The "Big Read": Book of Books

by Nicky Munro

Background facts, storylines, biographies, original reviews - everything you could ever want to know about the nation's favourite books and the people who wrote them.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Reference, Literature

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

`The Big Read Book of Books' is the accompanying book to the 2003 BBC TV series that asked the UK public to choose their favourite books. The results were collated and a top 100 was created and this book showcases them all. It is a great starting place for a reading group list, as well as offering up suggestions for those classics you have always meant to read or have overlooked. Each entry is well illustrated and gives info on the author, the story in a nutshell, various historical facts for the time the book was set in and other relevant information regarding that particular book (like films or theatre productions of it). As we have come to expect from DK publications this is beautifully illustrated throughout and each page is clearly laid out and easy to read. If you have read some of these books then this is a great way to revisit them and if you are yet to try them this is a good way to whet your appetite and learn more before you start. A great book for avid readers and book fans.

[Vim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book list I had and I still read it every once in a while (especially this year). I know its somewhat outdated but the books listed here are the best of the best of its age. A must read for budding bookworms. :)

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I keep forgetting BBC, like Larousse, is a big bureaucracy and one of the arms of the governmental propaganda. Do you remember when BBC was good? Well, it never was. That is the propaganda reminding you to check on the state's source of information for the masses. This book is a good reminder. Sure. Harrison did a lot of work. Why? Why these books and why not others? Why these illustrations and not others? And it's not even about good books. It's about popular books.

[Jasmin Mohd-zain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The year was 2003. It is the BBC book companion to a tv series i was told. So of course most of the authors credited with their books here are Brits.

I like the book because it has a short detail about the plot. It also included related notes an picture to the book being featured.

A fun read with nice pix to revive yr memories of those book you have read already.

[MR DANIEL FOREMAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subjective summary.

[Juliana Es]

Reading halted temporarily. To be continued...

[Nor Haniza · Rating 3 out of 5]

reading halted

[Camilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love books of books. This one (based on a BBC poll from 2003) was fun to read through; especially since I had read many of the titles. My only question: who the heck is Jacqueline Wilson??

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book for browsing through, plenty of snippets of information and colourful pictures.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sets out the results of the BBC’s “The Big Read” survey of the nation’s favourite books. Essentially a collection of articles about the books voted the 100 most popular, this is an episodic read and not a great book in itself. The main interest is in knowing which books have had the greatest impact in the current consciousness. These are not the most important or influential books in literature but those with the most evidence of having importance in popular culture. It’s interesting also to see which books I have read from this list – quite a few – and those I have not read but should read in order to understand popular culture.