100 Random Books

I saw this list somewhere with the caption "The BBC thinks you've only read SIX of these books! Check how many you've read...!" But a quick google search revealed this exact list and especially the caption did NOT generate from BBC. 

(As I suspected. They don't usually try to taunt and insult their readers--as far as I know.)

So, it's just a random list of random books. Despite that, I wanted to see how many I've actually read. Some I've never even heard of, some I started but didn't finish, and some I know enough about to not WANT to read them. (I'm looking at you Wuthering Heights.)

I'm going to bold the ones I've read start to finish, and if you see any I *haven't* read that you absolutely LOVE, let me know!

And maybe you'll see some that I've read that you want to try!

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen I've read all of her's and love them.

2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien. Nope. Tried in 5th grade and couldn't get into it.

3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte LOVE IT!

4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling (all) Yep. Love.

5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee One of my all time favorites.

6 The Bible - Not from cover to cover, but lots of it over and over...;)

7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte Nope. I like happy endings.

8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman Doug liked this one. Didn't interest me.

10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens back in 9th grade.

11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott Just read it last year and loved it.

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy (Started didn't finish

13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller Don't think so.

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare Some, not all.

15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier LOVE

16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien YES

17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks  

18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger I hate this book

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch – George Eliot  LOVE these and the BBC miniseries

21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gasby – F Scott Fitzgerald Loved, but didn't watch the movie

23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens LOVE the book, LOVE the BBC miniseries

24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy Just started it.

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams So so funny 

26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky Yep.   

28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck Not yet, but I love Steinbeck so I'll get to it.

29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 

30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens One of my favorites

33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis I think I started them but never finished in grade school

34 Emma – Jane Austen

35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere

39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne

41 Animal Farm – George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins LOVE

46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 

47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 

48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 

50 Atonement – Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel

52 Dune – Frank Herbert Could.Not.Get.Into.This.Book.

53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 

54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 

56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 

58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 

61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 

64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold I HATE THIS BOOK

65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac I HATE THIS BOOK TOO

67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 

69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens

72 Dracula – Bram Stoker  

73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses – James Joyce 

76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal – Emile Zola 

79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession – AS Byatt 

81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell 

83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry  

87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 

91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad NOT my favorite!

92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 

93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks

94 Watership Down – Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute LOVE Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas  

98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 

100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Happy Reading,

Emily

How To Train Your Dragon Series by Cressida Cowell - Age 8-12

Wanna know how to REALLY upset your local librarian? Hold up a copy of "How To Train Your Dragon" and say:

"This is a BOOK?!?"

This is how Sam managed to annoy OUR local librarian, and how, a few years ago (shortly after the first movie came out) we discovered these books. (The librarian was a HUGE fan of the books. Not so much the movie.)

"How to Train Your Dragon" is actually a series of 12 books written by British Author Cressida Cowell. Ms. Cowell had an amazing upbringing on an unpopulated island off Scotland that I wish I could replicate for my kids. So obviously, she is the perfect candidate to record Hiccup's memoirs.


(The above box set only includes titles 1-11. I can't find a box set with all 12. )

While I have not read these, Sam (who is 12 but started reading the series 3-4 ish years ago...) LOVED THEM.

If you ask what his favorite book of all time is, he will say this entire series.

Sam is a little picky about his books, takes his sweet time reading them, and can't be bothered to push through something if it's the least bit slow/boring/annoying or uninteresting. So this is high praise indeed.

These books are fairly easy reads. Not too many words per page and lots of simple but cute illustrations. They are also funny. A big bonus for the readers in my family. We LOVE funny.

So if you have a kid who needs a good long series, likes dragons and battles, and loves to laugh, this might be the series you're looking for.  Since I haven't read these, I don't know if they appeal equally to girls. Don't know if they have many female characters or how girls are represented in the books. If you have a daughter who has read them, let me know what she thinks!

{Post edit: Two different mom's of girls told me on FB their daughters liked these and one said the audio version is great for road-trips!!}

HAPPY READING,
Emily


From the How to Train Your Dragon Website:
In the beginning, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was the most put upon Viking you'd ever seen. Not loud enough to make himself heard at dinner with his father, Stoick the Vast; not hard enough to beat his chief rival, Snotlout, at Bashyball, the number one school sport and CERTAINLY not stupid enough to go into a cave full of dragons to find a pet...

Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life by Jason Hanson - Age 13+

This was an entertaining/fun/disturbing/eye-opening read...
I had Max (15) and my sister read it, and I want Doug to read it too. But I decided NOT to let Sam (12) and Gabe (9) read it because of his real world examples of people being hurt by bad guys. (Even though he is trying to arm you with techniques that will help you protect yourself.)

Don't get me wrong, it is not unduly graphic in any way, and the boys would probably not be phased--I'm just being extra sensitive to their sensitivity.

(On a side-note, I would love, love, love to see a version of this book written specifically for kids/teens.)

