Meme

[satinalien]

I was bored at work, so I stole this meme from Facebook.

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Italics = read it
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (all but the last

Comments

[the_er_bear]

There are no numbers 62, 63, 64, or 65...
(I only got about 22...)

I should remember this... some of these would make great summer reading books!!

[satinalien]

Yeah. Great list as book reminders...but horrible list!

One summer, I just asked on LJ for everyone to recommend a book or two. THAT was my list! And I had such a blast!

[the_er_bear]

Ooh =) That sounds like fun! I like that idea....

I should ask for audio books (favorite readers and stuff) that way I can knit and hear stories =)

[satinalien]

Well, ask for the book recommendation, then just get the audios when you do. And don't forget, the library is your friend!

[mediaprophet]

1 cute
2 took two tries
3 awful
4 cute
5 corny
6 most of it
7 awful
8
9 so good!
10 rambling
11
12
13 saw the movie
14 most of them
15
16 sophomoric
17 ???
18 awesome
19 ???
20
21
22 the worst fitzgerald book
23
24
25 lolz
26
27
28 so sad!
29 weird
30 good!
31
32
33 some were good
34
35
36 see 33
37 I SHOULD READ THAT!
38
39
40 uh huh
41 woah
42 fun book!
43
44 ???
45 ???
46
47
48 I SHOULD READ THIS
49 neat
50
51 part of it
52 cool!
53
54 cute
55 ???
56
57
58 I SHOULD READ THIS
59 ???
60
61 saw the play
65 read the abridged
66 I SHOULD READ THIS
67 ???
68
69
70
71
72 saw the movie
73 good
74
75 OMG no. Fuck no.
76
77 ???
78
79
80
81 produced it
82
83 saw the movie
84
85
86
87 cute
88 ???
89 Read so MANY of them, if not all
90 ???
91 I think I read it
92 design moi un mutton
93 ???
94 I SHOULD READ THAT
95 ???
96 ???
97 good book
98 part of 14
99 great book, way better than the movie
100 read it. unabridged. OMG. Long.

??? = WTF, Why? I had to wikipedia this book. And there are so many good ones NOT on here!

[benigno]

Ah summer reading. Perhaps in 45 years or so.
My total is a dismal 19 of the above books.

[luckyirishjohn]

40/100

[tarsus4]

I wonder how these lists come about. Surely one doesn't have to read off a predefined list of "classics" to be well-read. There's plenty off the beaten trail, or in niche genres (historical non-fiction, etc), or even just trashy pulps. A lot of the time what makes the cut in lists like these isn't even all that great and succeeds because people think it's "supposed to be great".

Or is it more about sharing a cultural memory, in the same way that people can make references and analogies to popular television? For example, The Great Gatsby may not have been a great book, but you can spot a Gatsby and discuss that comparison with others.

But if that's the case, surely our shared cultural experiences are shifting away from literature big time. There's a big Internet out there...

You're going to drive me to write a list of my favorite books (and why!) at some point.