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The United Kingdom's Top 200 Novels

"The Big Read" was a poll run by the BBC in 2003 to determine what books were most popular among the British public. Given the author and year of publication, can you guess these novels?
These are books that are popular, not necessarily great works of literature
*Book series (or series that are named after a certain book)
Quiz by JWatson24
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Last updated: September 7, 2021
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First submittedSeptember 7, 2021
Times taken95
Average score34.0%
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Rank
Year
Author
Book
1*
1954-1955
J.R.R. Tolkein
The Lord of the Rings
2
1813
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
3*
1995-2000
Philip Pullman
His Dark Materials
4
1979
Douglas Adams
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
5
2000
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
6
1960
Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird
7
1926
A.A. Milne
Winnie-the-Pooh
8
1949
George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four
9
1950
C.S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
10
1847
Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre
11
1961
Joseph Heller
Catch-22
12
1847
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
13
1993
Sebastian Faulks
Birdsong
14
1938
Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca
15
1951
J.D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye
16
1908
Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows
17
1861
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
18
1868-1869
Louisa May Alcott
Little Women
19
1994
Louis de Bernières
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
20
1869
Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace
21
1936
Margaret Mitchell
Gone with the Wind
22
1997
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
23
1998
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
24
1999
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
25
1937
J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit
26
1891
Thomas Hardy
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
27
1871-1872
George Eliot
Middlemarch
28
1989
John Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany
29
1939
John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath
30
1865
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
31
1991
Jacqueline Wilson
The Story of Tracy Beaker
32
1967
Gabriel García Márquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude
33
1989
Ken Follett
The Pillars of the Earth
34
1850
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
35
1964
Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
36
1883
Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island
37
1950
Nevil Shute
A Town Like Alice
38
1817
Jane Austen
Persuasion
39
1965
Frank Herbert
Dune
40
1815
Jane Austen
Emma
41
1908
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables
42
1972
Richard Adams
Watership Down
43
1925
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
44
1844
Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo
45
1945
Evelyn Waugh
Brideshead Revisited
46
1945
George Orwell
Animal Farm
47
1843
Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol
48
1874
Thomas Hardy
Far from the Madding Crowd
49
1981
Michelle Magorian
Goodnight Mister Tom
50
1987
Rosamunde Pilcher
The Shell Seekers
51
1911
Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden
52
1937
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
53
1978
Stephen King
The Stand
54
1878
Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina
55
1993
Vikram Seth
A Suitable Boy
56
1982
Roald Dahl
The BFG
57
1930
Arthur Ransome
Swallows and Amazons
58
1877
Anna Sewell
Black Beauty
59*
2001-2012
Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl
60
1866
Fyodor Dostoyevsyk
Crime and Punishment
61*
2001
Malorie Blackman
Noughts and Crosses
62
1997
Arthur Golden
Memoirs of a Geisha
63
1859
Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities
64
1977
Colleen McCullough
The Thorn Birds
65
1987
Terry Pratchett
Mort
66
1943
Enid Blyton
The Magic Faraway Tree
67
1965
John Fowles
The Magus
68
1990
Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett
Good Omens
69
1989
Terry Pratchett
Guards! Guards!
70
1954
William Golding
Lord of the Flies
71
1985
Patrick Süskind
Perfume
72
1914
Robert Tressell
The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists
73
2002
Terry Pratchett
Night Watch
74
1988
Roald Dahl
Matilda
75
1996
Helen Fielding
Bridget Jones's Diary
76
1992
Donna Tartt
The Secret History
77
1859
Wilkie Collins
The Woman in White
78
1922
James Joyce
Ulysses
79
1853
Charles Dickens
Bleak House
80
1995
Jacqueline Wilson
Double Act
81
1980
Roald Dahl
The Twits
82
1948
Dodie Smith
I Capture the Castle
83
1998
Louis Sachar
Holes
84*
1946-1956
Mervyn Peake
Gormenghast
85
1997
Arundhati Roy
The God of Small Things
86
2000
Jacqueline Wilson
Vicky Angel
87
1932
Aldous Huxley
Brave New World
88
1932
Stella Gibbons
Cold Comfort Farm
89
1982
Raymond E. Feist
Magician
90
1957
Jack Kerouac
On the Road
91
1969
Mario Puzo
The Godfather
92
1980
Jean M Auel
The Clan of the Cave Bear
93
1983
Terry Pratchett
The Colour of Magic
94
1988
Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist
95
1954
Anya Seton
Katherine
96
1979
Jeffrey Archer
Kane and Abel
97
1985
Gabriel García Márquez
