TES Magazine in the UK surveyed teachers to find out what their favorite books are. 500 primary and secondary teachers participated in the survey and the result is a list of 100 top books. It’s a very intriguing mix of classics and popular fiction.
As with any list, there are ones I love and others that I sigh at in despair (Twilight is number 77). Enjoy! And let me know which ones you delight in or sigh at!
THE TOP 100
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
6. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
7. The Lord of the Rings (series) J.R.R. Tolkien
8. The Book Thief Markus Zusak
9. The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien
10. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
11. The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
12. The Hunger Games (series) Suzanne Collins
13. The Time Traveller’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
14. The Chronicles of Narnia (series) C.S. Lewis
15. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
16. Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
17. His Dark Materials (series) Philip Pullman
18. The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
19. The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20. Life of Pi Yann Martel
21. Tess of the d’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
22. Rebecca Daphne du Maurier
23. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon
24. Lord of the Flies William Golding
25. Matilda Roald Dahl
26. Catch-22 Joseph Heller
27. Millennium (series) Stieg Larsson
28. Animal Farm George Orwell
29. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
30. Persuasion Jane Austen
31. One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
32. Kensuke’s Kingdom Michael Morpurgo
33. Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian
34. The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
36. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne
37. Little Women Louisa May Alcott
38. One Day David Nicholls
39. We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
40. The Twits Roald Dahl
41. Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
42. A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
43. The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
44. Frankenstein Mary Shelley
45. Great Expectations Charles Dickens
46. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernieres
47. George’s Marvellous Medicine Roald Dahl
48. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
49. Room Emma Donoghue
50. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
51. Atonement Ian McEwan
52. Emma Jane Austen
53. Middlemarch George Eliot
54. The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55. The Color Purple Alice Walker
56. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
57. Brave New World Aldous Huxley
58. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
59. The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
60. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
61. Charlotte’s Web E.B. White
62. Dracula Bram Stoker
63. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
64. A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
65. The Secret History Donna Tartt
66. The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupery
67. Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky
68. The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
69. Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
70. Skellig David Almond
71. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
72. Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell
73. Game of Thrones (series) George R.R. Martin
74. David Copperfield Charles Dickens
75. Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
76. Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak
77. Twilight (series) Stephenie Meyer
78. Beloved Toni Morrison
79. The Help Kathryn Stockett
80. Sherlock Holmes (series) Arthur Conan Doyle
81. Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
82. Moneyball Michael Lewis
83. My Family and Other Animals Gerald Durrell
84. Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
85. On the Road Jack Kerouac
86. Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
87. Wild Swans Jung Chang
88. Anne of Green Gables L.M. Montgomery
89. Les Miserables Victor Hugo
90. Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
91. Private Peaceful Michael Morpurgo
92. Noughts and Crosses Malorie Blackman
93. Cider with Rosie Laurie Lee
94. Danny the Champion of the World Roald Dahl
95. Down and Out in Paris and London George Orwell
96. The Magic Faraway Tree Enid Blyton
97. The Witches Roald Dahl
98. The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
99. Holes Louis Sachar
100. The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
I must say that it does my heart good to see Holes right next to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I think that summarizes the list quite nicely.
Waking Brain Cells 