DavePatron Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hi, my name is Dave and I'm new here(registered 5 minutes ago). I'm 28(yesterday) and I'm a student living in Michigan. The reason for my post is that I have a project for school that I need a little help with. I won't bore you with all the details but the idea is to poll several hundred people and come up with a list of the top 100 novels ever written. My approach is to ask as many people as possible for their favorite 10 novels and to score 1-2 with 3 points, 3-5 with 2 points, and 6-10 with 1 point. Then I plan to simply add up the points of every book and put them in order. The problem I've found is that when walking around a college campus, more often than not, people can't even name 10 books. Thats why I've decided to take my quest to the internet. At least I know people here have read 10 books lol. When my study is complete I will surely post the results here if anyone is interested in seeing them. And if this post is inappropriate I apologize. Mods feel free to delete/modify/or move to a more appropriate forum if needed. Thanks everyone. Here is a sample list of my favorites thus far. 1. The Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas 2. Ulysses - James Joyce 3. War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy 4. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand 5. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 7. Lord Of The Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien 8. The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger 9. Watership Down - Richard Adams 10. Angels And Demons - Dan Brown Thanks in advance for your help -DP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nici Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hello and welcome Dave , I will give it some thought!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavePatron Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 Thx for the welcome Nici. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angerball Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hiya, and welcome to the forum. I'll have a think of what my Top Ten novels are and will post back later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nici Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Right, here are my current top 10. I say current as i have a lot of good books on my bookshelf waiting to be read!! 1. Jean Auel - Clan of the Cave Bear 2. Barbara Erskine - Hiding from the light 3. Nancy KcKenzie - Queen of Camelot 4. Stephen King - IT 5. Martina Cole - The Know 6. Martina Cole - Lady Killer 7. Barbara Erskine - Lady of Hay 8. Jean Auel - The Valley of Horses 9. Barbara Erskine - Child of the Pheonix 10. Virginia Andrews - Flowers in the Attic I really must start reading books by different authors!!! Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty_kitty Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Right i am off to have a think......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angerball Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Here are my Top Ten. It's actually a lot harder than I thought to come up with 10. I had a lot more on my list, but these are the ones I have narrowed it down to. 1. The Stand - Stephen King (it will always be my number 1! ) 2. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood 3. Out - Natsuo Kirino 4. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett 5. IT - Stephen King 6. Wizard and Glass - Stephen King 7. The Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel 8. Microserfs - Douglas Coupland 9. The Life of Pi - Yann Martel 10. Small Island - Andrea Levy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 We've tried this sort of thing ourselves, and the trouble with people who read alot, is that they often can't decide on their top 10! Godd luck, and please do let us know the results. What are you studying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavePatron Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 Thx for the replies so far guys(and gals). Anger- I don't know how I left The Stand off of my list. That is the first long novel I read cover to cover. Truly a great read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nici Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Anger- I don't know how I left The Stand off of my list. That is the first long novel I read cover to cover. Truly a great read. I have yet to read this so it might end being on my top 10! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavePatron Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 We've tried this sort of thing ourselves, and the trouble with people who read alot, is that they often can't decide on their top 10! Godd luck, and please do let us know the results. What are you studying? Hi Michelle. Thx for the welcome. I currently play poker for a living and am taking a few classes that sparked my interest for my own entertainment and knowledge. I don't have any major in mind and don't really plan to get a degree in anything. This particular class is a Social Trends course. The project is polling large groups of people in anything you choose. I choose non fiction literature because its something I'm interested in myself. I have a partner who is conducting a similar study and I guess the idea is to show how different the results can be by only changing the person conducting the study. Ive already polled the staff in a few departments of the university and spent hours pounding the pavement. My early observation is that I have to poll a HUGE # of people to get anything meaningful out of the project. As you can see even by the few responses here noone has repeated a title yet lol. I think part of the problem may be that people are inclined to list the books that they have most recently read. I plan to try a few other forums as well to get more data. Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 My 'current' Top 10! Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Othello - William Shakespeare (Can I have this? It’s one of my all-time favourite reads!) The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffeneger Gentlemen and Players - Joanne Harris Beyond This Place - A J Cronin Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett You never know - you might end up enjoying it here and stick around when your project is finished - we're a friendly bunch. I'd definitely like to see your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiseog Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Here are mine for 2006: Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides Making History - Stephen Fry The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova The Pure in Heart - Susan Hill Sleepy Head - Mark Billingham The Shipping News - Annie Proulx Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman Practical Magic - Alice Hoffmann Perfume - Patrick Suskind Firemaster's Mistress - Christa Dickason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hello & , Dave! What a tough question to start off with! This is going to take some serious thinking... it's so difficult to put them in any kind of order, so I'll have to make it a mix of old and new favourites: 1. The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (I love all the Chronicles of Narnia - with the exception of A Horse and His Boy - but this, the darkest of them, is my favourite) 2. The Stand by Stephen King (This post-apocalyptic epic is King's most completely realised and well-written to date) 3. