I think it is all nice and dandy to explore and read new books, to map the uncharted territories of books soon to be published, but ultimately there comes a time when you want to submerge yourself into a trusted classic that many generations read before you.
So I started to search and kind of evaluate the ‘best novels lists’ and as you can imagine, there is plenty of them out there. The one limitation I found in most of them was that the books were very Anglo-American centered. Where are all those great Russian, French or Spanish novels? What about South America or Asia? I just wanted more wide-spread choices and so I kept searching.
In the end I realized that no matter what I do, one list isn’t going to get the job done. And I ended up with accumulation of top five ones 
as I feel that each of them brings something different to the table.
Now that I shortlisted my lists, I ended up with a burning question – How do I tackle this? The obvious two solutions have both advantages and serious limitations.
1) I merge them in one list – on the plus side, this removes any duplicates; on the minus side, it kind of destroys the soul of the lists and turns them into one slightly big pot full of books without any taste or texture.
2) I leave the lists as they are – on the plus side, I can pick any list, scroll through it and pick what I fancy; on the minus side – I will need to tick off all the duplicates on the rest of the lists once the book is finished.
I have thought about this for past few weeks and was trying to figure out what to do and decided for the second option. I still don’t think I found the right solution but this is as neat solution as it gets.
So here are my top five:
- The Top 100 Books of All Time (Guardian)
- 100 Best Novels – The Board’s List (Modern Library)
- 100 Best Novels – The Reader’s List (Modern Library)
- Raddcliffe’s Rival 100 Best Novels List (Modern Library)
- 110 Best Books: The Perfect Library (Telegraph)
Now, there is no time limit to this, it is just something to dip into when I feel like it.
Do you follow a list? And if so, which one and why?
I have the same trouble as you with following lists, because all of them are very different. I have decided to read all of the Nobel prize winners (or, as many as I can…) – they’re sure to be great literature!
What a great idea! I haven’t thought of those, but you are right, they are bound to be brilliant
Enjoy your reading and let me know if you come across something outstanding.
Renny
I’ve been saying I want to reread 1984. I clicked on The Top 100 Books of All Time and guess what was first on the list. I think that’s a sign to head to the library.
Oh, definitely give it a go! I love the book! I read it three times and always find something that I missed before. Not everyone appreciates this book as much as other people so my advice is to dive in with open mind and see what you think
It would be nice to hear from you when you finish it.
Renny
Oh…and to top it off…I still have piles of books laying on my desk still unread. These, I collected from exploring too many book sales and bookshops =)
lol I have to avoid any book sales otherwise I will have no place where to live
Well, I have a list that I compile myself that includes reading ideas from magazines, blogs, friends, etc…it is ever long …I wish for more time to read!
Me too! I usually get good recommendations from friends as well, so I just add it to my amazon wish list as it is decent way how to store it without losing it
I have a notebook with titles and authors I would love to read….all genres chucked together….such a mess and ever so many….I’ll never live long enough to read them all and the list grows constantly. I need to give up blogging and just go to reading and nothing will ever get done! LOL!
Hi Beth, I so know what you mean! I have a 12 pages long amazon wish list and I have no idea when I will get to read them as I always come across new titles that have great reviews and would be good to read… I think that we all book lovers can only try to read as many books as we can