Book Meme

First, I was tagged to do this by the frequently-brilliant, lesser-spotted Treespotter. I think I swore, but said I'd do it. Then I forgot. Karma came and gave me a kick in the form of being tagged again by the lovely Madame Boffin -- so I really better had do it this time. Think both lists were the same, except Treespotter cheekily added some of this own, and I shall follow his example. Bold ones I've read, italic ones I plan to read. Snarky comments made about the ones I'm not interested in.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) - A wiser fella than myself once said "nothing is any good if other people like it".
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) - Maybe I should, maybe I will one day, but there's a million books I'd sooner read.
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) -- This is not on the afore-mentioned list.
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) -- I hated The Hobbit
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) - See earlier comments about the worth of things if other people like them.
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) -
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) - Definitely one of the best, although it does lose its way later on and I got a bit sick of good vs evil.
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) -
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) -
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) I used to actually carry a copy of this book around with me. I'm probably tagged by the Government now. Holden Caulfield annoys me now.
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) I'm told good things about it.
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel) - Anything like that movie, Pi? I don't know if that would be a good thign or not.
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) And the following parts, too -- I'm not a rabid fanboy, but I do like to quote Zaphod Beeblebrox.
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) I hate CS Lewis with a passion, and I can't stand books filled with clumsily religious allegories. Lewis beats you round the head with them, I'd join the Ice Queen just to spite him.
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) I love Steinbeck, but I think I'd need to break my legs to stay still long enough to read this book.
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert) Apparently it is to sci-fi what LotR is to fantasy, but until recently I'd never read it, until a friend recommended it personally -- nor had I seen David Lynch's movie of it. Hated the movie, but the book is great.
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell) A scary depiction of a society where the government has too much control, and perhaps a vision of Britain's future.
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) I was part of an internet book-club type thing. Hated this book. Wanted to write a "Confessions of an Alcoholic" equivalent, about the hilarious consequences of a man's drink problem.
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - Not in one sitting, obviously.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) I had a copy of this once. God knows what I did with it.
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) See comments about East of Eden.
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) - I hate Dickens' style.
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) probably my favourite book ever, the tale of a man who built himself an illusion to live by.
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) - I was actually very surprised by the 'fantasy' element of this, having only read "Love in the Time of Cholera", but Marquez is a god.
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) I thought everyone in the world had read this, it's very funny but after a while it can drag a bit.
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) The Prince got on my nerves.
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez) loved it so much, see here for more in-depth discussion about the book.
73. Shogun (James Clavell) -
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) I loved the movie.
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Short enough to read in one sitting, but as great in style as his longer works.
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMavrier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer) -- Do I look like I read Jeffrey Archer novels? Do I vote conservative and wank over Thatcher? I don't think so.
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) I read it at school, but I really liked it -- if I was ever on Castaway or Shipwrecked or any of those programs, I'd totally be like Jack, and give two fingers to civilisation. That said, I like the book for the story the metaphors and Golding's obsession with original sin and savagery annoys me.
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) although now the movies are so popular, I hesitate.
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

And for Treespotter's additional items:
101. The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) -- I think I missed this one, though I have read most of Hemingway's stuff.
102. Neuromancer (William Gibson)
103. Quiet American (Graham Greene)
104. Brighton Rock (Graham Greene)
105. Quicksilver - Baroque Cycle Vol I - (Neal Stephenson)
106. Trout Fishing in America - (Richard Brautigan)
107. The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan (Carlos Castenada)
108. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) It was recommended to me once by a teacher, I'm not sure why any more. I have mixed feelings about the book.
109. JPod (Douglas Coupland) -- Coupland depresses me, skipped this one.
110. Lord of the Flies (William Golding) -- See #92.

I seem worryingly illiterate, by this list's standard. And because Treespotter did and because so many here are blank and making me look uncultured, I include more. As with him, I read all below except for one. If you can guess which, the winner here gets a sticker.

111. Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
112. Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
113. On The Road (Jack Kerouac)
114. The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler)
115. The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe)
116. Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh)
117. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mark Haddon)
118. Naked Lunch (William Burroughs)
119. Girlfriend in a Coma (Douglas Coupland)
120. This Side of Paradise (F. Scott Fitzgerald)