Waterstones top 100
How many have you read? Honestly now - you must have read the whole thing. I've read 51 and failed to finish a further 5. To be honest, I have no urge to read the ones I haven't read.

1. The Lord of the Rings , J. R. R. Tolkien
2. 1984 , George Orwell
3. Animal Farm , George Orwell
4. Ulysses, James Joyce
5. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
6. The Catcher in the Rye , J.D. Salinger
7. To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee
8. One Hundred Years of Solitude , Gabriel Garcia Marquez
9. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
10. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
11. Wild Swans, Jung Chang
12. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
13. The Lord of the Flies, William Golding
14. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
15. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne
18. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
19. The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien
20. The Outsider, Albert Camus
21. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
22. The Trial, Franz Kafka
23. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
24 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
25. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
26. The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
27. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
28. Sons and Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
29.To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
30. If This is a Man, Primo Levi
31. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
32. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
33. A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, Marcel Proust
34. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
35. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
36. Beloved, Toni Morrison
37. Possession, A. S. Byatt
38. The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
39.A Passage to India, E. M. Forster
40. Watership Down, Richard Adams
41. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
42. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
43. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
45. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
46. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
47. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
48. Howard's End, E. M. Forster
49. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
50. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
51. Dune, - Frank Herbert
52. A Prayer for Owen Meany, - John Irvine
53. Perfume, - Patrick Süskind
54. Doctor Zhivago, - Boris Pasternak
55. Gormenghast, - Mervyn Peake
56. Cider with Rosie, - Laurie Lee
57. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
58. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
59. Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain
60.The Magus, John Fowles
61. Brighton Rock, Graham Greene
62. The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists - Robert Tressell
63. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
64. Tales from the City, Armistead Maupin
65. The French Lieutenant's Woman, John Fowles
66. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernières
67. Slaughterhouse 5, Kurt Vonnegut
68. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
69. A Room with a View, E. M. Forster
70. Lucky Jim, - Kingsley Amis
71. It , Stephen King
72. The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
73. The Stand, Stephen King
74. All Quiet on the Western Front, - Erich Maria Remarque
75. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Roddy Doyle
76. Matilda, Roald Dahl
77. American Psycho, Brett Easton Ellis
78. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
79. A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking
80. James and the Giant Peach , Roald Dahl
81. Lady Chatterley's Lover, D. H. Lawrence
82. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe
83. Complete Cookery Course, Delia Smith
84. An Evil Cradling, Brian Keenan
85. The Rainbow, D. H. Lawrence
86. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell
87. 2001 - A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke
88. The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass
89.One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
90. A Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
91. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
92. Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
93. The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell
94. Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
95. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
96. The Van, Roddy Doyle
97. The BFG, Roald Dahl
98. Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess
99. I, Claudius, Robert Graves
100. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
(frankspencer, Mon 19 May 2008, 14:52, 46 replies)

about 90 of 'em
and half of those were complete dross. Winnie the fucking Pooh, wha'?

Edit: my mum works in a library. My childhood was book-rich but friends-free.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 14:54, closed)

8
but I'm only 17.
(King Baby Duck more than a ceiling, Mon 19 May 2008, 14:55, closed)

36
Including Ulysses, twice.
Literary masochism that is.
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Mon 19 May 2008, 14:57, closed)

I fucking hate To Kill a Mockingbird
my total is a mere 19, but to be honest most of them would probably bore me to tears

I have however read the cream of fantasy and sci-fi stuff, in addition to some weird ones like the stuff by Anton LaVey...
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 19 May 2008, 14:59, closed)

22
Some of them on there really don't interest me.

I mean... "Complete Cookery Course, Delia Smith"

No thanks, can't see it being a gripping page-turner.
( Cawl, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:01, closed)

39
Unashamedly populist these days. Or Comics (graphic novels to the apologists).
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Mon 19 May 2008, 15:03, closed)

By what standard are these judged?
I've got 47 - 54 if you count all the volumes of A la Recherche as separate novels. But I see no shame in never having read, say, a Nick Hornby book, and I have no need of Delia.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:04, closed)

20
Had Paddy Clarke ha ha ha and Lord of the flies inflicted on me at school. Just awful.

Can anyone tell me if the 2001 - a space odyssey book is any better than the utter tosh that is the film?
(The Ginger Penguin la la la la la la, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:05, closed)

2001 is an amazing film
ahead of it's time, and stupendously weird.

I've not read it, but apparently the book is incredible
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:11, closed)

17
I make no excuses.
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:14, closed)

Hmmm, 25
I always thought I was pretty well read. In fact, fuck it, I know I'm pretty well read, I think this list is a bit crap. Why isn't Three men and a boat on this list? where is Anna Kerinina? Where is Alice in Wonderland?
(Bazongaloid, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:17, closed)

I think I've
maybe read about 5 to ten of them and seen the films of about five more if that counts. I prefer my sci-fi/fantasy stuff. Stuff that takes me out of this world with out the need for dubious substances.
(Teran Thinks Pogonophobia is funny, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:20, closed)

61
but any list that has Delia Smith on plus multiple entries for Roald Dahl and Roddy Doyle on is frankly pants.

