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You know there is a list on Facebook called ‘10 best books that have stayed with you’? If you don’t, it’s okay, I wasn’t aware of it until 3 days ago, when I was nominated by a friend who thought that, since I’m an author, I should have a very interesting and challenging list. Anyway, the point is that you are supposed to list the 10 books that changed your life, spirit and way of thinking.
I have to confess, I’m having a hard time writing up that list. Firstly, my memory being what it is, I can’t remember half the books I read last month, let alone throughout my life! Fine, so you will argue that if I can’t remember them, then they were not meant to be influential. But here’s the thing: except for the obvious literature pieces, I can’t really recall what actually happens in most of the books I’ve read. However, I can recollect how they made me feel. How I reacted after putting the book down. How long after reading the book I thought about it. Is that what they mean by ‘memorable’?
Secondly, I find it hard sometimes to separate the writing from the actual story. Is a book powerful because the writing was amazing although the story was banal? Or is the story the most important part of a book? How am I supposed to rate books?
Thirdly, I’m afraid to disappoint my poor readers, as the majority of the books that have stayed with me are hardly ‘Booker prize’ list material. For instance, I loved Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, most of Philip K. Dick’s Short Stories (published in a wonderful collection of five huge books), Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet and Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. You can see how these books will never make it to the top 100 (or even 1000) of the most significant literature.
Anyway, moving on from my problems, I read the article written on The Atlantic called The 100 Books Facebook Users Love. The author of the article aggregated lists written by fellow Facebook users, and posted the 100 books that appear in most of those.
As it stands, the list is as follows:
- The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling (appeared in 21.08 percent of all statuses)
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (14.48 percent)
- The Lord of the Rings series, J.R.R. Tolkien (13.86 percent)
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien (7.48 percent)
- Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (7.28 percent)
- The Holy Bible (7.21 percent)
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (5.97 percent)
- The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins (5.82 percent)
- Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (5.70 percent)
- The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (5.61 percent)
- 1984, George Orwell (5.37 percent)
- Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (5.26 percent)
- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (5.23 percent)
- The Stand, Stephen King (5.11 percent)
- Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell (4.95 percent)
- A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle (4.38 percent)
- The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (4.27 percent)
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis (4.05 percent)
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (4.01 percent)
- Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery (3.95 percent)
But then, and here’s where it gets interesting, the author goes on to compare what people actually buy from Amazon with what they claim they like (clever person!) According to Amazon’s Books of the Decade list, here are the books that people massively bought:
- The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
- The Shack, WM. Paul Young.
- The Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer
- The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
- The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
- The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Dr. Seuss
- Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
- Goodnight, Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
Anyone else notice a discrepancy here? Still, I believe we can draw a few conclusions from these two lists:
- K. Rowling: Well done, your books are successful in terms of sales and readers’ appraisal (little sighs of jealousy escaping from my mouth, but still very happy for her)
-
The Holy Bible, now signed by the author! How awesome is that?
Many of the books that stayed with people are not recent ones –the Bible being the most notable one. The older a book, the more it is appreciated. Fellow authors, I think we must accept the idea that positive reception of our books will come post mortem, and judging by a few books on the list, it might take a few decades. Or centuries. Or, in some cases, a millennium or two.
- I am not sure whether people would actually feel the same if they re-read these books today. I read The Alchemist some fifteen years ago and loved it, but wonder how I would react to it now. I would like to know how often people read and re-read the “influential” books.
- Khaled Hosseini seems to be doing well in terms of sales, but not so well in terms of posterity. So do Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer. I can’t say that Dan Brown’s books were memorable, but they were definitely fun and a good read. Would I put them in my definitive list? Probably not. But Hosseini writes beautifully and could easily be in the list (he is actually number 23 on the first list).
- I’m happy that Douglas Adams, one of my favourite authors, made it into the most memorable books list.
Now, this may come as a shock, but I didn’t find Pride and Prejudice memorable (sorry Jane Austen, perhaps it’s a guy thing –the author of the article did point out that women outnumbered men three to one). Nor did I really like The Catcher in the Rye or Little Women (again, probably the me being a man thing).
I’m glad, however, that Steinbeck made it into the list (number 40) although I would have put him further up: both Of Mice and Men and the Grapes of Wrath are excellent books. I’m surprised that Dickens’s first showing comes at place 61; I would have expected a better performance (the list being mainly by Americans and fewer Brits, that could be a good explanation). But I have to ask: Gone with the Wind? I expect most people to have seen the movie, but I’m not sure how many have actually read the book. Is it possible that people are confusing the movie with the actual book?
In the end, I have to wonder whether people named books and writers that they felt would impress and show how well-read they are. Facebook is notorious for externalizing our most competitive traits and making us want to show off to our friends and followers. I also don’t know whether the more commercial books (as in list 2) are more memorable –I have some doubts regarding a few of them-, but the first list reminds me of school and how we were given an interminable list of books to read by the end of school year.
Anyway, if I had to start my list, one of the first books would be The Little Prince. An unpretentious and gentle story; every time I read it, I find something new to be amazed about.
What’s your take on all this?
