The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hi all - Found yet another list. According to Entertainment Weekly, these are the top 100 "classics" of the last 25 years.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)


Thoughts?

only read 9 of those....3 are on my tbr

Oh, man -- I've only read 8 of these. What HAVE I been wasting my time on? :)

I have read 25 of them, but have a bunch more on my shelf.

I am a little surprised Nickel and Dimed is on there and is deemed a "classic."

Are you kidding... only 6! I am so ashamed. I'm with you Liesl, what the heck have I been reading than??? Many of these are in my TBR pile though.

9 **sigh** 9 :(

How about 0!?

7.. huh? only 7?
Who made this list? NEW Classics... Bridgette Jones Diary.. I mean, I read it, it was cute, but 100 Top? Nahhh... not by a mile!

Well, I guess 0 makes me feel a bit better thanks Emma!!!

At least somebody has some love for Oscar Wao. I'm not bitter, disgruntled or resentful, though. No, sir. Not me.

I've read 10 of these and own 16 others that I intend to read (at some point). I like the list. Only time will tell if they become classics. Clearly, 100 classics won't come out of the last 25 years. You know, it's interesting that Bridget Jones made the list but not one Stephen King book did. Not everything that he's written is brilliant but he wrote the screenplay for Shawshank Redemption (flipping genius), The Green Mile, etc. I think the guy deserves at least one spot on the list.

I find it interesting that His Dark Materials is on there, but before it became a movie (one of them anyway) I don't recall ever seeing these books on any "greatest" list. Now every time I turn around I see it.

That may also be in part because you people keep adding these infernal lists!!!!! ;)

Stacie, I'm shocked that nickeled & Dimed is on there as well. You'd think they'd want to stick with Fiction or some other easily discernible genre. Luckily, it's Entertainment Weekly. I trust them for my celebrity gossip but I don't know about book recommendations.

Jen, I think you and I should begin a coup and read Oscar Wao on our own. That'll learn the 560+ members of this group that didn't vote for it, yessiree Bob! Or we can wait until September, whichever is easier...

Ok, I've read 27. Yet, I can't take any list seriously that contains A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius or The Da Vinci Code. I mean really, WTF?

I really think this list should be called:

EW's 100 Books That Have Clogged Up the Bestseller's List During the Past 25 Years

and call it a day.

Bravo, Charity!

Awww. Logan, dont jump the Oscar Wao train... then there is no point of making him an Honorary Winner in Sept.... Please please please wait...I want a read along partner for that one, and I have too many others I need to squeeze in first....

That is a really weird list.

I've only read 4... haha...

7...I'm not one for contemporty ficton so I'm not surprised but come on Bridget Jones...and why only HP Goblet of Fire, I thought book 6 and 7 were better. Who makes these list?

Logan I just read your comment...I agree WTF?

I've read nine, and have to agree with Logan, at least as far as the DaVinci Code is concerned.

I also agree with the why only one harry potter, but the whole his dark materials series?

I do love a good coup, but I'm willing to hold off until September. Besides, Logan, you need to read The Raw Shark Texts. There was something about the end that bothered me a little that I would like to vent.

Your welcome Scott. :P.

Wait please don't tell me the Raw Shark Texts ends up stupidly .....I am loving it so far , But He has just gone to meet with Mr. Nobody.

No, it doesn't end stupidly. I just had a slight moment toward the end of cocking my head to the side with ears up (picture dog) saying, "eh?"

whewwwww okay you scared me for a moment.

I've read 10 but surely there are a lot of books missing from this list!!!

Read my earlier post...

Or...Top 100 Book List from somebody who could not have possibly read every book in the last 25 years...that would be everybody!

I've read 12 in full and abandoned another 3 off the list.

Put it this way, it certinly wouldn't match my idea of the best 100 from the last 25 years. Although, really pleased to see Blindness on there. Yay!

I've read 9 and been thinking about reading a couple others from the list.

Jen,I agree,I'd love to get some others feedback on the ending.It left me with some interesting questions which would be great to talk about.

I've read several from this list but I have to agree with others on some of the selections.How did Eat Pray and Love make it?And I passionately loathed Stone Diaries.Who the hell made up this list?

I've read 4...

I've read 23-whohoo!!! But I agree, there are some funky things on this list.

I'm here if anyone feels gulity. I'm 0 woman!! Oh well, if that was a YA list, I'm sure I would have at least 10.

5...count em 5...and I can't say I have any more of them on my TBR list either.

I agree with the others on Bridget Jones Diary...was I the only one that only found this mildly amusing instead of hilariously funny? I didn't even like it enough to read Edge of Reason.

Same with Harry Potter...why not all of them?

Sherry and Jen,
Maybe we could set up RST thread with spoilers...I would love to talk about the ending and thoughts ya'll might have.

Stacie, go for it! I've been loving on it all day today. This is an epic read and I can't wait to discuss it with someone.

Just saw that you set it up Logan. Thanks!

Woo Hoo!
14...and counting..(cause I have some on my mountain)

I've read nine of them, which is more than I expected actually.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Possession
On Writing
The Line of Beauty (well, currently reading)
His Dark Materials
The Poisonwood Bible
The Kite Runner
The Secret History
Atonement

I did find some things a little odd about the list, but I liked the ones on it that I recognized, so maybe I'll try some of the others.

Lori, I'll be jumping on the Oscar Wao train with you next month. I think I'm one of the few who hasn't yet read it.

As to the list, it's a rather odd collection. I've read only 15 of them, so apparently I have a lot to catch up on. I'll just add them to the other jillion or so books from other lists I haven't yet read.

Oy.

I can't believe The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson are NOT on the list :O I always saw those two books as 'future classics. They are so rich in details and discussions and both absolutely stunning.

I've read 4 of the books. Didn't read Mystic River, Bridget Jones Diary or Holes, but saw the movies. Does this count?????????

I've read 10 of these but I find it odd that On Writing is in there, its not a novel its more an essay about the art of writing and so on - I would have stuck The Stand in as King's classic novel.

I've read 27 and have to say, truly, Huh????
While I loved Bridgett Jones, does it truly rank "classic" status. The DaVinci Code?

And as much as I truly enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, I think Elizabeth Moon's Speed of Dark is far superior.

I have only read 3 of those, but I have ten of them on my to-read list.

I have read 13 and have at least 20 on my tbr plie. But I am with ya'll...Who came up with this list? Even though I need another list like I need another hole in my head! And yes, I will keep up with it.... curse you list...