Great American Read List discussion

I’ve been keeping track of this list on an increasingly sad print out from 2018… Excited to be digital with my progress from now on!

📚82/100
📖 is current read

The Ranked List:

#1—To Kill a Mockingbird
#2—Outlander (series)
#3—Harry Potter (series)*
#4—Pride and Prejudice 😐
#5—The Lord of the Rings (series)* 🙂🙄
#6—Gone with the Wind
#7—Charlotte's Web* 😍
#8—Little Women* 🙂
#9—Chronicles of Narnia (series)* 🙂
#10—Jane Eyre 😍
#11—Anne of Green Gables 😐🙄
#12—The Grapes of Wrath
#13—A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 😍
#14—The Book Thief 😤
#15—The Great Gatsby 🙅🏻‍♀️
#16—The Help* 😍
#17—The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* 😐
#18—1984* 😱😐
#19—And Then There Were None* 😍
#20—Atlas Shrugged 🙂🙄
#21—Wuthering Heights
#22—Lonesome Dove
#23—Pillars of the Earth* 🤩
#24—The Stand 🙂
#25—Rebecca 🙄🫥
#26—A Prayer for Owen Meany
#27—The Color Purple 😢🤩
#28—Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 🫥
#29—Great Expectations 😍
#30—The Catcher in the Rye
#31—Where the Red Fern Grows* 😢🤩
#32—The Outsiders 😍
#33—The Da Vinci Code* 🤩
#34—The Handmaid's Tale 😱🤩
#35—Dune 😐
#36—The Little Prince 🫥
#37—The Call of the Wild* 🤩
#38—The Clan of the Cave Bear
#39—The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy
#40—The Hunger Games (series)* 🤩😱
#41—The Count of Monte Cristo
#42—The Joy Luck Club 🙂
#43—Frankenstein 😍
#44—The Giver 🤩😱
#45—Memoirs of a Geisha 🤩
#46—Moby Dick 🤩
#47—Catch-22 😐🙄😤
#48—Game of Thrones (series)
#49—Foundation (series) 😐 🎥
#50—War and Peace
#51—Their Eyes Were Watching God 😍
#52—Jurassic Park* 🤩
#53—The Godfather* 🤩
#54—One Hundred Years of Solitude 🫥
#55—The Picture of Dorian Gray
#56—The Notebook* 😐🎥
#57—The Shack* 🤩
#58—A Confederacy of Dunces 🙄🫥
#59—The Hunt for Red October
#60—Beloved 😍🎥😢
#61—The Martian 😍🙄
#62—The Wheel of Time (series)🙂🎥🙄
#63—Siddhartha 🤩
#64—Crime and Punishment 😐
#65—The Sun Also Rises 😐
#66—The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime 😐
#67—A Separate Peace* 🙄🫥
#68—Don Quixote 🫥
#69—The Lovely Bones* 🙂
#70—The Alchemist 🤩
#71—Hatchet (series)* 🤩
#72—Invisible Man 🙂
#73—The Twilight Saga (series) 🙂🙄
#74—Tales of the City (series) 📖
#75—Gulliver's Travels 🙂
#76—Ready Player One 🤩
#77—Left Behind (series)* 🙄😐
#78—Gone Girl 🙂😤
#79—Watchers 🤩😱
#80—The Pilgrim's Progress 🙅🏻‍♀️
#81—Alex Cross (series) 😤🙅🏻‍♀️🙄🎥
#82—Things Fall Apart 🙂
#83—Heart of Darkness 😤🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️
#84—Gilead 🫥
#85—Flowers in the Attic* 🙅🏻‍♀️🙄
#86—Fifty Shades of Grey (series) 😐🙄🎥
#87—The Sirens of Titan
#88—This Present Darkness 🙅🏻‍♀️😤
#89—Americanah 😍
#90—Another Country 😍
#91—Bless Me, Ultima 🙄😐
#92—Looking for Alaska 🙂😤
#93—The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 😍
#94—Swan Song 🤩😱😢
#95—Mind Invaders 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
#96—White Teeth 🙂
#97—Ghost 😍
#98—The Coldest Winter Ever 🙂
#99—The Intuitionist 🙂
#100—Doña Bárbára 😤🙄😐

