USA Today’s Best-Selling Books of the last 15 years…
By Kristen on Jan 5, 2009 in Future Classics...?, Literary News
Happy New Year!! After TWO WEEKS in Florida, I’m back and going through all of my “great lists for future posts” ideas.
So, in case you haven’t seen this list yet… I “bolded” the titles I have read — 85 — and am curious to hear which titles surpised you and which were glaring omissions.
My initial reaction was how very American this list is — so many self-improvement books, with a healthy dose of page-turning escapism. My second observation was, “Holy Oprah!” Her influence is all over this list… My last thought is how nice to see The Great Gatsby, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Catcher in the Rye holding strong…
| USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books List Top 150 books of the last 15 years (Oct. 28, 1993 through Oct. 23, 2008) |
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| Rank | Title | Author |
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| 1 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 2 | Dr. Atkins‘ New Diet Revolution | Robert C. Atkins |
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| 3 | The Da Vinci Code | Dan Brown |
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| 4 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 5 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 6 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 7 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 8 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 9 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre |
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| 10 | Who Moved My Cheese? | Spencer Johnson |
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| 11 | The South Beach Diet | Arthur Agatston |
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| 12 | Tuesdays With Morrie | Mitch Albom |
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| 13 | Angels & Demons | Dan Brown |
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| 14 | What to Expect When You’re Expecting | Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway |
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| 15 | The Purpose-Driven Life | Rick Warren |
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| 16 | The Five People You Meet in Heaven | Mitch Albom |
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| 17 | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen R. Covey |
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| 18 | The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini |
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| 19 | Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus | John Gray |
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| 20 | The Secret | Rhonda Byrne |
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| 21 | Rich Dad, Poor Dad | Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter |
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| 22 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
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| 23 | Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … And It’s All Small Stuff | Richard Carlson |
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| 24 | The Secret Life of Bees | Sue Monk Kidd |
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| 25 | Eat, Pray, Love | Elizabeth Gilbert |
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| 26 | Twilight | Stephenie Meyer |
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| 27 | The Notebook | Nicholas Sparks |
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| 28 | The Memory Keeper’s Daughter | Kim Edwards |
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| 29 | The Catcher in the Rye | J.D. Salinger |
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| 30 | Memoirs of a Geisha | Arthur Golden |
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| 31 | A New Earth | Eckhart Tolle |
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| 32 | Oh, the Places You’ll Go! | Dr. Seuss |
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| 33 | The Four Agreements | Don Miguel Ruiz |
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| 34 | Angela’s Ashes | Frank McCourt |
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| 35 | The Lovely Bones | Alice Sebold |
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| 36 | Body-for-Life | Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso |
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| 37 | New Moon | Stephenie Meyer |
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| 38 | Night | Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway |
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| 39 | Chicken Soup for the Soul | Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen |
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| 40 | The Greatest Generation | Tom Brokaw |
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| 41 | Breaking Dawn | Stephenie Meyer |
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| 42 | The Celestine Prophecy | James Redfield |
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| 43 | Wicked | Gregory Maguire |
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| 44 | Good to Great | Jim Collins |
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| 45 | Eclipse | Stephenie Meyer |
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| 46 | Eragon | Christopher Paolini |
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| 47 | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Rebecca Wells |
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| 48 | Your Best Life Now | Joel Osteen |
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| 49 | In the Kitchen With Rosie | Rosie Daley |
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| 50 | Simple Abundance | Sarah Ban Breathnach |
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| 51 | A Child Called It | Dave Pelzer |
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| 52 | A Million Little Pieces | James Frey |
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| 53 | The Testament | John Grisham |
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| 54 | Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul | Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger |
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| 55 | Deception Point | Dan Brown |
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| 56 | The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho |
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| 57 | Marley & Me | John Grogan |
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| 58 | Dr. Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter | Robert C. Atkins |
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| 59 | Life of Pi | Yann Martel |
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| 60 | The Brethren | John Grisham |
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| 61 | The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide | Arthur Agatston |
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| 62 | The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town | John Grisham |
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| 63 | For One More Day | Mitch Albom |
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| 64 | The Polar Express | Chris Van Allsburg |
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| 65 | The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
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| 66 | The Last Lecture | Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow |
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| 67 | What to Expect the First Year | Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway |
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| 68 | Love You Forever | Robert Munsch, art by Sheila McGraw |
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| 69 | Green Eggs and Ham | Dr. Seuss |
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| 70 | A Painted House | John Grisham |
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| 71 | The Rainmaker | John Grisham |
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| 72 | Skipping Christmas | John Grisham |
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| 73 | Cold Mountain | Charles Frazier |
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| 74 | The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time | Mark Haddon |
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| 75 | Life Strategies | Phillip C. McGraw |
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| 76 | Seabiscuit: An American Legend | Laura Hillenbrand |
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| 77 | The Summons | John Grisham |
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| 78 | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | John Berendt |