Anyway, quite awhile ago, I saw this guy on Shark Tank trying to sell the "Sharks" on his Spy School idea. His business got funded and led to him writing this book. I read a review of it somewhere, remembered the author from Shark Tank, thought how much Gabe wants to be a "secret agent" and put the book on hold at the library. (I plan to buy a copy--just haven't gotten around to it yet.) I was glad I did, even though I decided not to let Gabe read it.

Now, since this book was written to build his business, he pushes a LOT of different products you can buy: All available on his sensory-overload weird and convoluted website(s). Reading the book DID make me want to spend $600 on spy gear, but instead I just bought a few little things on Amazon. I.E., Paracord, a lock pick set (for the boys for fun) and a tactical pen.


{Turns out, you can't buy every spy gear item under the sun or your spouse may suspect you are planning to murder him and leave the country.}

Anyway, whether you dream of being an international man of mystery, a secret agent, or even a Bond girl, this was a great read that also happens to have a lot of helpful information in it. I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think in the comments!

Happy Reading!!
Emily



P.S. This post contains affiliate links.

Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen is the first book of hers I read, and it remains my absolute favorite. Not only did I LOVE the first book, (Could NOT put it down!) the second and third books were great too!  {Now, how often does it happen that the final book isn't a complete let down?! I'm looking at you Divergent and Hunger Games!}


This is an action-oriented fantasy that revolves around political intrigue in a kingdom far, far away. (No magical creatures in this book.)


I was quickly captivated by the street-smart, clever, semi-criminal main character Sage, and can honestly say, that I didn't see the final plot twist coming (in any of the books) despite the fact that this book was written for an early middle-grade audience. (Booklist says grades 4-7) I also loved how the series ended though I wished it didn't.

I highly, highly recommended these books and wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying them. (If you're the type of person who likes to have books to share, lend, re-read.)
If you have no kids, buy them for yourself. They are really fun to read.


Now, once you've read The Ascendance Trilogy, you are going to want to check out some of Jennifer Nielsen's other books.

I have read
"A Night Divided",
"The Scourge",
and "The Mark of the Thief" trilogy, (though I haven't finished the third book in that series.)

"A Night Divided" is written about 12-year-old Gerta who lives in Berlin when the wall goes up and is cut off from her father and brother. This is a great book for introducing this important historical event, but while "The False Prince" felt like it appealed to me as an adult as much as it would have to me as a kid, "A Night Divided" feels like it is written for 12-13 year olds.
Maybe the plot isn't as deeply developed as I would have wanted or maybe the ending is a little too pat. The point is, it is a great book, and a book I want my kids to read for the historical insight they will gain, but I would have been just as happy to have it from the library.

{Did you ever read the book "So Far From the Bamboo Grove"? I read that as a kid, loved it, thought about it often and re-read and loved it as an adult. It was a book that seeped into my soul. "A Night Divided" is not quite at that level.}

"The Scourge" was a page-turner, but I think I just wasn't overly in love with the ending or the characters. I liked it, but I didn't finish it wishing there was a second book. Doug said he really enjoyed it though, and Max sped right through it with no complaints.

Finally, "The Mark of the Thief" books were good but not as captivating for me as "The False Prince". They take place in ancient Rome and involve, magic, magical creatures, Roman games, Caesar, and the gods Mars and Diana. If you or your kids are Percy Jackson fans, you might really really dig these. I loved the first one, but now that I'm on the third, I'm a tiny bit over the magical battles--which is why I haven't finished it yet. However, Max will probably pick it up and finish it in one sitting.

Hope you've found something to peek your interest. If you've read any of these, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading,
Emily

P.S. This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. They do not, however, change the price of the books.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart -- Ages 10/11+

I have a confession. I read this book about 5 years ago. And I'm pretty sure I read the second one. I am NOT sure if I read the third one and definitely didn't read the fourth. Three and four may or may not have been written yet...


Here is what I do know: I read the first book and loved it.
Max read it and loved it.
We gave it to Max's friend Lauren and SHE read it and loved it.

And as far as I know, every kid on the face of the planet who has read this book...

...has loved it.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong!! If you or your kid hated it, this is information we need to know!;)

This is a pretty long book. 500+ pages, so NOT for a beginning reader. But I believe it appeals equally to boys and girls and has a nice blend of clever, independent kids, and exciting adventures with a lot of mystery and problem-solving mixed in. I would have loved it as a kid. (And, as I said, loved it as an adult.)

Amazon age range is 8-13 for the first book, 10-13 for the whole series.
(But as we know from The Lego Movie...
Son: "It says Ages 5-12" Dad: "That's just a suggestion!!")

Read it and let me know what you think! And tell me if I need to go back and finish the series!!

Happy Reading,

Emily

Common Sense Media says:
Parents need to know that The Mysterious Benedict Society is the story of four gifted kids, all orphans age 12 and under, who are recruited and then trained by Mr. Benedict and sent to a remote boarding school to learn more about an evil mastermind bent on taking over the world. There's little violence beyond some mild fistfighting and a near kidnapping, where perpetrators are knocked out with a tranquilizer gun. Teamwork, creative problem solving, and the love of the truth are keys to the kids' success. This is the first in a four-volume series. 

