All About Books discussion

In April 2003, the BBC asked the British public to nominate their best loved book. From over 7000 nominations, a list of the Top 100 Books was produced - the books were listed by popularity from 22 to 100, with the Top 21 featuring in a further round of voting to determine the best-loved book of all.
The list created some controversy: several authors have more than one book in the list - Charles Dickens and Terry Pratchett have 5 books each whilst Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling and Jacqueline Wilson have 4 books each - which some argued should not have been allowed and people still say they cannot believe that a particular book is not on the list - mine is Brighton Rock by Graham Greene - indeed, there is nothing by either Greene or Hemingway in the Top 100.
Nevertheless, the production of such a list inspired me to attempt to read all 100 books - and over 15 years on, I still have 23 to read!
So my Challenge to myself for 2019 is to read AT LEAST TWELVE of my 23 outstanding Big Read books, which are:-
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - FINISHED Oct. 2019 - 4* (8/10)
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot - FINISHED Jan.2019 - 3* (6.5/10)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - FINISHED June 2019 - 3* (7/10)
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett -
FINISHED October 2019 - 5* (9.5/10)
The Magus by John Fowles
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - FINISHED April 2019 - 4*(8.5/10)
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller - FINISHED Feb.2019 - 4*(8/10)
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - FINISHED June 2019 - 5* (10/10)
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett - FINISHED May 2019 - 3* (7/10)
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett - FINISHED August 2019 - 3* (7/10)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - FINISHED April 2019 - 4*(8.5/10)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - FINISHED May 2019 - 5*(9.5/10)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - FINISHED June 2019 - 5*(9.5/10)
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder by Evelyn Waugh

Running total completed:- 12/23

The list of the Top 100 books from the BBC Big Read can be found here:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/to...

Just finished my first in this Challenge - nice easy YA romance read for starters:
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

I used to love reading that series.

A nice list! Good luck with your challenge.

Finished my second of this Challenge to myself:-
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Currently reading ( in segments):-
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Finished my third of this personal challenge:-

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons


Enjoyed this far more than I thought I would before starting!
My review is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished my fourth and fifth of this Challenge whilst on holiday in Dartmouth -

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling - 4*
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - 5*

Finished my sixth and seventh of this Challenge since the last update:-
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett - 3*
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - 3*

My review for the Dumas is here:-
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Another two completed during June and both excellent reads, books eight and nine in my personal Challenge:-

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - 5*
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - 5*

Not updated this for a while but well on course for exceeding my target, these being books 10 and 11 of my Challenge:-

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett - 3* (7/10) - finished in August 2019;
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - 4* (8/10) - finished in October 2019.

Finished my 12th of this personal Challenge with the excellent The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
- 1079 pages of historical drama populated with great characters - 5* (9.5/10).

And still over two months to go to make a serious dent in the remaining 11 I still have to read!