highlighting books and authors in a quest to find our nation's best loved novel.
Readers chose from a list of 100 books that included literary classics, contemporary
novels, young adult fiction, childrens books and popular mass market best sellers
(think Fifty Shades of Grey or the Alex Cross series by Patterson etc).
This past Tuesday the number one most loved novel was announced: To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee. A book that has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
(We discussed this in book group in 2017, then watched the movie which continued
the discussion.....). Also note, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, a #34 ranking
was discussed by our group last year. And this February we discuss Rebecca by
Daphne du Maurier, followed by the movie discussion the following week.
Rebecca was ranked #25 by readers.
Did you know....
Seven out of the top 10 novels were written by women, with Outlander series by Diana
Gabaldon voted in 2nd place, JK Rowling with the Harry Potter series in 3rd place and the
classic Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, in 4th place. The top ranking male author in
the #5 position was JRR Tolkien for his Lord of the Rings series. (George R.R. Martin's Game
of Thrones series was voted in at #48.)
For the full list of the 100 novels and their rankings:
www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/
Note - for a handout of the top 20 most loved books chosen by more than 4 million votes
over the 6 month period - please visit the Book Group & Readers Advisory Table adjacent to
the Information Desk.
And...
This November visit our book display of the top 100 books from The Great American Read.
You won't have to search the stacks for the book, come in and take it off the table.
Easy!!