A book list, this one from Australia

Angus & Robertson is an Australian book chain, and apparently, like other places, they have a Top 100 List. I came across this via Ruminations. As it is one of those lists with mostly super pop authors, I am not expecting to "do well" on it. But as I am always curious, and I can't seem to resist a book list, I am highlighting the items I have read. Any snarky comments are mine.

The list:

1 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling (nope. To be honest, I have no interest in Mr. Potter, so I am not likely to pick it up. However, if it is your cup of tea, go ahead and enjoy. Just don't try to "convert" me. It won't work, and I will think you are just one of those obsessive people to avoid. My daughter reads them and seems to like them. We will be looking for a boxed set for her next time we need a gift. Yes, she already asked for it.)

2 Twilight - Stephenie Meyer (Not yet. I am curious enough I just may pick it up. However, I am not thrilled with the recent trend of vampire stories being chick lit with darkness lite).

3 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

4 The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody

5 My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

6 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee (I mentioned in another list where this was featured that I already know the story, so I have no incentive to pick it up. Unlike a lot of people I know, I was never forced to read this in school either).

7 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

8 Breath - Tim Winton

9 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

10 Break No Bones - Kathy Reichs

11 The Power Of One - Bryce Courtenay

12 Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

13 Magician - Raymond E. Feist

14 The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

15 Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin

16 Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden

17 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

18 Cross - James Patterson

19 Persuasion - Jane Austen

20 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

21 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

22 The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

23 Marley and Me - John Grogan

24 Antony and Cleopatra - Colleen McCullough

25 April Fools Day - Bryce Courtney

26 North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell

27 In My Skin - Kate Holden

28 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

29 A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

30 The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

31 Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

32 Atonement - Ian McEwan

33 Shantaram Gregory - David Roberts

34 Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett

35 The Pact - Jodi Picoult

36 Ice Station - Matthew Reilly

37 Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

38 Jessica - Bryce Courtenay

39 A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle

40 The Princess Bride - William Goldman

41 Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

42 Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes

43 Life Of Pi - Yann Martel

44 Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly

45 People Of The Book - Geraldine Brooks

46 Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly

47 Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

48 Brother Odd - Dean Koontz

49 Tully - Paullina Simons

50 Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

51 The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger (I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Salinger owes me the time I wasted on this piece of overrated tripe.)

52 Eragon - Christopher Paolini (My daughter has read this series as well. She is making me curious enough to consider picking it up. And it is now another one she wants a boxed set for.)

53 Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

54 It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong

55 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

56 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

57 The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (I've also read The Fifth Mountain, and Veronika Decides to Die. All very good. And I prefer to read Coehlo in Spanish.)

58 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (also read Animal Farm.)

59 A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey

60 The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley

61 The Notebook -Nicholas Sparks

62 Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen

63 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

64 The Host - Stephenie Meyer

65 Dirt Music - Tim Winton

66 Eldest - Christopher Paolini

67 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (another piece of overrated sappy tripe. And I read it in Spanish. Why Ruiz Zafon has suddenly become so popular is beyond me.)

68 It - Stephen King (I've read other Stephen King novels, just never this. I have to fix that gap sometime soon.)

69 World Without End - Ken Follett

70 Emma - Jane Austen

71 Temple - Matthew Reilly

72 Little Women - Alcott Louisa May

73 Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich

74 Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly

75 American Gods - Neil Gaiman (Gaiman is one of my favorite authors.)

76 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (when people say "literature," they mean quality writers like this guy. Garcia Marquez should be required reading. He is that good.)

77 P.S, I Love You - Cecelia Ahern

78 All That Remains - Patricia Cornwell

79 The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch (saw the lecture online).

80 Past Secrets - Cathy Kelly

81 The Persimmon Tree - Bryce Courtenay

82 Husband - Dean Koontz

83 Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

84 Wicked - Gregory Maguire

85 Spot Of Bother - Mark Haddon

86 Always And Forever - Cathy Kelly

87 The Road - Cormac McCarthy

88 Cents & Sensibility - Maggie Alderson

89 Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris

90 The Shifting Fog - Kate Morton

91 We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

92 Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger

93 Hour Game - David Baldacci

94 Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

95 The Woods - Harlan Coben

96 Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

97 Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

98 Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis

99 Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

100 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Not even close. Just seven, and given the content, not likely to improve. Oh well, there is always the "Muy Macho Reading List." So, how about you, how many have you read?