200 Novels or thereabouts

After mentioning these on Monday, I figured I better put up the links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html

There. Now you have an excellent reading list or two to choose from if you were at a loss as to what to read next.

Time for my confession. No I have not read them completely. I have easily read over eighty percent of each and that's more by a long shot than my facebook friends, who are a largely intelligent, well-read and personally competitive lot. And I've read a lot more besides.

Now here's my critique of the lists: very culturally self-referential, ie: lots of British books on the BBC, lots of American on the Time list, barely a side note of amazing Latin American, Asian, Australian, Native American, African, etc.

And who will put out the list of must read Poetry books? HHHMMMM? Or have I just made that my job? Quickly, a blogger can be seen ducking the oncoming task as if it were a bird of prey and she, a mouse in an open field.


As you make your reading way through those lists, may I also recommend a turn at this one:

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm

I promise, you'll be amazed.