,

“If on a friend’s bookshelf
You cannot find Joyce or Sterne
Cervantes, Rabelais, or Burton,

“[Gaddis or Gass, Pynchon or McElroy,
David Foster Wallace, William T Vollmann,
Alexander Theroux or Gilbert Sorrentino,]

“You are in danger, face the fact,
So kick him first or punch him hard
And from him hide behind a curtain.”
― Alexander Theroux [Ergänzung von "N.R."]

Said "N.R.", aka Friend Nathan, has the list here, complete with glorious enthusiasm!
List Challenge
The average Goodreads member has read 6 out of 100 books on this list — how many have you read?
1

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3.57 avg rating — 614,199 ratings
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2

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3.76 avg rating — 137,551 ratings
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3

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4.10 avg rating — 1,478,502 ratings
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4

by
4.28 avg rating — 417,765 ratings
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5

by
4.01 avg rating — 111,464 ratings
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6

by
4.06 avg rating — 607,578 ratings
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7

by
4.01 avg rating — 48,048 ratings
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8

by
4.25 avg rating — 101,128 ratings
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9

by
3.95 avg rating — 46,627 ratings
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10

by
3.85 avg rating — 14,290 ratings
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11

by
4.27 avg rating — 614 ratings
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12

by
3.68 avg rating — 13,604 ratings
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13

by
4.06 avg rating — 1,995 ratings
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14

by
3.97 avg rating — 132,665 ratings
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15

by
3.79 avg rating — 9,681 ratings
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16

by
4.20 avg rating — 48,880 ratings
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17

by
4.14 avg rating — 313,831 ratings
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18

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3.95 avg rating — 14,052 ratings
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19

by
3.82 avg rating — 4,451 ratings
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20

by
3.77 avg rating — 32,326 ratings
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21

by
3.82 avg rating — 560 ratings
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22

by
3.87 avg rating — 114,464 ratings
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23

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,114 ratings
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24

by
3.79 avg rating — 1,802 ratings
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25

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3.78 avg rating — 8,928 ratings
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26

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4.08 avg rating — 13,848 ratings
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26

by
4.14 avg rating — 154 ratings
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28

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4.33 avg rating — 642 ratings
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29

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3.84 avg rating — 11,233 ratings
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30

by
3.76 avg rating — 16,679 ratings
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31

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3.98 avg rating — 5,700 ratings
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32

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4.26 avg rating — 38,138 ratings
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33

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4.16 avg rating — 10,252 ratings
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34

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4.09 avg rating — 199,223 ratings
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35

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4.12 avg rating — 5,002 ratings
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36

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3.67 avg rating — 17,896 ratings
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37

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3.95 avg rating — 7,076 ratings
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38

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3.46 avg rating — 7,083 ratings
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39

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3.64 avg rating — 1,173 ratings
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40

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3.64 avg rating — 298 ratings
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41

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3.39 avg rating — 263 ratings
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42

by
3.43 avg rating — 242 ratings
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43

by
3.77 avg rating — 21,847 ratings
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44

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 286 ratings
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44

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3.79 avg rating — 1,020 ratings
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46

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4.05 avg rating — 214 ratings
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47

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3.82 avg rating — 10,371 ratings
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48

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3.79 avg rating — 102 ratings
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49

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3.37 avg rating — 182 ratings
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50

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3.88 avg rating — 137,094 ratings
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51

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2.94 avg rating — 1,122 ratings
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52

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3.94 avg rating — 2,312 ratings
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53

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4.03 avg rating — 13,023 ratings
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54

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3.35 avg rating — 23 ratings
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55

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3.67 avg rating — 15 ratings
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56

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4.03 avg rating — 30,188 ratings
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57

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3.62 avg rating — 162 ratings
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58

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3.10 avg rating — 753 ratings
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59

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4.45 avg rating — 29 ratings
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60

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3.68 avg rating — 114 ratings
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61

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3.67 avg rating — 85 ratings
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62

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3.80 avg rating — 70 ratings
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63

by
3.14 avg rating — 1,993 ratings
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64

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3.25 avg rating — 36 ratings
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64

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3.89 avg rating — 116 ratings
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66

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3.85 avg rating — 109 ratings
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67

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4.30 avg rating — 151 ratings
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68

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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69

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3.92 avg rating — 193 ratings
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70

by
3.31 avg rating — 306 ratings
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71

by
4.07 avg rating — 209 ratings
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72

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3.03 avg rating — 38 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 98 ratings
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74

by
4.06 avg rating — 23,763 ratings
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75

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3.83 avg rating — 206 ratings
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76

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3.90 avg rating — 100 ratings
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76

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3.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
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78

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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79

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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80

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3.72 avg rating — 482 ratings
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81

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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81

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4.05 avg rating — 1,089 ratings
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83

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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84

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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
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84

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3.91 avg rating — 575 ratings
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84

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4.08 avg rating — 2,760 ratings
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87

by
3.43 avg rating — 7 ratings
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88

by
3.08 avg rating — 51 ratings
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88

by
4.05 avg rating — 177 ratings
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90

