I think I read Major Barbara by Shaw back during college. I can't remember much ...maybe it was funny? I'm interested in The Claverings now!

The Claverings is one of my favorite books, I so enjoyed it. I love Trollope.

I really enjoyed The 39 Steps and I have a couple more of Buchan’s to read but I’ve not heard of that one. I’m really getting into Trollope, just read The Warden, only my second Trollope, but I need to read the rest of the Barchester Chronicles now. The Claverings sounds great. I have Silas Marner to try to get to next week. Sounds fab. I must say The Doctor’s Wife was definitely not my favourite. Great wrap up 😊

I loved the story about the mad Irishwoman reading Bunyan aloud. She must have been Northern Irish, as Pilgrim's Progress is such a Protestant book. (The book features in Little Women, and when I first read it, I had no idea what she was talking about.) Did Silas Marner have something about an orphan in it? I remember my mother telling me that she had to read it in school and it was so depressing that it put her off reading:)

That childhood story sounds traumatic. 😅 I understand not wanting to read any Bunyon. I'm also wondering... If she did that with your class .. how many times has that woman read that book? It feels slightly obsessive.

Another book haul!!! I enjoyed The Enchanted April, but the movie is even better than the book.

And so the TBR gets that little bit longer… thanks!

Ooh, I'm glad you found the Enchanted April! I did enjoy it indeed, I hope you will too. I'm going to add the Claverings to my wishlist, I've been wanting to try Trollope for a while and this does sound like a good starting place. I've read the 39 Steps, I didn't realise there was a sequel. Personally I preferred the Hitchcock film to the book, but your mileage may vary.

2:11 so good ☀️ Silas Marmer sounds really interesting and loved to hear your thoughts. I bet it would be good on audio if she uses the dialect in her writing. I still haven’t read anything by her, but I have a copy of Middlemarch to get to when I’m ready for the next giant book lol. Good to know about Sherlock Holmes and Stephen Fry! That sounds like a perfect audio match. Sounds like you are enjoying Victober 🎉

I read a children's version of Pilgrim's Progress lat year because I just couldn't do the actual one from Bunyan. The Unwomanly Face of War has been on my TBR for ages. I saw a movie adaptation of Silas Marner a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I should read the book. A Study Scarlet is my least favorite Holmes. I'm not Mormon but I live in Utah so the second half annoyed me. Stephen Fry is a fantastic narrator.

Poor young Aaron accused of smirking! 😂 I haven’t read The Enchanted April but the movie is one of my favorites of all time and I like the other Ardens I’ve read. The Claverings isn’t a real favorite for me but still a solid Trollope. I love Silas Marner, it was one of the first Victorian books I read so when I reread it a few years ago I thought I’d change my opinion- nope! I don’t consider myself a particular sentimental reader but it just gets me every time. I’ve nearly finished The Doctor’s Wife and of the three Braddons I’ve read, it’s by the far the least sensational. You should read The Trail of the Serpent, her first one, it’s so much fun!

Great choices. Silas Marner was a recent read for me and I really enjoyed it, but I did find the language a bit inaccessible at times. I’m not sure I’ll be diving into any more of hers for a little while

Oh! You have really inspired me to get to Silas Marner immediately. Thanks Aaron! Sounds like you are having a terrific October! I am reading Great Expectations and am enjoying it. Stephen Fry’s Sherlock Holmes is great. Such a wonderful time to be a reader. I loved Buchan’s 39 steps.

Why did I think Silas marner was a scary one? Uncle something? Which one am I thinking of? Always enjoy your thoughts on books .

Wives and Daughters is amazing. Actually all the Victober books you have acquired are amazing (except for Adam Bede, but that may just be me 😅)

I live in Rochester! Rochester, NY, USA. 😄

I counted 72 that I’ve read out of the 200. There’s a few that I really want to get to, but a large number I wouldn’t go near!

James Acaster is hilarious, bet he'd be great with the audio!! Loved the railway children. It's quite funny in the film though because when they're really "poor", they're in a lovely sizeable cottage in the country, with a servant if not more than one!! The devil definitely won out over the angel on the book buying, but we're all the same aren't we. I'd love to read more Gaskell.

This is great. I’ve read 79 of these. Many of them would definitely not make the list today. I can’t see Kane and Able making it for example. Interesting how views change in 20 years 😊

What an interesting list! I have read 57 of the books on the list. I just finished reading the His Dark Materials series to my daughter. The first one was great and by the last one I was hating every minute of reading it 😂

Since they were asking about "novels," I don't think most people would think of Christie's books as "novels." As a reader in the US, I've read 64 on the list, mostly from the Victorians, some children's books and contemporary ones..(I had no idea who Jacqueline Wilson is; I had to look her up.)

"There's no way Demon Copperhead will be #1 in ten years." Say it louder for people in the back! 😅Great video, Aaron!

I remember this very well. TV in general does dramatisations of books but doesn't seem to cover books themselves or actual reading very much. Sky Art's book programme has gone by the wayside and the beeb's Between the Covers seems to have done likewise. So I look back fondly to The Big Read. I'd read 81 which was more than I thought, but then I'm into Terry Pratchett like you. To be honest I get all of my book appreciation viewing on KZbin these days and am very grateful to all you excellent Booktubers.

Very interesting! I am not in the UK, so I didn’t know about the Big read. I managed to reach the 25% mark with 50 books read, thanks to V.C. Andrews in the last spot. The absence of Agatha Christie is surprised. Like you say, it’s a very 2003 list. Many of these books had recently been made into movies. I suppose that if such a list was made now, the Bridgerton books or It Ends With Us would make an appearance.

It is interesting to look back at old lists. l checked it out and I like that Papillon is on there. I still need to read that!

