The Great American Read on PBS has come to a close and the books have
been ranked. The top 10 most-beloved books are:
10. “Jane Eyre”
by Charlotte Bronte
9. “The Chronicles
of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis
8. “Little Women”
by Louisa May Alcott
7. “Charlotte’s
Web” by E.B. White
6. “Gone with the
Wind” by Margaret Mitchell
5. The Lord of the
Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. “Pride and
Prejudice” by Jane Austen
3. The Harry Potter
series by J.K. Rowling
2. The Outlander
series by Diana Gabaldon
1. “To Kill a
Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
This is an excellent top-10 of books, and
I think we can learn a lot about the reading community if we look
closely at it.
Out of the top 10,
seven books are ones readers would have a good chance of being
introduced to at a young age, in their most formative years. Think
back to the books that really stood out when you were younger,
whether you read them alone, in a classroom or with an adult. Odds
are good that you carry them with you still. I remember an elementary
school teacher reading the whole class both “Charlotte’s Web”
and “The Hobbit” when I was a student, and the joy when it was
reading time — all of us gathered around on the floor listening
intently as the stories unfolded, groaning when it was time for her
to stop (she was excellent at knowing where to stop for the most
effect to keep us excited.) There are a number of studies that
impress upon us the importance of starting your children young with
books; this ranking supports that information — as well as showing
us the importance of reading great literature in school.
Out of the top ten,
seven authors are female. There is a huge movement in the literary
community at the moment for readers to make a conscious effort to
read more books by women, and this ranking shows the importance of
literary work by women.
We can clearly see
that a visual representation of the books is important; all of the
top 10 have been made into either movies or television series. I’m
quite sure Gabaldon’s Outlander series would not be in the top 10
if the show wasn’t currently such a hit for Starz, as the books in
the series aren’t something to be quickly skimmed — one of the
later books in the series (which, yes, I have read) is almost 1,500
pages long. I know there’s a lot of worry when a beloved book is
transferred to the screen, be it the big or small one, but if it puts
the book in the public eye, there’s always a chance the viewer will
find the book itself and read it — and anything that gets people
reading works for me.
Readers like books
with staying power, it seems — only two of the top ten are truly
contemporary titles. And readers like books with hope and love in
them; every one of these books I would consider a hopeful read,
filled with strong, relatable characters and lots of love.
The books I was most
worried about ranking highly didn’t do well at all — sorry,
“Twilight,” (No. 73) “Fifty Shades of Gray” (No. 86) and
“Flowers in the Attic” (No. 85) — and this gives me hope that
people want good, well-written books more than they want titillating
flash-in-the-pan fiction written so luridly and poorly that it could
be a study in what not to do in a writing workshop.
And “To Kill a
Mockingbird” at the No. 1 spot is a wonderful choice. It’s a book
with something for everyone, that teaches lessons about social
problems, compassion and love, and its themes are as important today
as they were when it was written. I can only hope that people who may
not have read the book pick it up now that it’s in the news; it’s
a book that absolutely everyone should read, and I stand behind this
choice completely.
Overall, this
project was a fine choice on PBS’s part. People got excited about
books — reading them, talking about them, thinking about them,
voting for them. The series that ran while the voting went on was a
fun watch and brought book-lovers together in a joyful way. Books are
one of the most important things in my life, and seeing others
celebrate that has been so fulfilling for me — and it’s wonderful
to know others feel the same way.