Comments | bookish: Librarian's To-read list.

maware in bookish

Librarian's To-read list.

Jan 21, 2007 21:33

I'm sure you've probably seen this before, since the article is about a year old, but just in case: The Guardian reported on a list of books to read before you die as compiled by English librarians. I thought some of the choices were quite interesting.

( List under the cut, including those that I've read bolded. )

Comments 12

maiden_twilight January 21 2007, 22:23:22 UTC

Most of the ones on there that I've read were excellent, and I've heard good things abot a lot of the ones I haven't read. I'd say they should have included The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

moonmarket January 21 2007, 23:03:42 UTC

Winnie the Pooh? Honestly?

wyyknot January 22 2007, 05:25:11 UTC

Please don't think Winnie the Pooh cartoons, or even Little Golden Book versions of Pooh Bear. Milne's books appeal to children because of the characters, certainly, but the attitudes expressed by those characters are adult oriented. Great reading there. And don't miss Milne's poetry, either.

elzplz January 21 2007, 23:07:58 UTC

first of all, you MUST read to kill a mockingbird ASAP! and great expectations! ♥

as for which books should be omitted from that list... argghh, the lovely bones!?! give me a break! that book is so overrated! i've made comments regarding that before though so i'll shut up about it now ;)

also... why isn't catcher in the rye on the list??? :(

nobutterflies January 21 2007, 23:45:46 UTC

I've read almost all of these. I guess I'm all set! [/sarcasm]

I'm glad that Harry Potter is NOT on this list; if any of those books had made it, I think I'd lose all respect for English librarians.

Of the ones I've read, I'd boot Tolkein and Kingsolver. I haven't read Haddon, but from what I know of it, I can't believe it's there. Same goes for Sebold.

I'd add Jude the Obscure and some more...international classics. It's a mostly English-language list.

_starkiss January 22 2007, 01:19:44 UTC

This list seems fairly predictable to me. I hated Tess of the etc, and I'm not fond of the Brontes either, though I expect I'm alone on that. It's nice to see some kids' books making the cut.

But speaking of kid lit, where's Peter Pan? That's my favourite book of all time. Seriously. So much better than The Wind in the Willows.

And Tolstoy? Or is that too obvious? But still. I'm not going to claim a novel changed my life, but Anna Karenina came pretty close.

Oh, and hey - no Shakespeare! I just noticed that. Weird.