And "A Clockwork Orange" is far from Burgess's best work. Ditto Wasp Factory and Iain (M) Banks, ditto Brideshead Revisited and Evelyn Waugh.

And no "Money" by Martin Amis ?
( I_Was_Mordred, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:32, closed)

9
wasn't going to admit it but what the fuck? So I'm an ignoramous? At least I'm an honest one!
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Mon 19 May 2008, 15:35, closed)

@Mordred
Yeah, I would have put Money right up there.
The Moor's Last Sigh is far better than Midnight's Children.
I prefer Pale Fire to Lolita
No Crime and Punishment, no Nights at the Circus, no Portnoy's Complaint, no His Dark Materials. I realise of course that I'm just having a whinge and some of my own faves not being there.
On the plus side, no Harry Potter.
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:38, closed)

16....
And I like books more than a politician likes bribes.


And I am also going to bet that most of the ones I have not read (judging by what I know, which isn't much) are a load of pretentions arse anyway, there are one or two I want to get around to reading, but the rest I am not overly hooped about.
(BeardyWierdy, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:40, closed)

8
9 if you count Dune which I own on DVD.
( WHTRZ Corp dosen't like the sound of Rupert watching porn, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:41, closed)

Only 10
But there again, I read books because I think they might be of interest to me, not because I think I should read them.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:43, closed)

37
Several of which were crap. I think I'll skip the romance ones on the list.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Mon 19 May 2008, 15:50, closed)

Take list with a large pinch of water..'n stones
Don't forget, this *is* Waterstones. The "bookshop" (bastards) that swallowed Ottakars. Half my time in there is avoiding the bloody "Richard and Judy's Book Club" stickers. Most of the other half is climbing past the heaps of celebrity tripe.
As for the psycho-Delia book - well, they must have plenty left to shift!
I'd like to see a similar list compiled by the independent booksellers.
(holds right fist up Citizen Smith-stylee)
EDIT: I count 12 - I don't know whether that's bad or not - I'm not telling which ones!
(Naughtius Maximus Stuck on the blog, desperate to log out., Mon 19 May 2008, 15:53, closed)

can I just say
that I think I can say with some certainty that 'I've got the film on DVD' does not count.

For crying out loud...
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Mon 19 May 2008, 15:53, closed)

19
oh well
(Halfy By light alone, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:21, closed)

I also have only read 19
but why make yourself feel inadequate just because you haven't read that many? I know my own tastes, and I know many of those books are not to my tastes.

I also know that many of these books are read by pretentious tossers who read them for the sole purpose of being able to say that they read them.

(I'm cheating slightly - I only read two-thirds of Brief History of Time, but I think that's a lot further than most people!)
(MrC. Having the most boring username on b3ta since 2004, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:24, closed)

52 and working on a couple of others
Good prompt though, those I'd recommend that I've not already mentioned:
Tin Drum
Earthly Powers
Wild Swans
A Suitable Boy
All Quiet on the Western Front
Bonfire of the Vanities
Midnight's Children
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:42, closed)

None
I dont like to conform to stereotypical reading habits.
( KISS.ME.WHERE.I.POO Signed the sex offenders register on, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:43, closed)

Only 26
Oh dear, but then I do feel like many of the posts before me this is not at all a definitive '100 books to read before you die' list.

And Sophie's World? I found it patronising, poorly written and patchily explained when I was 13 - what's it doing on this list?!
( Hampster Squared has stuff at www.tilla.co.uk, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:51, closed)

42
but that's because i've read all the books for kids on there. of the ones i haven't read, my father has recommended most of them to me at one time or another. sad really.
( ascorbate, Mon 19 May 2008, 16:56, closed)

Have to admit
that quite a few were as a result of reading them to my daughter when she was ickle. But that was how I discovered that 'Winnie the Pooh' was brilliant - I was in floods of tears at the end when Christopher Robin was going off to school and Pooh promised to think of him occasionally when he wasn't there.

Agree with others above that some entries have no place in a top 100 and Nick Hornby and Delia are two of them.

Is there any relevance to the order? As 'LOTR' as No.1 seems bizarre to me and I don't think Orwell would want 'Animal Farm' in the top 10.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:09, closed)

It should be said, however
that there's a lot of crap associated with the benefits of reading. So many people crow about how they read all the time and about how many 'great' books they've read. Reading a book is no more likely to make you intelligent than looking at a da Vinci painting or listening to Beethoven. But that doesn't stop people droning on and name-dropping. Literature students are worst. And anyone who says things like: "As Umberto Eco says...." Quoting others means you haven't got your own ideas.
(frankspencer, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:21, closed)

^ this top 100
is voted for my Waterstone's customers, right? Well, I presume so given that many of the books aren't that interesting a read (I still don't get Winnie the Pooh - it makes me want to cull bears and piglets and small boys, etc.).

