What do you think of this? Idea of what people read kinda sad

[ForKnowledge]

The Top 100 books nominated by Canadian readers in an online poll conducted by Indigo Books in which they were asked to name their favourite books of all time:

1 The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
2 Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3 To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
4 Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
5 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien
6 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
7 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien
8 Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
9 Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
10 A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
11 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling
12 Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
13 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling
14 A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
15 Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
16 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
17 Fall on Your Knees, Ann-Marie MacDonald
18 The Stand, Stephen King
19 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling
20 Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
21 The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
22 The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
23 Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
24 The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
25 Life of Pi, Yann Martel
26 The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
27 Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
28 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
29 East of Eden, John Steinbeck
30 Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
31 Dune, Frank Herbert
32 The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks
33 Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
34 1984, George Orwell
35 The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
36 The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
37 The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
38 I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb
39 The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
40 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
41 The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
42 The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
43 Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella
44 The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
45 The Bible
46 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
47 The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
48 Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
49 The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
50 She’s Come Undone, Wally Lamb
51 The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
52 A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
53 Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
54 Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
55 The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
56 The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence
57 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling
58 The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough
59 The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
60 The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
61 Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
62 The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
63 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
64 Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
65 Fifth Business, Robertson Davies
66 One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
67 The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Ann Brashares
68 Catch-22, Joseph Heller
69 Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
70 The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery
71 Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding
72 Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
73 Shogun, James Clavell
74 The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
75 The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
76 Summer Tree, Guy Gavriel Kay
77 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
78 The World According to Garp, John Irving
79 The Diviners, Margaret Laurence
80 Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White
81 Not Wanted on the Voyage, Timothy Findley
82 Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
83 Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
84 Wizard’s First Rule, Terry Goodkind
85 Emma, Jane Austen
86 Watership Down, Richard Adams
87 Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88 The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields
89 Blindness, Jose Saramago
90 Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer
91 In the Skin of a Lion, Michael Ondaatje
92 Lord of The Flies, William Golding
93 The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
94 The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
95 The Bourne Identity, Robert Ludlum
96 The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton
97 White Oleander, Janet Fitch
98 A Woman of Substance, Barbara Taylor Bradford
99 The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield
100 Ulysses, James Joyce

[Illini88228]

I'm actually surprised enough people have read Ulysses for it to make a list like that, even at the bottom. No surprise about the prevalence of Dan Brown at the top. Every era has its popular fluff authors. This one is no different.

[keilj]

Canadians don't read Twain or Hemingway - infidels!!


I don't know - lists like this will always have the recent, popular books on them

[scaltz]

Oh! They've got Anne of the green gables :O!

[ktm5124]

It could be a lot worse. I'm not familiar with Indigo Books, but any poll conducted by an organization depends on that organization's audience. The Modern Library, for instance, has a more sophisticated audience (click for poll results (http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html)). You still get L. Ron Hubbard, Lord of the Rings, Ayn Rand and Frank Herbert, but it's an improvement on the Indigo Books poll.

[hillwalker]

Dan Brown's work is tosh, but on the bright side it keeps people visiting bookshops in search of more, contemporary stuff - so there's hope for new, aspiring writer surely.
The time to start worrying is when people stop reading books altogether, or merely stick to the tried and tested classics..... or am I being naive?

[Satan]

No Twilight?! I'm disappointed.

[LitNetIsGreat]

It is sad in a way but hardly a shock - 'popular' usually means poor quality.;)

Here's another one:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

This one's an improvement though...

[kiki1982]

Waw, in view of the poll of Le Figaro French newspaper in an earlier thread, this is amazingly monospectral (if that is a word)...

[Emil Miller]

Waw, in view of the poll of Le Figaro French newspaper in an earlier thread, this is amazingly monospectral (if that is a word)...

Yes but it's nice to know that one of the books listed as a 20th century masterpiece in Le Figaro's list i.e. One Hundred Years of Solitude, was placed one above The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

[dfloyd]

Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut. But I suppose there is no Canadian version.

[loe]

It is sad in a way but hardly a shock - 'popular' usually means poor quality.;)
You said it!

