Amazon.co.uk’s 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime Tag

Hi everyone! How has your Saturday been? I think I am ready for February to be over now, because as much as I love jumpers and sweaters and blankets, I am not about cold winds, cold rain, or dark nights AND dark mornings. The sun this week has made me ready for spring. Thankfully, February has pancake day, it has just 28 days, and this year, it has the Winter Olympics. Emma and I are borderline Curling experts now! What is it about pushing stones, and then brushing some ice, that is so captivating?

Last week, I did a blog meme based on amazon.com’s 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime and it’s safe to say that I had not read many of the books on the list. I actually hadn’t heard of many of the books, embarrassingly, but also didn’t feel like it was a list that was truly reflective of what I thought a top 100 books should be, so I’ve also decided to do the amazon.co.uk list too.

1. Include a link back to Amazon’s official 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime 
2. Tag Perfectly Tolerable, the creator of this meme
3. Tag the person who nominated you (I wasn’t nominated by anyone, but saw this on Lucinda is Reading)
4. Copy the list of books and indicate which titles you have read.
5. Tally up your total.
6. Comment on the post you were tagged in and share your total count.
7. Tag five new people and comment on one of their posts to let them know.

Let’s get on with the list:

1984 George Orwell

A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking

A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry

A Game of Thrones George R R Martin

A History of the World in 100 Objects Neil MacGregor

All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque

American Gods Neil Gaiman

American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis

Artemis Fowl Eoin Colfer

Atonement Ian McKewan

Bad Science Ben Goldacre

Birdsong Sebastian Faulks

Brideshead Revisted Evelyn Waugh

Bridget Jones’s Diary Helen Fielding

Brighton Rock Graham Greene

Casino Royale Ian Fleming

Catch 22 Joseph Hellier

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl

Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee

Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevesky

Dissolution C J Sansom

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Philip K. Dick

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson

Frankenstein Mary Shelley

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Stephen D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian

Great Expectations Charles Dickens

Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone J K Rowling

High Fidelity Nick Hornby

In Cold Blood Truman Capote

Knots and Crosses Ian Rankin

Last Orders Graham Swift

Little Women Louise May Alcott

Lolita Vladimir Nabokov

London Fields Martin Amis

London: The Biography Peter Akroyd

Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela

Lord of the Flies William Golding

Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie

My Man Jeeves P G Woodhouse

Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro

Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami

Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson

Noughts and Crosses Malorie Blackman

One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Jeanette Winterson

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier

Stormbreaker Anthony Horowitz

Tess of the d’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy

The Book Thief Markus Zusak

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne

The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett

The Commitments Roddy Doyle

The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank

The Enchanted Wood Enid Blyton

The English Patient Michael Ondaatje

The Fellowship of the Ring J R R Tolkien

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson

The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson

The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood

The Hare with Amber Eyes Edmund de Waal

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

The Hound of the Baskervilles Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Oliver Sacks

The Mill on the Floss George Eliot

The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway

The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde

The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver

The Road Cormac McCarthy

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Sue Townsend

The Secret History Donna Tartt

The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins

The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes

The Stand Stephen King

The Story of Tracy Beaker Jacqueline Wilson

The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter 

The Tiger Who Came to Tea Judith Kerr

The Time Machine H G Wells

The Worst Witch Jill Murphy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John Le Carré

To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf

The Wasp Factory Iain Banks

Trainspotting Irvine Welsh

Venice Jan Morris

Watchmen Alan Moore

Watership Down Richard Adams

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Helen Oxenbury

White Teeth Zadie Smith

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Jung Chang

Winnie the Pooh A A Milne

Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë

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I still don’t think that 22 books out of 100 books is a particularly great score, but it’s much higher than last week’s total. I feel like there is a larger number on this list that I have actually heard of and plan to read, whereas last week there was a heap of books that I have never heard of and will probably never hear of again. There are some crossovers though, and those are some of my favourite books, so that makes me happy.

Yes, there are a lot of British Authors on here, and there were a lot of US authors on the US list, but I can’t help but feel that his list is more representative of wider literature than the amazon.com list. I’m really pleased that I decided to do both lists, I think it highlights the huge differences between UK and US preferences.

I didn’t tag anyone last week, so I have decided to tag a few people here. If you’ve done it, or don’t fancy doing it, then please ignore it, and as ever, if you’ve seen it and fancy ago, then please consider yourself tagged:

Emma @ The Terror of Knowing

Jessica @ Ever the Crafter

Lucinda @ Lucinda is Reading (fancy a go at the UK list?)

You, reading this, please consider yourself tagged!

How many of these books have you read?

If you fancy doing this, or the post last week, please tag me so I can take a look!