‘Read More Books’ Challenge: Week 1: 1-52 of the list of 623 of the best books ever!

Are you ready for the challenge?

Thanks to Erik of This Kid Reviews Books, my challenge now has a name: Read More Books Challenge.

Please go to THIS SHORT POST first if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

MY OFFER

Because I know you love to read – or read and write – I have decided to give you the list I found, and I got permission to do so. (Thank you, Stuart!) You could go HERE for the list of “623 of the best books ever written” and see them all at once for yourself, and/or you can follow the list here a few at a time.

The reason I thought you might enjoy the list in sections is so that you can see which ones you have already read – a few at a time – and then —

MY CHALLENGE

… you will have a week to buy or borrow the ones you want to read before my next installment of more of the list. I was going to divide it between six posts, but changed that to twelve posts because the shorter lists are easier to work with if you want to shop for a book each week. How’s that for a little incentive for those of us who can find time to read more often? Besides, it might be fun! 🙂 And who doesn’t appreciate an excuse to book shop?

Each Thursday I will post another portion of the list of “623 of the best books ever written” until we get to the end of twelve posts. NOTE: On the fourth Thursday of each month it will not be posted because we have Sue Harrison’s writers workshop that day – and I don’t want to mess with a good thing!

Here are the first 52 books of “623 of the best books ever written” as compiled and listed on a list of books website.

  1. The Great Gatsby — by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  2. The Grapes of Wrath — by John Steinbeck
  3. Nineteen Eighty-Four — by George Orwell
  4. Ulysses — by James Joyce
  5. Lolita — by Vladimir Nabokov
  6. Catch-22 — by Joseph Heller
  7. The Catcher in the Rye — by J. D. Salinger
  8. Beloved — by Toni Morrison
  9. The Sound and the Fury — by William Faulkner
  10. To Kill a Mockingbird — by Harper Lee
  11. The Lord of the Rings — by J. R. R. Tolkien
  12. One Hundred Years of Solitude — by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
  13. Brave New World — by Aldous Huxley
  14. To The Lighthouse — by Virginia Woolf
  15. Invisible Man — by Ralph Ellison
  16. Gone With The Wind — by Margaret Mitchell
  17. Jane Eyre — by Charlotte Brontë
  18. On The Road — by Jack Kerouac
  19. Pride and Prejudice — by Jane Austen
  20. Lord of the Flies — by William Golding
  21. Middle March — by George Eliot
  22. Anna Karenina — by Leo Tolstoy
  23. Animal Farm — by George Orwell
  24. A Passage to India — by E. M. Forster
  25. In Search of Lost Time — by Marcel Proust
  26. Wuthering Heights — by Emily Brontë
  27. The Chronicles of Narnia — by C. S. Lewis
  28. The Color Purple — by Alice Walker
  29. Midnight’s Children — by Salman Rushdie
  30. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man — by James Joyce
  31. Winnie-the-Pooh — by A. A. Milne
  32. Heart of Darkness — by Joseph Conrad
  33. Mrs Dalloway — by Virginia Woolf
  34. Slaughterhouse-Five — by Kurt Vonnegut
  35. War and Peace — by Leo Tolstoy
  36. Of Mice and Men — by John Steinbeck
  37. Moby-Dick — by Herman Melville
  38. Little Women — by Louisa Mae Alcott
  39. Native Son — by Richard Wright
  40. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — by Douglas Adams
  41. Great Expectations — by Charles Dickens
  42. The Sun Also Rises — by Ernest Hemingway
  43. Rebecca — by Daphne du Maurier
  44. The Stranger — by Albert Camus
  45. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass — by Lewis Carroll
  46. For Whom the Bell Tolls — by Ernest Hemingway
  47. The Hobbit — by J. R. R. Tolkien
  48. Madame Bovary — by Gustave Flaubert
  49. The Wind in the Willows — by Kenneth Grahame
  50. The Handmaid’s Tale — by Margaret Atwood
  51. Tess of the D’Urbervilles — by Thomas Hardy
  52. Their Eyes Were Watching God — by Zora Neale Hurston

From the above list:

  • Which books have you read?
  • Which books do you want to read?
  • Which books are you going to obtain this week?(Even if you are not taking the challenge I would love to hear about your reading.)

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

21 thoughts on “‘Read More Books’ Challenge: Week 1: 1-52 of the list of 623 of the best books ever!”

    1. Thanks, Carol. If you decided to take on the challenge, please let me know. This is only the first part, there are hundreds of titles coming up in later posts. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  2. Since I have taken on the challenge, too, I will give you my list:
    I have read: Gone With The Wind, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and I read most of Little Women but should probably read it again to be able to say I read it all, and I read part of Great Expectations.
    I am still reading War and Peace (a little at a time) and now plan to finish it.
    In my ‘library’ I have on hand to read: The Catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Rings, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Wind in the Willows.

    Like

    Reply

  3. Lynn, you brought up something I’ve wanted to approach my fellow writers about for a while now. I started working part-time at the public library last year (blissful place and I thank God every day, however…) and my own writing has suffered a great deal. I can’t stop reading other folk’s novels! Be it a classic, one that’s been hovering on my TBR list for ages or a new release, and then I was put in charge of starting the branch’s book club! How can I get back to my own book consistently – and still make time to enjoy the great stories of others. I have my novel’s second draft to work on and I haven’t really done so in ages. I’ve even begun writing something else.

