The top 100 from BBC’s search for UK’s best-loved novel. Of course, we Indi­ans will have a totally dif­fer­ent list, but since we don’t as of now, here it is:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prej­u­dice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Mate­ri­als, Philip Pull­man
4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dou­glas Adams
5. Harry Pot­ter and the Gob­let of Fire, JK Rowl­ing
6. To Kill a Mock­ing­bird, Harper Lee
7. Win­nie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nine­teen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Char­lotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuther­ing Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Bird­song, Sebas­t­ian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Mau­rier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Wil­lows, Ken­neth Gra­hame
17. Great Expec­ta­tions, Charles Dick­ens
18. Lit­tle Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Cap­tain Corelli’s Man­dolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tol­stoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Mar­garet Mitchell
22. Harry Pot­ter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowl­ing
23. Harry Pot­ter And The Cham­ber Of Secrets, JK Rowl­ing
24. Harry Pot­ter And The Pris­oner Of Azk­a­ban, JK Rowl­ing
25. The Hob­bit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Mid­dle­march, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irv­ing
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Stein­beck
30. Alice’s Adven­tures In Won­der­land, Lewis Car­roll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacque­line Wil­son
32. One Hun­dred Years Of Soli­tude, Gabriel Gar­cía Márquez
33. The Pil­lars Of The Earth, Ken Fol­lett
34. David Cop­per­field, Charles Dick­ens
35. Char­lie And The Choco­late Fac­tory, Roald Dahl
36. Trea­sure Island, Robert Louis Steven­son
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Per­sua­sion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Her­bert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Mont­gomery
42. Water­ship Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzger­ald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexan­dre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revis­ited, Eve­lyn Waugh
46. Ani­mal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christ­mas Carol, Charles Dick­ens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Good­night Mis­ter Tom, Michelle Mago­rian
50. The Shell Seek­ers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Gar­den, Frances Hodg­son Bur­nett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Stein­beck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karen­ina, Leo Tol­stoy
55. A Suit­able Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swal­lows And Ama­zons, Arthur Ran­some
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer | Live chat
60. Crime And Pun­ish­ment, Fyo­dor Dos­toyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Mal­o­rie Black­man
62. Mem­oirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dick­ens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCol­lough
65. Mort, Terry Pratch­ett
66. The Magic Far­away Tree, Enid Bly­ton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratch­ett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratch­ett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Gold­ing
71. Per­fume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Phil­an­thropists, Robert Tres­sell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratch­ett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Brid­get Jones’s Diary, Helen Field­ing
76. The Secret His­tory, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dick­ens
80. Dou­ble Act, Jacque­line Wil­son
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Cap­ture The Cas­tle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gor­meng­hast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arund­hati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacque­line Wil­son
87. Brave New World, Aldous Hux­ley
88. Cold Com­fort Farm, Stella Gib­bons
89. Magi­cian, Ray­mond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Ker­ouac
91. The God­fa­ther, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratch­ett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Kather­ine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jef­frey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Gar­cía Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacque­line Wil­son
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Chil­dren, Salman Rushdie

I’ve read 34 out of the 100. Most of the clas­sics were dur­ing school and col­lege days and I find it increas­ingly tax­ing to read them now. But, it looks like I have a lot of catch­ing up to do! All the more rea­son to get myself a library mem­ber­ship quickly. Stop watch­ing movies and read more instead! Hope you’ve scored a lit­tle bet­ter than I have!

[Link via Aashish]