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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91

by
3.18 avg rating — 3,552 ratings
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92

by
3.30 avg rating — 10 ratings
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92

by
3.87 avg rating — 253 ratings
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94

by
3.83 avg rating — 1,765 ratings
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95

by
2.87 avg rating — 31 ratings
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96

by
4.31 avg rating — 32 ratings
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96

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4.12 avg rating — 1,301 ratings
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98

by
4.11 avg rating — 96 ratings
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99

by
3.41 avg rating — 17 ratings
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99

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4.06 avg rating — 36 ratings
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Get Results & Compare With Friends »




Luke 5991 books
51 friends
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Melanie 2133 books
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More voters…


Comments Showing 1-21 of 21 (21 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Luke (new)

Luke The first 100 books are up. Vote away!


message 2: by Sandi (new)

Sandi Aubrey wrote: "The first 100 books are up. Vote away!"
I shall!


message 3: by Paul (new)

Paul I've voted for those I haven't read and that are already on my tbr list; some are on my shelves, some not.


ReemK10 (Paper Pills) Thanks for the invite. There are a lot of books that need to be read.


message 5: by Luke (last edited Nov 13, 2013 01:51PM) (new)

Luke Please do not add books to this list unless you are SURE that they belong.

Books removed for not belonging:

Flaubert's Madame Bovary
Zola's Germinal
Montesquieu's The Persian Letters

You may check which books belong here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


message 6: by Bjorn (new)

Bjorn This is a fun list. I probably need to read half the books on it.

All hail the blatant lie.


message 7: by Nathan "N.R." (new)

Nathan "N.R." Gaddis Aubrey wrote: "Please do not add books to this list unless you are SURE that they belong."

We should consider locking this list. You and I could work out an exemplar for each of those few authors for which Moore lists no novel ; in most cases anyway, his selection is a bit arbitrary, ie, Evan Dara's entry. What say?


message 8: by Luke (last edited Nov 13, 2013 02:20PM) (new)

Luke Nathan "N.R." wrote: "We should consider locking this list. You and I could work out an exemplar for each of those few authors..."

Once I get all these added and in proper format, feel free to request away for the staff/super librarian's at the boards. I will let you know when.


message 9: by Luke (new)

Luke A further sixty have been added. Click to the next page, and vote away!


message 10: by Nathan "N.R." (new)

Nathan "N.R." Gaddis Aubrey wrote: "Once I get all these added and in proper format, feel free to request away for the staff/super librarian's at the boards. I will let you know when. "

I'll see about taking care of that tomorrow. And assembling a few titles for those title-less authors.

I like the idea of the locked list because it means fewer administrative duties for your good self.


message 11: by Luke (new)

Luke The last ten books have been added. Keep in mind the parameters for adding books yourself (check the link! it isn't hard!).


message 12: by Luke (new)

Luke Deleted for not being on the official list:

Women and Men
In Search of Lost Time


message 13: by James (new)

James That's a bad ass last of inspirational reading. Very cool. Too many want to reads for me to really do any kind of rating.


message 14: by Luke (new)


message 15: by Gregsamsa (new)

Gregsamsa I had the unmitigated gall to add two new books because with all due respect Mr. Moore's list is not exhaustive. Surely Jan Potocki can claim Shandian spawn status if Slaughterhouse Five can, and The Death and Life of Miguel de Cervantes is, in my humble opinion, more Shandian than, say, The Counterfeiters.

But jeez, looking at the rest of this list, I'm like Isn't my TBR roster long enough already?!


message 16: by Luke (new)

Luke It's a list derived from an outside source, Greg. You're welcome to make your own with parameters more exhaustive, if you like.


message 17: by Nathan "N.R." (last edited Nov 14, 2013 11:53AM) (new)

Nathan "N.R." Gaddis Excellent.

Voting here means whatever the voter wants it to mean. One option, and I think the one Moore had mostly in mind, is to vote by author -- vote for authors from whom you've read at least one book ;; many entries above, ie Evan Dara or Tom Carson, could have a different representative book.

But do not add ANY books to this list unless it was authored by one of the authors (see the link to the text version of this list) for whom Moore did not attribute a title.

This list was translated by Aubrey from my transcription of a passage from Steven Moore's book The Novel: An Alternative History, 1600-1800 ;; translating from a book to Listopia is not a perfect process -- it can't be. So, if you wanna quibble, please don't do it with Aubrey, or at least do it respectful of the work she's put into this here list-list-list.

And then make your own list!!! May the list of lists proliferate!


message 18: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Apr 08, 2015 12:19PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I've read seven but had to go through the list to do a count, as GR sometimes doesn't count different editons of course (like my copy of The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, And, Through the Looking-Glass instead of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass) or more than one novel combined into a single book :-)

Another six are still on my 'to read' list, so there is still hope ;-)


message 19: by Bernardo (new)

Bernardo Mozelli Considering how a bunch of my favourites (it's named after one of them, actually( are listed here along a bunch of other books I love and other stuff I plan to read soon, this shall be my new secret compass


message 20: by Tzastin (new)

Tzastin comment


message 21: by TheJoyousWatcher (new)

TheJoyousWatcher Saving list


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