Since reading is one of my favorite simple pleasures, I’m
looking forward to watching The Great American Read, an eight-part PBS
series which premieres tomorrow, May 22. The documentary will explore and
celebrate the power of reading in American culture “through the prism of
America’s 100 best-loved novels”. The books were chosen in a national survey,
and you can find a list of them here. You can join the Great American Read Book Club here.
Viewers will have the chance to vote for their favorites
online and on social media starting when the first episode airs. The finale
will take place in October, when the winner will be revealed. See your local
PBS station for details.
As I write this, I’ve read 36 of the 100 on the list, and
I’m in the middle of a 37th (Great Expectations). Several on
this list I’ve tried to read and couldn’t get through (I’m looking at you The
Catcher in the Rye). I plan to read at least a few more of them, including The
Giver, War and Peace, and Stephen King’s The Stand. And there
are some on this list that I won’t even attempt to read because they’re just
not my cup of tea, life’s too short, and my TBR list is already (wayyyy) too long.
That’s the beauty of the modern age of books: there’s a meaningful book out
there for everyone. And often they’re freely (literally) available.
Some of my favorites from the list include Anne of Green
Gables, The Alchemist (I wrote briefly about both Anne and The
Alchemist here), Pride and Prejudice, The Help, and A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn. Two of my favorite authors who were not on the list:
Barbara Kingsolver and P.G. Wodehouse.
(In 2003, the BBC undertook a similar search for the
best-loved book in the United Kingdom. The winner of The Big Read was J.R.R.
Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.)
Let’s talk about books! Which of the 100 have you read? Which
are your favorites and which ones didn’t you like? Why? Was your favorite on
the list?