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Every book I’ve ever read is still with me. As you’ve mentioned, I’ve read so many that they sometimes one drains into the next, but I have always taken away something. Be it a great read, one that was average, or just so bad (to me) that I wasn’t able to finish, they left an impression. Funny thing is, I sometimes remember the bad before I remember the great. I haven’t read any of the notable greats (Gatsby, Jane Eyre, etc.) and I wonder if that makes my opinion even credible. Some would say no, though Tolkien is one of my favorites, the actual books and not the movies, but I suppose I should dust off that ancient copy of 1984 my grams gave me. Happy reading.
It’s funny how memory works. What seems to determine what we remember is the strength of our emotional response. That’s probably why some bad books/movies spring to mind unbidden.
Thanks and welcome! 🙂
I read The Little Prince when I was a teenager and loved it. Thanks for mentioning it.
Lovely to meet another Little Prince fan! 🙂
I have avoided making these lists because the books I would put on them change constantly. Are books listed because they are ‘supposed’ to be great books, reading them will make us better people or enrich our lives, or because they were on that ‘list’ that every high school lit teacher cherishes? Some of the books I might put on the list would never be considered great literature, but struck a chord with me for the way the story was presented. I might add a memoir because I admire the way the author faced and overcame a serious issue. With so many amazing books available throughout the decades, how can people come up with so few on these lists? Yes, I do think they put down what they think they’re supposed to have read.
I have the same problem. I’d come up with a different list every other day! 😀
A highly debatable subject. I found your remarks about Jane Austen to be an echo of remarks made by male friends but I adore her books. As for my list it would be ya very wide and long across most genres.I tend to re read favorie books in stress filled times they are like a comfort food for me. The one name I was hoping to see on the list was Ronald Dahl whose genius at writing for children over shadows his often mind blowing short stories.
Ooh, Ronald Dahl. I agree completely – the man was a genius!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
This got me thinking (it happens) and I looked over at my couple of bookshelves and checked on some of the vintages. I have all the Wilbur Smiths he has written. My first book I saved up to buy of his was in 1964 – When the Lion Feeds…I have cookbooks going back to an early Mrs. Beetons and mostly from the 1980’s and I have all of Jean M Auel’s novels…. apart from that there is a mix of crime thrillers and non-fiction reference books that again have been with me for at least 35 to 40 years. Most have moved over 20 times and will keep moving with me until I leave this world for the next when I hope to bump into a few of the authors to interview for a Sunday Show!
Master & Margarita
The littke prince
Ooh, beautiful choices!
Just bought The Power of six!
And you’re now my favorite person. Big hug and a warm thank you! 😀
I’ve seen a few different takes on the “List your 10 favorites books.” Books you liked, books that influenced you, books that taught you necessary writing skills, and so on.
My list is different for each of those, and I’ve also noticed that each time I get pinged to answer that, I come up with a slightly different assortment of books.
I’m currently working on another List of 10 challenge: Read 10 Hugo and/or Nebula Award winners. I’m halfway through #8. There are some interesting discrepancies between what the “experts” say is good writing and what the award winners show.
I’ve noticed such discrepancies myself. Only too often I see awards and competition results that make little sense to me. I’ve reached the conclusion that critics and judges must have different tastes to us mere mortals. 🙂
No doubt! A lot of it appears to be a popularity contest, and people do things like go for the shock value to get votes. It almost becomes a political game.
I can’t help noticing it’s always the same few: Hemingway, Steinback, Melville, Salinger. Dickens pops up sometimes. No humour or levity allowed. No, no. Is that why that great American institution, Bookbub, has no humour section. Says she cheekily offending the entire internet. I think it is more American than universal. People like Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh and H E Bates are hardly ever mentioned in these lists. If I did this among the folks I know there would be translations of books. Where’s Dumas? Or writers like Mishima?
Cheers
MTM
I agree with both your points. Humour is largely unappreciated, perhaps because it’s such a personal and cultural thing.
The point about a US bias reminds me of the strangely called World Series – where only US teams play. Indeed, pretty much everyone else in the world goes, “the what series?” while bouncing a soccer ball off their head… 😀
I’m so glad that I’m not the only adult who likes Harry Potter :o) I like the idea of LOTR, but it wasn’t easy to read, think that’s one of this rare cases where I like the movie more than the book :o)
I read it as a teenager, when my parents had dragged me to a mountain to spend a week doing nothing. Perhaps it was the lack of other stimuli or the surroundings, but I absolutely adored it. It took me days to snap out of it… 🙂
‘thinking of’
Fixed 🙂
I agree with most of the points you make. I certainly wouldn’t include The Catcher in the Rye or Little Women but I would include Pride & Prejudice. As for others, I need lots of time! I bet you’re right in thinking that people think of the movie, not the book of GWTW. I read it in my teens and skated through the stodgy history – oh so boring, and I love history. As a little taster, I would have to include Douglas Adams!
Douglas Adams is the best… 😀
Have you ever listened to the original radio series or seen the original TV series. If you have, I’ll let you into a little secret!
Tell me, tell, me, tell me!!! 😀
It’s only me showing off, really. My daddy was the original Slartibartfast in both!