Love in the Time of Cholera
98
1997
Jacqueline Wilson
Girls in Love
99
2000
Meg Cabot
The Princess Diaries
100
1981
Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children
101
1889
Jerome K. Jerome
Three Men in a Boat
102
1992
Terry Pratchett
Small Gods
103
1996
Alex Garland
The Beach
104
1897
Bram Stoker
Dracula
105
2001
Anthony Horowitz
Point Blanc
106
1837
Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers
107
2000
Anthony Horowitz
Stormbreaker
108
1984
Iain Banks
The Wasp Factory
109
1971
Frederick Forsyth
The Day of the Jackal
110
1999
Jacqueline Wilson
The Illustrated Mum
111
1896
Thomas Hardy
Jude the Obscure
112
1982
Sue Townsend
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
113
1951
Nicholas Monsarrat
The Cruel Sea
114
1862
Victor Hugo
Les Misérables
115
1886
Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge
116
2000
Jacqueline Wilson
The Dare Game
117
1996
Jacqueline Wilson
Bad Girls
118
1891
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
119
1975
James Clavell
Shōgun
120
1951
John Wyndham
The Day of the Triffids
121
2003
Jacqueline Wilson
Lola Rose
122
1847-1848
William Makepeace Thackeray
Vanity Fair
123*
1906-1921
John Galsworthy
The Forsyte Saga
124
2000
Mark Z. Danielewski
House of Leaves
125
1998
Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible
126
1991
Terry Pratchett
Reaper Man
127
1999
Louise Rennison
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
128
1901-1902
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles
129
1990
A.S. Byatt
Possession: A Romance
130
1967
Mikhail Bulgakov
The Master and Margarita
131
1985
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale
132
1975
Roald Dahl
Danny, the Champion of the World
133
1952
John Steinbeck
East of Eden
134
1981
Roald Dahl
George's Marvellous Medicine
135
1988
Terry Pratchett
Wyrd Sisters
136
1983
Alice Walker
The Color Purple
137
1996
Terry Pratchett
Hogfather
138
1915
John Buchan
The Thirty-Nine Steps
139
2002
Jacqueline Wilson
Girls in Tears
140
2001
Jacqueline Wilson
Sleepovers
141
1929
Erich Maria Remarque
All Quiet on the Western Front
142
1995
Kate Atkinson
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
143
1995
Nick Hornby
High Fidelity
144
1986
Stephen King
It
145
1961
Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach
146
1996
Stephen King
The Green Mile
147
1969
Henri Charrière
Papillon
148
1993
Terry Pratchett
Men at Arms
149
1969
Patrick O'Brian
Master and Commander
150
2002
Anthony Horowitz
Skeleton Key
151
1994
Terry Pratchett
Soul Music
152
2001
Terry Pratchett
Thief of Time
153
1999
Terry Pratchett
The Fifth Elephant
154
2001
Ian McEwan
Atonement
155
2002
Jacqueline Wilson
Secrets
156
1956
Ian Serraillier
The Silver Sword
157
1962
Ken Kesey
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
158
1902
Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness
159
1901
Rudyard Kipling
Kim
160
1991
Diana Gabaldon
Cross Stitch
161
1851
Herman Melville
Moby-Dick
162
1993
Wilbur Smith
River God
163
1932
Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Sunset Song
164
1993
E. Annie Proulx
The Shipping News
165
1978
John Irving
The World According to Garp
166
1869
R.D. Blackmore
Lorna Doone
167
1999
Jacqueline Wilson
Girls Out Late
168
1978
M.M. Kaye
The Far Pavilions
169
1983
Roald Dahl
The Witches
170
1952
E.B. White
Charlotte's Web
171
1818
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
172
1972
Terry Venables/Gordon Williams
They Used to Play on Grass
173
1951
Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea
174
1980
Umberto Eco
The Name of the Rose
175
1991
Jostein Gaarder
Sophie's World
176
2001
Jacqueline Wilson
Dustbin Baby
177
1970
Roald Dahl
Fantastic Mr Fox
178
1955
Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita
179
1970
Richard Bach
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
180
1943
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince
181
1992
Jacqueline Wilson
The Suitcase Kid
182
1838
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist
183
1989
Bryce Courtenay
The Power of One
184
1861
George Eliot
Silas Marner
185
1991
Bret Easton Ellis
American Psycho
186
1892
George and Weedon Grossmith
The Diary of a Nobody
187
1993
Irvine Welsh
Trainspotting
188*
1992-1997
R.L. Stine
Goosebumps
189
1881
Johanna Spyri
Heidi
190
1913
D.H. Lawrence
Sons and Lovers
191
1984
Milan Kundera
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
192
1999
Tony Parsons
Man and Boy
193
2000
Terry Pratchett
The Truth
194
1898
H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds
195
1995
Nicholas Evans
The Horse Whisperer
196
1995
Rohinton Mistry
A Fine Balance
197
1991
Terry Pratchett
Witches Abroad
198
1958
T.H. White
The Once and Future King
199
1969
Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
200
1979
V.C. Andrews
Flowers in the Attic
+1
Level 66
Sep 7, 2021
Several more minutes required. When time ran out there were about 30 names I had not yet read. And who on earth is Jacqueline Wilson? Twice as many entries as Dickins and I've never heard of her or any of her books.
+1
Level 71
Sep 7, 2021
No problem! Increased the time by 6 minutes.

I also hadn't heard of Jacqueline Wilson until I made this quiz. She's an author of children's books/YA novels. I'm guessing one of the reason why she's so popular is that she wrote about difficult and controversial topics like domestic abuse, neglect, and mental health. I definitely agree with you though that it's odd she has so many on here.