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The Great American Read |
Have you been following the Great American Read on PBS? Were you surprised by the list? Were any of your favorite books on the list of 100 books?
According to PBS: The chosen books span five centuries, from Don Quixote (1603) to Ghost (2016). Authors from 15 different countries are represented, with genres ranging from beloved children’s classics such as Charlotte’s Web to modern best-sellers such as Twilight.
Below is the full list of America’s 100 favorite novels, in alphabetical order by title:
1984 | Hatchet |
A Confederacy of Dunces | Heart of Darkness |
A Game of Thrones | The Help |
A Prayer for Owen Meany | The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy |
A Separate Peace | The Hunger Games |
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | The Hunt for Red October |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | The Intuitionist |
The Alchemist | Invisible Man |
Alex Cross Mysteries** | Jane Eyre |
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | The Joy Luck Club |
Americanah | Jurassic Park |
And Then There Were None | Left Behind |
Anne of Green Gables | The Little Prince |
Another Country | Little Women |
Atlas Shrugged | Lonesome Dove |
Beloved | Looking for Alaska |
Bless Me, Ultima | The Lord of the Rings** |
The Book Thief | The Lovely Bones |
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | The Martian |
The Call of the Wild | Memoirs of a Geisha |
Catch-22 | Mind Invaders |
The Catcher in the Rye | Moby Dick |
Charlotte’s Web | The Notebook |
The Chronicles of Narnia** | One Hundred Years of Solitude |
The Clan of the Cave Bear | Outlander |
The Coldest Winter Ever | The Outsiders |
The Color Purple | The Picture of Dorian Gray |
The Count of Monte Cristo | The Pilgrim’s Progress |
Crime and Punishment | The Pillars of the Earth |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Pride and Prejudice |
The Da Vinci Code | Ready Player One |
Don Quixote | Rebecca |
Doña Barbara | The Shack |
Dune | Siddhartha |
50 Shades of Gey | The Sirens of Titan |
Flowers in the Attic | The Stand |
Foundation | The Sun Also Rises |
Frankenstein | Swan Song |
Ghost | Tales of the City |
Gilead | Their Eyes Were Watching God |
The Giver | Things Fall Apart |
The Godfather | This Present Darkness |
Gone Girl | To Kill a Mockingbird |
Gone with the Wind | Twlight |
The Grapes of Wrath | War and Peace |
Great Expectations | Watchers |
The Great Gatsby | The Wheel of Time** |
Gulliver’s Travels | Where the Red Fern Grows |
The Handmaid’s Tale | White Teeth |
Harry Potter** |
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I thought I would see classics like Little Women, The Grapes of Wrath, Great Expectations, and The Sun Also Rises but I will be honest I was totally surprised to see Flowers in the Attic (which I read in the 80’s when I was in high school), and Fifty Shades of Grey(which I have not read). But then I realized that the list is about peoples most beloved book of all time so naturally it would include books that have been incredibly popular over the last 20 years like Twlight and Harry Potter, The Shack and Left Behind.
You can take the quiz here to see how many of the books your have read and you can print the list here. If you would like to be a part of the The Great American read you can vote once a day, every day until October 18th to help pick the most popular book in America.
I hope that you discover an old favorite on the list or something new but more importantly I hope just hope that The Great American Read encourages your to read more!
Have a great day!
Note: Many of these books are available on the Kindle Unlimited Subscription and many of the classics are free if you have the Kindle app.

I'm surprised The Killer Angels isn't on there.
How interesting Elizabeth…there are some classic reads of when I was young that are not on the list….I am going to send this to my daughter and my son who are avid readers and get their thoughts….I remember talking about Flowers in the Attic when my daughter was in high school….loved that you shared this!
Those sunflower cupcakes!!!! Adorable!