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (This witty, swash-buckling romantic fairytale fantasy has a little bit of everything - the humour is incredibly clever) 4. The Wind ni the Willows by Kenneth Graham (An absolute classics - need I say more?) 5. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (This more recent episode in the City Watch section of the Discworld series is superb) 6. The Eagle's Prey by Simon Scarrow (The fifth, and best to date, of the Eagles series) 7. The Prestige by Christopher Priestly (Mystery, intrigue and stage magic combined with tragic secrets) 8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Sublime writing - the taboo plot is superbly and tactfully handled) 9. Wolf Girl by Theresa Tomlinson (Skilfully written historical fiction aimed at the YA market and set in Northumbria) 10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon (Sympathetic and beautifully written book that crossed from the YA market to the grown up fiction shelves seamlessly) It was SO difficult to leave out all the others! Of course, ask me in a week's time and the list will have changed - LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Hi, welcome and I'm off to think of my top 10! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Today (it'll be different tomorrow, with one Murukami and one Ballard, at least, and maybe a different Kadare, a different Mitchell, and possibly a different Lanchester): Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester Broken April by Ismail Kadare The Bridge Over the Drina by Ivo Andric Scoop by Evelyn Waugh The Good Soldier Schweijk by Jaroslav Hasek At-Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Ok had a think and here is my top 10 (for now!) 1. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell 2. The Wind In The Willows - Kenneth Graham 3. The Lion the witch and The wardrobe - C. S. Lewis 4. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 5. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6. The Nun's Story - Kathryn Hulme 7. A Town Like Alice - Neville Shute 8. The Lady Killer - Martina Cole 9. Trust Me - Lesley Pearce 10. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavePatron Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 does it have to be top 10. There only 6 books i really enjoyed. Does it matter if there a few of the same aurthor? Top 6 will work. Same author not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Hi Dave and welcome! Here's my top 10: 1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee 3. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller 4. Tomorrow, When The War Began - John Marsden 5. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury 6. 1984 - George Orwell 7. The War Of The Worlds - HG Wells 8. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 9. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams 10. For The Term Of His Natural Life - Marcus Clarke Have you tried going into bookshops and libraries and surveying the staff? I should think they'd be pretty helpful. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 OK. Top Ten of All Time.....in no particular order: 1. Malevil by Robert Merle 2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon [the whole series] 4. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart [actually all of the "Merlin Trilogy] 5. Hawaii by James Michener 6. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells 7. Pillar of Iron by Taylor Caldwell 8. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 9. Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov 10. The Bible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathofkublakhan Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Howdy Dave, I knew I'd be the subject of a science project eventually; I just didn't think it'd be as simple as a book poll. Hmmmm ... as of this posting, here's my top twelve - not ranked. * The Time Travelers Wife - Audrey Niffeneger * Tarzan - Edgar Rice Burroughs * The Jungle Books - Rudyard Kipling * M*A*S*H - John Hooker * Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card * Dragonsinger - Anne McCaffrey * Obsidian Butterfly - Laurell K. Hamilton * My Life and Hard Times - James Thurber * Interview with a Vampire - Anne Rice * Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (esp. in honor of his recent passing) * Battlefield Earth - L. Ron Hubbard * Manchild in the Promised Land - Claude Brown Once upon a time, Eric Clapton said that if you didn't know who Robert Johnson was, Eric wouldn't even talk to you. I'm of a kinder ilk, I feel if you've read one of my top books -- you are an instant good friend because we have that shared experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathofkublakhan Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 4. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart [actually all of the "Merlin Trilogy] Gracious me, I loved those books! By golly, it's been 30 years since I've read those and I still remember them ... great choice, pontalba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Once upon a time, Eric Clapton said that if you didn't know who Robert Johnson was, Eric wouldn't even talk to you. I'm of a kinder ilk, I feel if you've read one of my top books -- you are an instant good friend because we have that shared experience. Well, I've read two of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 1. mr god this is anna - fynn 2. the time traveller's wife - audrey niffenegger 3. the eight - katherine neville 4. good omens - neil gaiman and terry pratchett 5. memoirs of a geisha - arthur golden 6. times arrow - martin amis 7. down and out in paris and london - george orwell 8. jamaica inn - daphne du maurier 9. gone with the wind - margaret mitchell 10. the mezzanine - nicholson baker that was hard! start with a few and then as you think, you get far more than ten and then have to edit. grrr..... doubt many of mine will end up anywhere near the top 100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 1 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time Mark Haddon2 Book thief MarKus Zusak 3 Flatmates Chris manby 4 Girl meets ape chris manby 5 Ready or not Chris manby 6 Running away from Richard by chris manby 7 Nadia knows best Jill Mansell. not sure how i get the impression, but you love chris manby don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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