stand, Stephen KingAnna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy- A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
- The BFG, Roald Dahl
- Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
- Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
- Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky- Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
- Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
- A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
- The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
Mort, Terry Pratchett- The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
The Magus, John FowlesGood Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil GaimanGuards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett- Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
Perfume, Patrick SüskindThe Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert TressellNight Watch, Terry PratchettMatilda, Roald Dahl- Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
- The Secret History, Donna Tartt
- The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
Ulysses, James JoyceBleak House, Charles Dickens- Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
The Twits, Roald Dahl- I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
- Holes, Louis Sachar
Gormenghast, Mervyn PeakeThe God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy- Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley- Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
Magician, Raymond E Feist- On The Road, Jack Kerouac
- The Godfather, Mario Puzo
The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M AuelThe Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Katherine, Anya Seton- Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
- Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
- Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
- The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie
I’m sorry, you can’t have Colin. He’s mine. MINE MINE MINE! ps. I made my parents drive me way the heck out to Jamaica Inn when I was 12 and we were in the UK. I tlaltoy get the Rebecca thing! Her books were scary awesome.
I was so impressed by Max’s Roald Dahl knlegwdoe today. We happened to by talking about him in Y6 today while Max was visiting and he remembered his Birthday exactly! We were all impressed!
I’m doing the Big Read challenge too. I’m doing all 200 though and have about a dozen left to read. Isn’t it a great way to find new authors and genres to read?
Wow, that’s absolutely incredible – what an achievement! Which have been your favourites? xox
Wow, there’s a lot of books in that list that I haven’t read, about 38. (I read a lot, and have a thing with making my way through lists of books, too.) Good luck with Ulysses – it was a struggle to get through and not a book I intend to re-read!
Ulysses is the one I’m dreading the most! Had hoped to have finished them all by my birthday in February but very much doubt it will happen at this rate – though am definitely on the home stretch! What’s your favourite book? Always love getting book recommendations x