    I’ve always been a reader and being surrounded by all of these free books… Wow!

    I’m not complaining at all. I just want to know how you all would handle this. I need to write more – not read and that’s such an odd thought to ponder.

    Thanks!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Tonya,
      For someone who loves to both read and write … what a great job you have!
      I am not writing much at all myself. I find it hard to think that way with caregiving and going back and forth. NaNoWriMo the past three years has pushed me to write, but I have not yet decided if I am going to take that on this time around. I have exactly four weeks to make up my mind! Yikes!
      I am great at giving others advice, though, 😉 and since you asked I would suggest you establish a routine of writing on particular days and reading the work of other authors on the other days. OR, do both every day if you can find a time to write without interruption – even half an hour if that gives you time to pull your thoughts together.
      I hope someone else adds to this discussion.
      Thanks so much for your comment, Tonya.

      Like

      Reply

  4. Great list! I don’t think I’ll take your challenge yet, because I have a stack of unread books on my nightstand and in my Kindle that I’m still trying to find time to read. But of the ones on this list I’ve read 25. My favorites were Beloved, Lord of the Rings, A Hundred Years of Solitude, To a Lighthouse, The Color Purple, War and Peace, The Hobbit, and The Handmaid’s Tale.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Deborah,
      I certainly understand about all the books you have on hand to read. I have more than I will be able to read in years, I think, both paper and on Kindle.
      You’ve read almost half of this week’s list! I appreciate your telling me your favourites; it helps me to see which ones I should consider reading.
      Thanks for your comment!

      Like

      Reply

  5. Hi Lynn.

    In addition to my earlier post, I meant to mention the book on the list I’m currently reading is Pride and Prejudice. (Couldn’t get back to do so until now.) Been anxious to read it for ages; it’s an upcoming choice for our book club. I’ve read a few others on the list also. To The Lighthouse and Their Eyes Were Watching God are the others near the top of my pile.

    Thanks again!

    Like

    Reply

  6. I just got an idea! You can put the kid/adult/kid & adult books into different colors! (ex: Kid books = light green, Adult books = bright red, and Kid & Adult books (suitable for both) = dark brown)
    I want to read the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (is that for kids? If not, I’ll wait a year or so to read it), To Kill a Mockingbird, and Gone With the Wind, I’ve read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass), The Wind in The Willows, Moby-Dick & Pride and Prejudice (both abridged), Winnie~the~Pooh, and the complete Chronicles of Narnia. *Whew!*

    Like

    Reply

    1. Great idea, Erik, and I did think about some way to signify which are suitable for young readers. The problem is it will take me so much longer since I would have to take the time to check out each one since I’m not familiar with all of them. I will think more about it again, though.

      The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one to wait to read later. You have read some great books, some of which I plan to read.

      Thanks for your input. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  7. So far I have read: The Great Gatsby, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Great Expectations, Little Women, Catch-22, Chronicles of Narnia, and part of a few others. I read one of George Orwell’s books a long time ago, but cannot remember its name – about animals who rebelled against their conversations and movements being constantly monitored (help!). Obviously I need to re-read it!

    Like

    Reply

  8. Hi Lynn.
    Thanks for your advice about scheduling writing and reading. It is easier for me to set a time to write each night and clear everyone in the house out of my way for a while. Been really honing in or doing so for the last few nights. In the meantime, I still pick up my book, Nook or phone (where I download my library books! ) at any given time to read – it’s a habit that’s harder to break! LOL
    I had planned to do NaNoWriMo this year, but since I’ve begun work on this new piece, I’m rolling along with it.
    Thanks again!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Tonya,
      You are most welcome; I’m glad to be of help.
      It sounds as if you are making better progress than I am with scheduling. Your routine sounds very workable, and I wish you success. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  9. What a great challenge. Just like Deborah I may have to postpone my challenge. I do see quite a few books that I’ve read already and many that are on my TBR list like On The Road, Rebecca, and Gone With The Wind. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Chrys, I’m glad you stopped by to check this out. 🙂
      Perhaps you can choose one and read it during the whole challenge. I loved Gone With the Wind. Right now I am reaching the end of War and Peace, which I have enjoyed except not so much the Epilogue where I am now.
      Thanks for your comment.

      Like

      Reply

  10. I’ve read 28 from this list. Happy to see some of my all time favourites here like Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina and One Hundred Years of Solitude. I would love to read Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie and Beloved by Toni Morrison.

    Like

    Reply

    1. You must be a voracious reader, Darlene! Thank you for your input.
      I am about a third of the way through Jane Eyre right now, very interesting story.

      Like

      Reply

  11. I am not a fast reader but I always have a book on the go and have since as long as I can remember. I read Gone With The Wind when I was 12 in 3 days during summer holidays. Mom was annoyed because I didn’t do my chores. Now I ride the bus to work for 2 hours a day and read on the bus. There are still so many books I want to read.

    Like

    Reply

I look forward to reading your greatly appreciated comments. Thanks for making my day! :)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.