[happy world book day]

In a survey to mark the tenth anniversary of World Book Day these are the world's favourite books (2000 people participated):

1) Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 20%
2) Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkein 17%
3) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 14%
4) Harry Potter books – J K Rowling 12%
5) To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee 9.5%
6) The Bible 9%
7) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8.5%
8) 1984 – George Orwell 6% tied with His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 6%
10) Great Expectations – Charles Dickens .55%

Here are a few of my favourite reads (in no particular order):

• La Divina Commedia - Dante Alighieri


• A Natural History of the Senses - Diane Ackerman


• The Oxford English Dictionary (this is a great help when it comes to scrabble!)


• Beloved - Toni Morrison


• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood


• Lives of Girls and Women: A Novel - Alice Munro


• The Doors of Perception - Aldous Huxley


• Nomadic Subjects - Rosi Braidotti (academic, I know, but such a good read)

• Wise Children - Angela Carter (I love the Shakespearean references down to the road Nora and Dora grow up on: Bard Rd.)


• Goblin Market and Other Poems - Christina Rossetti (interestingly, Gabriele Rossetti, Christina's father, was born in Vasto, Italy, the very place I spent my early years and where I now enjoy my summers)

• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

• Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell (One summer in Italy, at 11 years old, this is the only thing I read and reread and reread

and the list can go on and on and on....

BTW: an excellent site that promotes children's love of books and has some excellent reviews, check out Jen Robinson's book blog.


Hrm. What are your top ten reads?