Book List: 100 Must-Read Classic Books ~ How Many Have We Read?

Hey Everyone! I thought it might be fun to look through a book list together & share how many we've read. Get a piece of paper ready to make down read/unread from this bunch! Let me know if you like this style of video, it was fun to do and hopefully fun to watch too.

Today we are looking at Penguin's 100 Must-Read Classic Books, as chosen by their readers. The article says "..we asked our readers to tell us about their favourite classic books. The resulting list of must-reads is a perfect way to find inspiration to start your classics adventure."

Check out the article here (the post comes with downloadable list of the titles!)

QotD: If you could submit 1 book on a Must-Read list, what would it be?

And of course, share how you did How many are read/unread? Any vetos/DNFs/Other?

I mention:

Books that I noticed that were not first-in-series:
Women in Love by DH Laurence is 2nd in series after The Rainbow
Staying On by Paul Scott is the 5th in a series
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse is 7th in the Jeeves series

Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00
Book List: 1:48
Outro: 21:57

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#books #reading #booklist

[alittlelifeofmel]

I expected more than 17 but im not surprised. Some of the titles left out were surprising (Madame Bovary).

[mindysbookjourney]

This was a cool video. My tally was 18 read, 21 owned so should read soon, and 61 unread and not owned.

[ZoeBeck]

I’ve read 37 of them, 3 are DNF, 1 currently reading, and 59 unread. Many of them are on my physical TBR. There were at least 5 that I’d never heard of. This was fun. Thanks!

[PicklesReads]

I'd recommend you read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before Ulysses as one of the major characters in Ulysses is the main character in Portrait. His part of the story in Ulysses makes more sense if you do.

[Lorish]

Fun. I love these sorts of lists though I never do as well or as badly as I expect. I have 82 unread, 14 read, 3 I think I read as a teenager but can't remember details now, and one I'm currently reading.

[thestudiointhelibrary]

Hi, Shannon. I have read 27/100. Nineteen titles I had not heard of or was not aware of them being in the author's bibliography. At least three I have tried to read and put them down. I own three that I have not read. I have seen movies or TV adaptations of 35 of the novels. I had owned 'The Secret History' when it first came out. It was one of the most beautifully published books back in that time. I gave it a try three times and did not like the characters so donated it. I tried to read Moby Dick and Pride and Prejudice, but just did not have the staying power when so many other books called. I own a vintage copy of 'The Razor's Edge', had started reading it, liked it, loved the old movie (1946), but life intervened. I always liked the actor Herbert Marshall who played Maugham as the narrator of the story in the movie. Would like to get back to it. I have a first cousin named Somerset after the author.

[punkrockgirlpa]

Omg! I havent read...many lol! Ive read....like 9 hahaha and out of that 9 ive LOVED only 4 of them...hahahaha oh boy. lol

[thestudiointhelibrary]

Normally, I would say 'To Kill a Mockingbird' because it is my favorite of all time. Second, to that is Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting of Hill House' which did not appear on this list. Of all the others that you have not read, I would recommend 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith. I read this a couple of year's ago because it was ranked highest in popularity on Goodreads at the time for books published in 1948, so it was the first book I read for my personal project of reading books published in my birth year. It was such a nice surprise that such a wonderful book was published that year. I saw the movie adaptation. On its own it was okay, but not as good as the book. Dodie Smith is also the author of '101 Dalmations' and she is co-author for the screenplay of one of my top 40s movies 'The Uninvited' (1944), a wonderfully rendered ghost story adapted from the book of the same USA title by Dorothy Macardle (originally published as Uneasy Freehold in UK). Hope you enjoy 'I Capture the Castle' if you get a chance to read it in the future. D

[kkelly]

I’ve basically only read the weird ones 😆 my total was 19. I would say out of all of them I’d re-read East of Eden, I can’t remember why but I loved how it was written. It’s the only Steinbeck I’ve read. I also liked Crime and Punishment, 1984 and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’ve never read a Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. I had to read ‘O Pioneers!’ By Willa Cather for school and did not get it at all. We also read ‘Heart of Darkness’ and it wasn’t my fav. Lolita was just weird. I also did not like ‘The Secret History’ at all but I loved ‘The Goldfinch’. Still bummed about Roald Dahl, I read all of his books when I was a kid and loved them a lot :( I think Maugham is pronounced “mom”

[mc]

I've read 53 and have 47 unread. I would have put War of the Worlds by Wells rather than The Time Machine if I had to pick a Wells book. I think I would add a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories too.
You mentioned that you thought The Sea, The Sea sounded interesting. That was a total cover pick for me but it wasn't my cup of tea - boring people doing boring things as far as I remember. I've never tried another Murdoch since.
Brian at Bookish is a Balzac fan, he read a lot of them last year. I've not read any though.

[Joyfulcuriosity]

I've read 13 of them, of the 87 unread I've never heard of 31, 30 of the ones I've heard about I want to read, 24 I'm unsure about and 2 I don't want to read (Lolita because of the subject matter and Wodehouse because I've read two other books by him in the Jeeves series and didn't like them, I didn't find them funny, it's not my kind of humour so I'm just not interested anymore).

Also, I've read "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". It does use the n-word a lot. It can be read as a commentary on racism, but I've also heard people finding it racist. I think both opinions are valid. I recommend reading a summary and analysis instead of reading the book if you're unsure if it will be too offensive for you.