The top 50 books

[padmole]

Clearly Brothers Karamozov is a political pick - Martin Sheen has it as his No 1 on Desert Island discs. I need to read it!

[Zimmerman]

just 12 (and three of them were at school and the Potter ones were out of curiosity)

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
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
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

[Groomyd]

The Harry potter books are superb - I've only read them recently but while no one could claim they are high brow it's a real talent to write page turning fiction which captures children and adults alike

[Zimmerman]

I thought they were 'alright'.
Undoubtedly great if you're a kid, but couldn't fathom all the adult adulation.

I've got friends that were like rabid dogs when a new one was being released.
One even used to take the day off work for it/them!!!!!

Dont get me wrong, i didnt quit after the first one… but mainly because i bought the set (was it 4 or 5)?
Pretty sure i havent read the full series (which is a bit of shame).

[fancy dan]

Read the first one and couldn't see what the fuss was all about - it's an average kids' book, not a patch on classic Roald Dahl, Tove Jansson or Philip Pullman. Not particularly well written either. Did they get better?

[Zimmerman]

Not really.

But a while since I read them.

[murf]

They got slightly more 'adult' but I wouldn't say they got better, especially the last couple where the build up to the final showdown was slow and the end not worth the fuss.

[Achiles74]

Harry Potter books are ok but it seems to me that JK Rowling simply put a modern twist on the old books from the 50's and 60's about boarding schools combined with "The worst witch" type plots.

I'm always reminded of "Tom Brown Schooldays" when I read them.

[Groomyd]

I hadn't read any of them but have read them with my daughter - so we have enjoyed them together which probably adds considerably to the perception of them.