The Big Read

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

BBC, 200 Books

The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel. The year-long survey was the biggest single test of public reading taste to date, and culminated with several programmes hosted by celebrities, advocating their favourite books.

This list was originally published in 2003 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
12204 Lola Rose Jacqueline Wilson 2003 British English
105 Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray 1847 British English
246 The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy 1906 British English
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
878 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver 1998 American English
8747 Reaper Man Terry Pratchett 1991 British English
5750 Angus, Thongs And Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison 1999 British English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
718 Possession A. S. Byatt 1990 British English
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
1043 Danny The Champion Of The World Roald Dahl 1975 British English
193 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952 American English
9138 George's Marvellous Medicine Roald Dahl 1981 British English
8403 Wyrd Sisters Terry Pratchett 1988 British English
157 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
9603 Hogfather Terry Pratchett 1996 British English
344 The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 British English
12025 Girls In Tears Jacqueline Wilson 2002 British English
11836 Sleepovers Jacqueline Wilson 2001 British English
86 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1928 German German
3578 Behind the Scenes at the Museum Kate Atkinson 1995 British English
890 High Fidelity Nick Hornby 1995 British English
981 It Stephen King 1986 American English
1444 James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl 1961 British English
8421 The Green Mile Stephen King 1996 American English
4580 Papillon Henri Charrière 1969 French French
10660 Men At Arms Terry Pratchett 1993 British English
921 Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian 1969 British English
10819 Skeleton Key Anthony Horowitz 2002 British English
9240 Soul Music Terry Pratchett 1994 British English
10561 Thief Of Time Terry Pratchett 2001 British English
10103 The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 1999 British English
248 Atonement Ian McEwan 2001 British English
12031 Secrets Jacqueline Wilson 2002 British English
7074 The Silver Sword Ian Serraillier 1956 British English
154 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey 1962 American English
31 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 1899 British English
247 Kim Rudyard Kipling 1901 British English
842 Outlander Diana Gabaldon 1991 American English
7 Moby-Dick Herman Melville 1851 American English
9092 River God Wilbur Smith 1993 South African English
2330 Sunset Song Lewis Grassic Gibbon 1932 Scottish English
488 The Shipping News Annie Proulx 1993 Canadian English
407 The World According to Garp John Irving 1978 American English
1198 Lorna Doone R. D. Blackmore 1869 British English
11429 Girls Out Late Jacqueline Wilson 1999 British English
786 The Far Pavilions Mary Margaret Kaye 1978 British English
1931 The Witches Roald Dahl 1983 British English
102 Charlotte's Web E. B. White 1952 American English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
8366 They Used To Play On Grass Terry Venables, Gordon Williams 1972 British English
54 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 American English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
1835 Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder 1991 Norwegian Norwegian
11843 Dustbin Baby Jacqueline Wilson 2001 British English
8246 Fantastic Mr Fox Roald Dahl 1970 British English
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
1255 Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach 1970 American English
44 The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 1943 French French
10521 The Suitcase Kid Jacqueline Wilson 1992 British English
339 The Adventures of Oliver Twist Charles Dickens 1837 British English
2369 The Power of One Bryce Courtenay 1989 Australian English
643 Silas Marner George Eliot 1861 British English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
2208 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
3257 Goosebumps R. L. Stine 1992 American English
867 Heidi Johanna Spyri 1881 Swiss German
144 Sons and Lovers D. H. Lawrence 1913 British English
99 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera 1984 Czech Czech
11434 Man And Boy Tony Parsons 1999 British English
8320 The Truth Terry Pratchett 2000 British English
372 War of the Worlds H. G. Wells 1898 British English
5391 The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans 1995 British English
549 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry 1995 Indian English
10361 Witches Abroad Terry Pratchett 1991 British English
286 The Once and Future King T. H. White 1958 British English
1821 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle 1969 American English
4384 Flowers in the Attic V. C. Andrews 1979 American English