No way!!! I love Slartibartfast – he’s the inspiration behind one of my short story characters! 😀
He is just the best, isn’t he! It’s why I’m very attached to mice and fjords. You might like to check out these posts on FND: https://wp.me/p1mFAV-1UW and https://wp.me/p1mFAV-vS
You can’t go wrong with mice and fjords. In fact, I have a bit of an inside joke on mice in Pearseus book 4 (the one I’m currently penning), where Lehmor wonders how smart the mice must have been on Earth for humans to have the expression, “the best laid plans of mice and men” 😀
Thanks for the links! I giggle in anticipation as I’m waiting for the tabs to open.
I did this a while back and everyone had gone totally heavyweight and I’m there with like, Asterix, Dr Seuss, Adams, Pratchett. First Night Design, I am very jealous. My dad isn’t Slartybartfast.
Cheers
MTM
Ooh, excellent choices! I always felt that Goscinny is a bit unappreciated outside of France. I mean, the man is a genius – and I’m not referring to Asterix, but also to Iznogoud, Little Nicholas and Lucky Luke, among others.
I never did manage to get into Pratchett, but I know so many who have, that I’ve decided it’s my bad. 😀
I always find these things interesting because I wonder about the answers. I’ve seen a lot of my friends do a ‘most memorable’ list on Facebook, but they always seem to be a list of the things my friends are into at the time. So you rarely see any children books that show up unless the person has kids and then it ends up being whatever they’re getting their children into. Maybe I’m just cynical on this one because I think such lists are fluid throughout a person’s life.
Good points. Our lists depend on the period of our life and the surrounding circumstances. I, for one, would need a new list every couple of months, decicive as I am! 😀
Same here. I’m sure my list from years ago has changed since I spend time reading books to my son. That’s brought stuff like Curious George and Dr. Seuss back to the forefront.
1, 2, 7, 16, 17, 18 I agree with, for sure.
I would add a few others and leave off the rest of yours, such as “The Bridge Across Forever” rather than Bach’s JLS; Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Dispossessed” AND “The Left Hand of Darkness” as well as the first book in “The Wizard of Earthsea” series; Lloyd Alexander’s “Illyrian Chronicles” series (several books could fit this); Kate Wilhelm’s “The Downstairs Room” short stories collection; “The People” series by Zenna Henderson; “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Heinlein. In nonfiction: “The Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahnsa Yogananda; “When Things Fall Apart,” by Pema Chodron; many by Dr. Seuss could go here as well (I consider some of his books allegories and neither fiction nor nonfiction).
What fun!
Not to mention Winnie the Pooh! 😀
You’re right; ot’s practically impossible to come up with a definitive list. Besides, as Charles point out below, the list would change with time.
Winnie the Pooh goes without saying!
I was also nominated by a friend on Facebook, and try as I might, I couldn’t narrow the list to only 10. I had 11, and since I finished reading Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” there are now 12. I chose roughly two from each decade of my life.
1 Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Adventure series – pick any one;
2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C S Lewis;
3 Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier;
4 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald;
5 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens;
6 The Odyssey – Homer;
7 Lord of the Rings – J R R Tolkien;
8 Hamlet – William Shakespeare;
9 The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron;
10 On Writing – Stephen King;
11 From First Draft to Finished Novel – Karen S Wiesner.
Now where’s your list, Nicholas?
Lol – still being compiled! Seriously, how can I choose?? (throws hands up in the air in exasperation)
Thanks for a great, eclectic list! I was pleasantly surprised to see Gatsby in there (Fitzgerald’s writing is not considered “trendy” nowadays), plus the books on writing. Nice!
I am in deep agreement with Jane Austen; I also feel the same fro the Bronte sisters. I just can’t engage with them.
I did make my top ten books list for FB though I know I missed some significant books.
The final list I settled on was one I am still reasonably content with:
1 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller,
2 Legend – David Gemmell,
3 Macbeth – Shakespeare
4 Watership Down – Richard Adams
5 Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams,
6 The Moomins – Tove Jansson,
7 Dune – Frank Herbert
8 Dracula – Bram Stoker
9 Harry Potter – JK Rowling
10 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
No. 6 taught me to read, 10, 4 & 2 taught me to enjoy and 1 & 3 taught me to understand… the remainder, just for the hell of it. Many missed obviously, so many good books out there!
😀
Any list that includes Adams, Tolkien and Herbert is a great one! 😀
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Good morning and thank you for this. I have read all the books on this list, but often find a second and even third reading of some books can work for me. Janet.
I’m impressed! A fellow bookworm 🙂
I put the list together having been nominated also… how exactly can you drop it to ten, is my first question. I’m not sure the Amazon sales lists counts either… my copies of those nfluential books were not recent buys. For the most part they have been with me for decades, sometimes generations. But it is an interesting read when many seem to very obviously choose the books they ‘ought’ for their circle.
St Exupery was high on my list too.
Well… it’s all very subjective, isn’t it? Even best-seller lists can be manipulated, so we all end up having differing lists – and that’s okay, of course. 🙂
Naturally, any list without Little Prince is obviously incomplete 😀
Naturally 🙂