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| 79 | The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien |
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| 80 | The Runaway Jury | John Grisham |
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| 81 | Goodnight Moon Board Book | Margaret Wise Brown, art by Clement Hurd |
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| 82 | The Perfect Storm | Sebastian Junger |
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| 83 | Snow Falling on Cedars | David Guterson |
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| 84 | The Giver | Lois Lowry |
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| 85 | Embraced by the Light | Betty J. Eadie |
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| 86 | The Chamber | John Grisham |
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| 87 | You: On A Diet | Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz |
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| 88 | The Prayer of Jabez | Bruce Wilkinson |
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| 89 | Holes | Louis Sachar |
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| 90 | Digital Fortress | Dan Brown |
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| 91 | The Shack | William P. Young |
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| 92 | The Devil Wears Prada | Lauren Weisberger |
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| 93 | Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen |
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| 94 | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini |
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| 95 | The Seat of the Soul | Gary Zukav |
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| 96 | Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul | Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff |
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| 97 | The Partner | John Grisham |
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| 98 | Lord of the Flies | William Golding |
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| 99 | Eldest: Inheritance, Book II | Christopher Paolini |
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| 100 | The Broker | John Grisham |
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| 101 | The Street Lawyer | John Grisham |
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| 102 | A Series of Unfortunate Events No. 1: The Bad Beginning | Lemony Snicket |
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| 103 | The Poisonwood Bible | Barbara Kingsolver |
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| 104 | Into the Wild | Jon Krakauer |
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| 105 | The King of Torts | John Grisham |
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| 106 | The Tipping Point | Malcolm Gladwell |
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| 107 | The Horse Whisperer | Nicholas Evans |
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| 108 | Hannibal | Thomas Harris |
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| 109 | The Audacity of Hope | Barack Obama |
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| 110 | Running With Scissors | Augusten Burroughs |
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| 111 | The Glass Castle: A Memoir | Jeannette Walls |
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| 112 | My Sister’s Keeper | Jodi Picoult |
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| 113 | The Last Juror | John Grisham |
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| 114 | The Devil in the White City | Erik Larson |
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| 115 | Left Behind | Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins |
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| 116 | America (The Book) | Jon Stewart and The Writers of The Daily Show |
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| 117 | The Red Tent | Anita Diamant |
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| 118 | John Adams | David McCullough |
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| 119 | The Christmas Box | Richard Paul Evans |
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| 120 | The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | Ann Brashares |
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| 121 | Sugar Busters! | H. Leighton Steward, Sam S. Andrews, Morrison C. Bethea, Luis A. Balart |
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| 122 | Blink | Malcolm Gladwell |
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| 123 | The Power of Now | Eckhart Tolle |
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| 124 | 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life | Don Piper, Cecil Murphey |
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| 125 | The Fellowship of the Ring | J.R.R. Tolkien |
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| 126 | 1776 | David McCullough |
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| 127 | The Bridges of Madison County | Robert James Waller |
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| 128 | Where the Heart Is | Billie Letts |
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| 129 | The Ultimate Weight Solution | Phillip C. McGraw |
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| 130 | Protein Power | Michael R. Eades, Mary Dan Eades |
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| 131 | Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul | Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne, Marci Shimoff |
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| 132 | Into Thin Air | Jon Krakauer |
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| 133 | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides |
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| 134 | Three Cups of Tea | Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin |
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| 135 | You: The Owner’s Manual | Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz |
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| 136 | 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List | Patricia Schultz |
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| 137 | Self Matters | Phillip C. McGraw |
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| 138 | She’s Come Undone | Wally Lamb |
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| 139 | 1984 | George Orwell |
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| 140 | The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis |
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| 141 | The Millionaire Next Door | Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko |
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| 142 | The Other Boleyn Girl | Philippa Gregory |
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| 143 | The Zone | Barry Sears, Bill Lawren |
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| 144 | The Pilot’s Wife | Anita Shreve |
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| 145 | The Lost World | Michael Crichton |
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| 146 | Atonement | Ian McEwan |
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| 147 | He’s Just Not That Into You | Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo |
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| 148 | Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury |
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| 149 | The World Is Flat | Thomas L. Friedman |
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| 150 | Cross | James Patterson |
So, what do you notice? Have you read about half, too? Which ones have you been meaning to read…?
Welcome back!
I’ve read 69 of them, so a little over half. What surprised me most was the number of John Grisham novels on there! And also Dan Brown’s other novels–that surprised me. But as always, these lists show trends in reading, and like you said, it’s always refreshing to see that some classics are still there!
SmallWorld Reads | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
I agree with your surprise at so many Grisham novels — he really has staying power, doesn’t he!?! I really like to listen to Grisham on audio books, personally…
Kristen | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
I would just like to point out that Marly and Me was on the list.
Brian Littleton | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
Good observation, Brian! And since I read it last year, I can personally recommend it — but only with many kleenix handy… We made the mistake of listening to it while driving!
Kristen | Jan 5, 2009 | Reply
I enjoyed remembering great books as I read over the list. Delighted to see The Catcher in the Rye, disappointed to see The Bridges of Madison County ; )
Lisa | Jan 7, 2009 | Reply
Yep! Madison County is one of the few instances where I thought the movie was better than the book
Kristen | Jan 7, 2009 | Reply