Whitcoulls Top 100

[catherinehaines]

While I was out at the shops today, I wandered into Whitcoulls and spotted hand-outs for the 2010 Top 100 books (as voted by New Zealanders) list.

So I decided to get the list and see which ones I am familiar with. A key: have read, I own and have seen the film. As you can see, there is a bit of crossover. There are some here I agree with, and some I disagree with (and a few that make me go “huh”), but what are your thoughts on this list?

My main surprise is that things like The Lord of the Rings, Twilight series, Millennium Trilogy etc. are all listed as one, but Harry Potter is all separate. Harry Potter the series actually tops the kids top 50, so that makes me extra curious as to why it was split up - and what its position on the list would be if all the votes were counted as for Harry Potter as a whole.

1. The Millennium Trilogy - Stieg Larsson
2. The Twilight Saga - Stephenie Meyer 1
3. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
4. My Sister’s Keeper - Jodi Picoult
5. Cross Stitch - Diana Gabaldon
6. The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien 2
7. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
8. Life Of Pi - Yann Martel
9. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
10. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
12. The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons
13. Jamie Does… - Jamie Oliver
14. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
15. The Passage - Justin Cronin
16. 61 Hours - Lee Child
17. Genesis Plague - Michael Byrnes
18. Open: An Autobiography - Andre Agassi
19. The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
20. The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
21. Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
22. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
23. The Bible
24. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
25. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
26. The Magician - Raymond E. Feist
27. Ordinary Thunderstorms - William Boyd
28. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M. Auel
29. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
30. Little Vampire Women - Alcott , Messina
31. Brethren - John Grisham
32. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
33. Into the Wilderness - Sara Donati
34. Mao’s Last Dancer - Li Cunxin
35. No Logo - Naomi Klein
36. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
37. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
38. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
39. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
40. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
41. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
42. As the Earth Turns Silver - Alison Wong
43. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
44. Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
45. Moonfleet - Rob Lloyd Jones & Alan Marks
46. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - J. K. Rowling
47. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
48. The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
49. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
50. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards
51. Tour De Lance: The Extraordinary Story of Lance Armstrong’s Attempt to Reclaim The Tour De France - Bill Strickland
52. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling
53. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
54. 9th Judgement - Patterson , Paetro
55. River God - Wilbur Smith
56. Angela’s Ashes - Frank Mccourt
57. Jessica - Bryce Courtenay
58. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China - Jung Chang
59. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
60. Collaborator - Gerald Seymour
61. Dune - Frank Herbert
62. Recipe for Life - Nicky Pellegrino
63. The Tea Rose - Jennifer Donnelly
64. Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden
65. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
66. Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes
67. The Girl in Times Square - Paullina Simons
68. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
69. Chocolat - Joanne Harris
70. The Search - Nora Roberts
71. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
72. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
73. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones
74. World Without End - Ken Follett
75. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer
76. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
77. The Pact - Jodi Picoult
78. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling
79. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
80. The Host - Stephenie Meyer
81. I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb
82. Killing Floor - Lee Child
83. April Fool’s Day - Bryce Courtenay
84. Bridget Jones Diary - Helen Fielding
85. Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
86. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling
87. Bohemian Girl - Kenneth Cameron
88. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
89. A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friend - Emily Horner
90. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
91. Atonement - Ian McEwan
92. Flying Carpet To Baghdad: One Woman’s Fight for Two Orphans of War - Hala Jaber
93. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
94. The Stand - Stephen King
95. Tully - Paullina Simons
96. This Charming Man - Marian Keyes
97. We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
98. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
99. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind
100. House Rules - Jodi Picoult

1. I have read the first three books and part of the fourth, and seen the first two movies. Because I didn’t complete it, I didn’t mark it as read/seen [ ↩]
2. I’ve read the first one. [ ↩]