Rueben's Ramblings

Throwback Tuesday: America’s 100 Best-Loved Novels

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Last year PBS aired a two-hour special focusing on America’s 100 Best-Loved Novels, and with spring now here and folks celebrating Easter this coming weekend, I thought it would be fun to look back on this special, and more specifically the list of books on that list.

Make a point to share this list with your friends, family and even co-workers to get folks back into reading!

On May 22, PBS will air the two-hour special The Great American Read, which will celebrate the joy of reading the books we love.

The chosen books span five centuries from Don Quixote (1603) to Ghost (2016). Authors from 15 different countries are represented, with genres ranging from beloved children’s classics like Charlotte’s Web to modern best-sellers like Harry Potter.

The special will be hosted by Meredith Vieira, featuring interviews with celebrities, superfans and everyday Americans discussing the way particular books have influenced them and their significance in American popular culture.

Some of those involved in the interview will include Diane Lane, George Lopez, Seth Meyers, Lauren Graham, Gayle King, George R.R. Martin and many more.

The Great American Read will debut on May 22 at 8 PM on PBS.

Below is the full list of America’s 100 favorite novels (in alphabetical order by title):

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
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**

**Denotes a series title

Using her favorite online handle, Rueben is an East Coast-bred gal who is now a permanent Californian and a lifelong tv-oholic. She watches at least 25 TV shows a week, goes to the movies as often as possible, listens to music every waking moment, reads every day and “plays” on the internet every chance she can. Some of her current favorite TV shows are Outlander, Sweet Magnolias, Wednesday, The Mandalorian, The Equalizer, Fire Country, Miss Scarlet, Hudson & Rex, SkyMed, The Rookie, Bridgerton, Cobra Kai, Virgin River, The Witcher, Leverage: Redemption and School Spirits. She is looking forward to the fall TV season, including the return of Outlander, Tracker and The Equalizer and the debuts of the new dramas Matlock, Murder In a Small Town, NCIS: Origins and Cross. Follow her at @ruebenrambling or contact her at rueben@nicegirlstv.com. Please also check out her Rueben's Ramblings website for even more entertainment news.