I do remember the Big Read, it was all over tv and radio. I've read 40 of the top 200. That's a poor showing. Interesting about Christie, then again maybe not completely surprising. For myself, I love her books, I read and re-read them, but if asked what my favourite all time book is I wouldn't name one of hers. Had to google Holes by Louis Sachar, never heard of that book. Interesting vid, thanks.

Interesting 21 years later! 💛

I vaguely remember this too, though not really the whole campaign surrounding it. I went through the list and I've read 57 of them (all of the Pratchett of course!) - though some of the children's books were so far back in my childhood that I don't remember much about them besides having read them. It's a very weird and interesting list.

I hear Prachett I sit up and listen. I also remember this coming out and every so often I dive back into it to plug some of the gaps in my reading. 84’s pretty impressive man. I need to do a current count. I reckon Christie probably suffers from how prolific she was. A lot of her more popular books might’ve split the vote. That being said, she’s always been someone I’ve intended to read but not gotten around to. I tend to just watch old episodes of David Suchet as Poirot instead.

I love this! I was aware of this survey list but hadn't looked at it this closely. Enjoyed this brief analysis of it. Very surprised by the lack of Christie & Doyle, I wonder if crime fiction just wasn't particularly popular 20 years ago and so the genre classics were a bit forgotten. This was pre BBC Sherlock, too. Happy to see Austen represented, and Terry Pratchett. I kind of want to do an analysis of lists like that but I definitely don't enjoy making spreadsheets. Would also be interesting to find similar "Top 100" lists from earlier decades and see how reading tastes have changed. By the way, I sent you an email a few weeks back, just wondering if you'd seen that.

I may have accidentally bought a load of books recently, sometimes it happens ..what can we do?

“I had eBay open on the other page” 😂. We’ve all been there, lol. Geesh, your Victober TBR sounds fun and makes me want to redo my TBR. So many great choices. I don’t think you’re alone with The Scarlett Letter; I have definitely heard a lot of negative reviews even by Americans and I remember reading that in school. I enjoyed it as much as you could enjoy an assigned book as a teenage, but I think you’re right, I had a great teacher who really helped us throug it. I have it on my shelf to read again someday. Just curious, do you know who your most read classics author is at this point?

I'm halfway through Middlemarch, and mostly enjoying it. I do feel I should try another Trollope after reading The Warden earlier this year, and have Doctor Thorne on my shelves, which I know is out of sequence in the series, but I'm hoping that won't matter too much.

Never trust our teenage selves! We were all idiots! 😂 The Scarlet Letter is our next book club pick along with Hester which is a modern retelling. I’m going to attempt to read them both. Another excellent thumbnail Aaron 🙌🏻

"I don't trust teenage me, because I was an idiot"😂Many of us can relate to that...

Accidental book hauls. Been there. It usually happens late at night when I browse eBay with a large glass of scotch.

Quite the haul

I suppose the good thing is that you can now get even more things from Gutenberg…

Great haul. Love the way you’re trying to justify it 😂. I’m really enjoying The Doctor’s Wife and I’m reading The Warden to go along with it. The Railway Children is fab and I also loved Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet. Fab video 😊

You really outdid yourself with that thumbnail ! " Victorian" is not one of my favorite literary periods. I'm the opposite of you, and prefer the American 19th century. Oh, I do like a few select books here and there; from Dickens, Eliot and Hardy. I like the Brontes but to me they seem to have more of a Romantic sensibility. I enjoy Wilkie Collins and want to try Elizabeth Mary Bradden (Reading Silas Marner in school was a traumatic experience for my mother. She was very sensitive to sad books or movies.) Before you read another Hawthorne, I suggest you get a small study guide or read some background on Hawthorne's life. Americans who have to read him in school have the advantage of usually understanding the Puritan background.

Hi Aaron. I do the same thing: I end up buying books that I have for free or almost free on my kindle. And I love the Penguin Classics too. I really must read Elizabeth Gaskell. (I even live in a place called Cranford!) I’m right now reading my first Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I’d love to have a glimpse of teenaged Aaron. I’m sure you were NEVER an idiot! 😉

Plenty there to keep you out of mischief! Got Middlemarch on the tbr. Best wishes and happy reading.

Brilliant thumbnail Aaron! I’ve been reading less and less ebooks so I feel your dilemma about having the hard copies. You’ve got some fabulous titles though and don’t worry about Adam Bede, it’s brilliant! I’m definitely not as big a fan of Daniel Deronda as other people are though 😬 Really enjoyed the Claverings, Harry gets on my nerves and apparently Trollope himself thought he was a bit too weak to be a hero but the women make it for me, as they do in some many of Trollope’ novels and of course the humor!

I’m so glad you enjoyed the Railway Children too! I haven’t picked a Victober book yet, not sure if I will but I do have a few possibilities. I want to try some Trollope eventually!

Wives and Daughters!?!?! Oh, Aaron. My heart breaks for you! I am thinking of having an eBay breakdown and buy a bunch of Trollope. Middlemarch is the BEST Victorian novel you’ve read?!?! Who are you and what have you done with my friend? 😂💛

Buying books is never a bad decision! Well, unless it means you can't pay the bills. Although even then there's a case to be made 🤣 Only in booktube would we ever say a book is ONLY 500 pages LOL.

The Claverings is one of my favorite Trollope books. It’s so good!

I also don't trust teenage me's book taste. 😂 I didnt start Jane Austen with Pride and Prejudice because i didn't want reading the rest of her books to potentially only go downhill, so i understand the dilemna with reading middlemarch first.

Nice haul. I blitzed through Dickens in my 20s ( just realising that's 30 years ago !) and it was a a bit of slog by the time I finished his works. I do intent to revisit some of the highlights at some point. I am also a fan of old Panther editions which often have terrific cover art,

I'm obssessed with the Mitfords