*denotes a re-read
Ratings are for most recent read through… for series, they indicate overall impressions.
🙅🏻‍♀️ Nope. Hated it.
😤 Really frustrated me (ending, editing, writing style)
🙄 Annoying at times (could be phrasing, character, plot or editing)
😱 Conceptually Scary
😢 Wrecked me emotionally
🎥 A case where the film was better
🫥 Utterly forgettable
😐 It was OK
🙂 I liked it
😍 I LOVED it
🤩 Became a favorite, topped expectations

BOOK SERIES: Entire entries will be deleted here once the series is complete or I determine I cannot continue to wade through the text any longer. Until then, this section will be a tracker for series progress as I go along.


12. Earth's Children by Jean M. Auel - November 2022
☐ #1—The Clan of the Cave Bear
☐ #2—The Valley of Horses
☐ #3—The Mammoth Hunters
☐ #4—The Plains of Passage
☐ #5—The Shelters of Stone
☐ #6—The Land of Painted Caves

17. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 📖
☐#1—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
☐#2—Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
☐ #3—Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
☐ #4—Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
☐ #5—Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
☐ #6—Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
☐ #7—Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

18. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - October 2022
☐ #1—The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
☐ #2—The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
☐ #3—Life, the Universe and Everything
☐ #4—So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
☐ #5—Mostly Harmless

25. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
#1— Lonesome Dove — September/October 2018 Discussion
#2— Streets Of Laredo — November 2018 Discussion
#3— Dead Man's Walk — December 2018 Discussion
#4— Comanche Moon — January/February 2019 Discussion

28. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 📖
#1— Outlander - July 2020 Discussion
#2—Dragonfly in Amber - August 2020 Discussion
#3—Voyager - September 2020 Discussion
#4—Drums of Autumn - October 2020 Discussion
#5—The Fiery Cross - November 2020 Discussion
#6—A Breath of Snow and Ashes - December 2020 Discussion
☐ #7—An Echo in the Bone
☐ #8—Written in My Own Heart's Blood

30. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin 📖
#1—A Game of Thrones - January/February 2021 Discussion
#2—A Clash of Kings - March/April 2021 Discussion
#3—A Storm of Swords - May/June 2021 Discussion
#4—A Feast for Crows -July/August 2021 Discussion
#5—A Dance with Dragons - Sept/Oct 2021 Discussion

31. Tales of the City 📖
◾️Tales of the City
◾️More Tales of the City
◾️ Further Tales of the City
🔘 Babycakes
▫️Significant Others
▫️Sure of You
▫️Michael Tolliver Lives
▫️Mary Ann in Autumn
▫️The Days of Anna Madrigal
▫️ Mona of the manor

32. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#1— To Kill a Mockingbird — December 2018 Discussion
#2— Go Set a Watchman — January 2019 Discussion

📖 | Actually need to attempt the series…. (4)

Why was your printout "increasingly sad"? Are you saying you are frustrated by not reading as much as you had planned, or is it sad because you disliked several of the books? if it was because of dislike, I know what you mean. I want to have read these books, but many of them are not my cup of tea. My adult son is visiting now. I hope to add my own "shelf" after he leaves. In a sense, my "New Year's Resolutions" and preparations have been delayed. For the books that are a series, I am going to consider it as read on my spreadsheet if I have read the first book. I will only continue with series that I really like.

Joyce wrote: "Why was your printout "increasingly sad"? Are you saying you are frustrated by not reading as much as you had planned, or is it sad because you disliked several of the books? if it was because of d..."

It was crumpled, folded edges worn, triple highlighted, scratched off and then notated 😳… so the physical paper had seen enough use. But, as you can see from my ratings… many of these are not favorites. I hope to find some surprise hits though!!

I love your rating system. I'm so glad that you found our little group, I hope you find some more books that become favorites. I've found some I love that I never would have read normally and others that just leave me confused.

Happy Reading !!!