P.S. If you liked this post, please leave a comment or share it!

P.P.S. Most links used above are 'Amazon Affiliate' links. If you use one to buy a book, I get a small percentage of the purchase price. If you don't, I won't mind a bit. 
I always recommend getting books at the library first, buying from Amazon second!

P.P.P.S. I purchased this book with my own money and reviewed it because I loved it!

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein -- Age 10+

Talk about judging books by the cover!!
I saw this:


 at Costco and threw it right in my cart.

*Cool cover art.
*The word 'Library' in the title. (One of my favorite places.)
*And intrigue. (Who needs to escape and why?)

How could I not buy it?

Turns out, I was not dissapointed. It was a great book!

Unfortunately, Costco wasn't selling the complete "Lemoncello" trilogy as a set so we only have the first book, but we will eventually buy the final two in the Lemoncello series.
(Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics and Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race)

One thing I loved about Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library was that it was filled with references to other books. After reading a few pages, I grabbed a pencil and starting underlining them and writing the book title referenced off to the side. Max said he liked knowing what books the lines were from when he read it after me.

A book that gets kids excited about reading more books is a huge win in my book.

Amazon puts the age range at ages 8-12. It's been a year or so since I've read it, but that sounds fine. When in doubt, look at the recommend age and add two years. Or look at the age of the main character and start there. Main character Kyle is 12.

The oldest four over here really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to give it to Gabe to read next. I think it will appeal equally to boys and girls and hope you'll like it too! Tell me what you think!

Happy Reading!!
-Emily

Chris Grabenstein's Website says:

Can twelve 12-year-olds escape from the most ridiculously brilliant library ever created?

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library plunks a dozen sixth-graders into the middle of a futuristic library for a night of nonstop fun and adventure.

In a nod to Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this fast-paced new novel features an eccentric billionaire who welcomes a group of children into a fantasy setting full of weird, wondrous touches...

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is more than a rib-tickling novel full of humor and suspense. It's a game in itself, in which readers can have fun solving clues and answering riddles while learning how to navigate the Dewey Decimal system. Eagle-eyed kids—not to mention their parents, teachers, and librarians—can also hunt for the names of authors and classic books sprinkled throughout the fast-moving story. 

Rumor has it there is even one puzzle that is in the book but not in the story. Can you find and solve it?
---

P.S. The links attached to book titles used above are mostly "Amazon Affiliate Links". They give me a tiny percentage of the purchase price if you use my link to buy a book. However, if you go to Amazon on your own, it won't hurt my feelings! ;) We usually like to check things out at the library before we decide to buy.

P.P.S. If you like this post, please leave a comment or share it! Thanks!!

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy -- Age 12+

I'm not sure how we were introduced to  "The Apothecary" series by Maile Meloy. Pretty sure Doug randomly brought the Book-on-CD home from the library. {We get hooked on a lot of great books by grabbing whatever looks good at the library before a road trip. Yes, we often judge books by the cover and this series has great cover art!}

Whatever the case may be, I listened to it in the car  and got hooked pretty fast.  We got all three books on CD from the library and we all listened to them. (The series didn't particularly hold the attention of Gabe and Gray but there is nothing you would be overly worried about younger kids hearing either. Not like when I tried to listen to "The Fault In Our Stars" in the car...)

This series does have a good narrator, Cristin Milioti, but I feel like it would be just as enjoyable in book form. These can also be found on Audible and I ended up buying the first one for future road trips.

The first book takes place in London in 1952. The main character in this book is a 14 year old girl. I appreciate that she was portrayed as strong and smart but also a normal young teen girl with insecurities and crushes and a vivid imagination. The other main character is a teenage boy. Also smart and (bonus) British.

Adventure, magic, and a little romance makes this appeal to everyone and Max (14 at the time), Sam (11), and Doug enjoyed it as much as I did.

The Apprentices is the second book and The After Room is the third and final book in the series.

If you read this series, please come back and tell me what you think!! :)

Happy Reading--

Emily

--
The publisher recommends these for ages 9-12. I would personally say 12+. (Feels a little mature for younger kids, especially as the series moves along.)

Common Sense Media rates this as ages 11+ and says:
"Parents need to know that The Apothecary is an engaging, well-written story by an award-winning  adult author who has successfully turned to a younger audience without simply dumbing down adult themes. Some social and ethical complexities may be a bit much for younger kids, e.g., the casual ruthlesslessness with which Janie and Benjamin are willing to try out a potion on their hapless classmate Sergei, the quandary of Sergei's father with his wife and daughter in the hands of his Soviet employers, and Pip's cheerfully thieving nature. Janie's parents are blacklisted Hollywood writers, and Meloy's excellent, evenhanded treatment of the subject might serve as an good introduction to the McCarthy era."
--

P.S. The links attached to book titles used above are mostly "Amazon Affiliate Links". They give me a tiny percentage of the purchase price if you use my link to buy a book. However, if you go to Amazon on your own, it won't hurt my feelings! ;) We usually like to check things out at the library before we decide to buy.

P.P.S. If you liked this post, please share it or leave a comment. :)