In 2003 the BBC’s Big Read compiled a list of the 100 most beloved novels of all time. The full list is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

I wanted to go through and see which ones I’ve read, would like to read, and am guilty of not finishing but would like to finish (i.e. books from high school and college English courses that I procrastinated on and never finished).  So, here we go…strikethrough will be “finished,” italicized will be “unfinished,” and bold will be “would like to read.”  For the sake of brevity (and I may be using that term loosely), I won’t include the list in its entirety.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (I fully intend to finish this and all the other Jane Austen books I half-read.)
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling (my guess is this would say Deathly Hallows if it was an updated list.)
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (Twice—TWICE I’ve been assigned this book, and I really like it, and yet I have NEVER read it all the way through. WHAT??)
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck (I only want to read this so I’ll stop getting that shocked reaction anytime people realize I never had to read it in high school.)
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (Apparently I missed out as a child—I haven’t read most of the children’s books on this list.)
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett (I started it on a camping trip when I was a kid, but I don’t think I ever finished it…)
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl (I’m positive that I started it when I was 8 or 9, but not sure I ever finished it.)
78. Ulysses, James Joyce (I read MOST of this beast and am really tempted to just strike it out, but I guess I’m too honest for my own good. And this is the exception to the “would like to finish” category. I’m fine having not finished it. Here endeth my Ulysses rant.)
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo (This may also be an exception to the “want to finish” category. I haven’t read enough to decide whether I want to or not.)
 

End count:

Read: 15

Unfinished: 11

——-Unfinished and unwilling to finish: 1 (2?)

Want to read: 14

In related news I just finished Stardust by Neil Gaiman and am now starting on a collection of his short stories called “Fragile Things” thanks to my renewed library card.  I also still have a couple of Agatha Christie novels and the entire Sherlock Holmes collection patiently waiting for me on my bookshelf, so I’m pretty well set up as far as fiction reading goes.  Anybody have any suggestions or think I missed a book on the top 100 list that bears reading?