So, I guess it's books that are popular because we've all been exposed to them and they've been pushed at us, so we read 'em and vote for 'em - self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. I've read most of them not because I'm ticking them off a list but because Waterstone's customers are probably a similar demographic to me and I've had access to the lot of them. And more. (Thanks, librarian mum.) And quite frankly I'd read anything if I was desperate, and I frequently am. My Mastermind subject is going to be "The back of breakfast cereal packets, 1980-1994".

Hell, I read pulpy American trashy crime by the lorryload so don't listen to me.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 17:29, closed)

Hmm.
1, 3, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 30, 31, 34, 35, 40, 56, 66, 76, 80, 87, 95 and 97. Not bad. I also started Dune but couldn't get into it and I want to read 81 sometime soon.
( Maladicta, Mon 19 May 2008, 18:17, closed)

Around 30 of them
Most of them though are either set texts at schools or else hugely popular books. Nothing wrong with that though, but I don't think anyone should beat themselves up about not having read them all.

Mind you this comes from someone with similar reading tastes to CHCB - I too love trashy American crime novels, especially if they feature female detectives who fall into bed with any passing man.
Yes, I have read every single Sue Grafton novel all the way from A for Alibi right up to S is for Silence - not T is for Trespass yet - I'm waiting for the paperback.
Although I have to say that Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books are far, far better and if they ever make a film or tv series and decide they want to cast Stephanie Plum as a 30something woman from the UK then I'm up for the job!
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Mon 19 May 2008, 18:34, closed)

22
Not too bad; there's still a lot I need to read, though.
(Le Misanthrope last procrastinated on, Mon 19 May 2008, 18:36, closed)

@chickenlady
YOU ARE ME! Please may I have some of my DNA back? I love Sue Grafton - finely written, riveting books. One of the few crime authors I re-read again and again. Evanovich also kicks ass. Have you read any Elizabeth Peters (the Amelia Peabody series)? What about the Agatha Raisin books? Oh, and Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski books.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 19 May 2008, 18:54, closed)

@ CHCB
Great! I've not read any of those suggestions...and I'll be in town tomorrow...I can see my Waterstones habit will be exercised.

Have you read any Sparkle Hayter? Really, really trashy, but worth it for the sex and the fantastic name!
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Mon 19 May 2008, 19:05, closed)

15
It would be 14 but they made us read 'Of Mice and Men' when I was back doing English Lit GCSE
(KangerooFlapjack, Mon 19 May 2008, 19:58, closed)

13
And I call myself a literature student.

Oh the shame.
(Dok Zombie Cash, gash, pie and mash., Mon 19 May 2008, 20:08, closed)

yep
Anthony Burgess - fantastic. Earthly Powers is a masterpiece as is End of the World News
( Adolf Jitler is editor of Practical Shoelace Collector, Mon 19 May 2008, 20:09, closed)

25
And counting
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Mon 19 May 2008, 20:24, closed)

Blimey
I haven't even heard of half of those! I'll count which ones I have actually read while less drunk.
(Potty Jag har smör i min rumpspringa, Mon 19 May 2008, 20:36, closed)

oh dear
I count 61 for me, does this make me bad ?
( hedge_diver, Mon 19 May 2008, 20:52, closed)

41 and a half
I'm working on reading another 5 in the near future.

However, I can't believe there are 3 Roald Dahl book in there: they are entertaining, but surely having only one in the list would do?
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Tue 20 May 2008, 12:31, closed)

25-30...
because i am now aged and can't actually remember if i read some of those or not ... have actually started another half dozen but not finished them ... some for reasons of laziness (Remembrance of Things Past, Ulysses), others because they were overhyped 'canon of Eng lit' tedium (Remains of the Day) ... and like many other replies in this thread i think the choice of material is a bit weird (Tolstoy? Jane Austen? where's Homage to Catalonia? The Quiet American? Scoop? anything by Jared Diamond? etc) ...
( writerblock ... embedding disabled by request on, Tue 20 May 2008, 12:36, closed)

20
something (lost count... bleedin' boss keeps asking questions).

Don't really have any desire to read many of those I haven't yet read though.

I've never really been overly concerned about reading books that are considered 'must read before you die' titles... I could get run over by a bus tomorrow and I can't read that quickly.
( Moey, Tue 20 May 2008, 12:42, closed)

15..
That's surely got to be top 100 sellers, rather than top 100 books.

I mean - the Hobbit, Jurassic Park, BFG, Gormenghast - what are they on? None of them are particularly bad books, but they're not deserving of top 100 status.
(syllopsium, Tue 20 May 2008, 13:10, closed)

Only 7
but I now have a new project/reading list. thanks frank!
(Zutroy started without you, Wed 21 May 2008, 12:53, closed)