UPDATE: See the final results for The Great American Read and all books in order they were voted here.
PBS is producing a series called The Great American Read that celebrates the power of reading, told through America’s 100 best-loved novels.
The series will focus on why authors told these stories and how they affected readers. The series will be presented with a two hour launch episode to highlight the 100 books, and then it will follow with five one hour themed episodes. The finale will be when the results of a vote will be revealed that will crown America’s best-loved book.
The list has been revealed ahead of the series’ launch on May 22nd. The 100 books were chosen based on public polling in which 7,200 people participated.
Among the list of books are: The Godfather by Mario Puzo, 1984 by George Orwell, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Dune by Frank Herbert, Fifty Shades of Grey (Series) by E.L James, Game of Thrones (series) by George R R Martin, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Stand by Stephen King, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and many more favourites.
Full PBS The Great American Read List
1984
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Game of Thrones
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Separate Peace
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Alchemist
Alex Cross Mysteries**
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Americanah
And Then There Were None
Anne of Green Gables
Another Country
Atlas Shrugged
Beloved
Bless Me, Ultima
The Book Thief
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Call of the Wild
Catch-22
The Catcher in the Rye
Charlotte’s Web
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Coldest Winter Ever
The Color Purple
The Count of Monte Cristo
Crime and Punishment
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Da Vinci Code
Don Quixote
Doña Barbara
Dune
Fifty Shades of Grey
Flowers in the Attic
Foundation
Frankenstein
Ghost
Gilead
The Giver
The Godfather
Gone Girl
Gone with the Wind
The Grapes of Wrath
Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
Gulliver’s Travels
The Handmaid’s Tale
Harry Potter**
Hatchet
Heart of Darkness
The Help
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Hunger Games
The Hunt for Red October
The Intuitionist
Invisible Man
Jane Eyre
The Joy Luck Club
Jurassic Park
Left Behind
The Little Prince
Little Women
Lonesome Dove
Looking for Alaska
The Lord of the Rings**
The Lovely Bones
The Martian
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mind Invaders
Moby Dick
The Notebook
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Outlander
The Outsiders
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Pilgrim’s Progress
The Pillars of the Earth
Pride and Prejudice
Ready Player One
Rebecca
The Shack
Siddhartha
The Sirens of Titan
The Stand
The Sun Also Rises
Swan Song
Tales of the City
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Things Fall Apart
This Present Darkness
To Kill a Mockingbird
Twilight
War and Peace
Watchers
The Wheel of Time**
Where the Red Fern Grows
White Teeth
Wuthering Heights
You can see the list of 100 books for The Great American Read here. You can also find out more about The Great American Read here.
What are your favourite books among the list? Be sure to share your picks in the comments below.