I feel so sorry for a people with such a number one..... ;)

Best regards

[TurquoiseSunset]

No Twilight?! I'm disappointed.

Heh, I'm sure. :D

Here's another one you guys might 'love', it's the 101 Favourite Books list from a poll Exclusive Books took (a large book store chain in SA):

1 The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2 The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
3 Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
4 To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
5 The Harry Potter series, JK Rowling
6 The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
7 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
8 Life of Pi, Yann Martel
9 The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
10 The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
11 Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
12 Spud, John van de Ruit
13 The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
14 The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
15 Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
16 Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts
17 Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
18 Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
19 Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
20 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
21 One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
22 Disgrace, J. M. Coetzee
23 My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
24 The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
25 Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
26 Catch-22, Joseph Heller
27 Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
28 Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
29 Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
30 The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
31 A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
32 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon
33 Great Expectations , Charles Dickens
34 Atonement, Ian McEwan
35 Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
36 The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
37 The English Patient , Michael Ondaatje
38 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
39 Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
40 Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
41 The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
42 I Know This Much is True, Wally Lamb
43 A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
44 Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
45 War And Peace, Leo Tolstoy
46 Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel
47 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
48 The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint- Exupery
49 The Secret History, Donna Tartt
50 Possession, A. S. Byatt
51 Perfume, Patrick Suskind
52 The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
53 Chocolat, Joanne Harris
54 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
55 Q & A, Vikas Swarup
56 Dune, Frank Herbert
57 Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
58 Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels
59 River God, Wilbur Smith
60 Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
61 Lord of the Flies, William Golding
62 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , C.S. Lewis
63 Mort, Terry Pratchett
64 Crime and Punishment, Feodor Dostoyevsky
65 The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood
66 East of Eden, John Steinbeck
67 The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
68 The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
69 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne
70 The Prince of Tides, Pat Conroy
71 Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
72 Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Fielding
73 The Shipping News , E. Annie Proulx
74 Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
75 Animal Farm, George Orwell
76 The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
77 Watership Down, Richard Adams
78 Magician, Raymond E Feist
79 Middlemarch, George Eliot
80 The Day of the Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
81 We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver
82 The Magus, John Fowles
83 The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
84 Agaat, Marlene van Niekerk
85 The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
86 The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
87 The Colour Purple, Alice Walker
88 The Beach House, James Patterson
89 Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak
90 Kringe in 'n Bos, Dalene Matthee
91 The World according to Garp , John Irving
92 Northen Lights, Phillip Pullman
93 Middlesex , Jeffrey Eugenides
94 Shades, Marguerite Poland
95 Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer
96 Fiela se kind, Dalene Matthee
97 Story of an African Farm, Olive Schreiner
98 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
99 The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
100 Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
101 Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne

[mal4mac]

There's a core of works that are in the canon:

2 Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
20 Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
22 The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
27 Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
34 1984, George Orwell
46 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
49 The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
52 A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
54 Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
55 The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
61 Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
63 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
66 One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
82 Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
85 Emma, Jane Austen
87 Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
92 Lord of The Flies, William Golding

All are very easy reads! Some academic needs to write a "Harold Bloom lite", and get it into the best seller lists, then maybe more classics would appear in the top 100, and more people might be inspired to read better books. Bloom's "The Western Canon" is great, but is too highbrow for the average Dan Brown reader (at least to begin with!) Such an author could start with the above lists and perhaps entitle it "The Nations Favourite Classics", or something equally tub thumping. Something for you to do in the summer holidays Neely :)

[TurquoiseSunset]

mal4mac, we already have a Litnet list ;)

[LitNetIsGreat]

Something for you to do in the summer holidays Neely.

Ha, ha I'm not doing nothing in the summer apart from reading, road biking and visiting pubs.

It makes me wonder though when you see certain classics on such public lists that half of them are probably put on because people think they should, rather than they really want to. I mean one of them other lists was like: Rand, Rand, Rand, Br*wn, Br*wn, King, Joyce!

[Wilde woman]

Really? Dan Brown at number one? That makes me want to vomit.

[L.M. The Third]

It makes me wonder though when you see certain classics on such public lists that half of them are probably put on because people think they should, rather than they really want to.

I've been wondering the same thing about some. Some say the average person reads six books a year, and I don't think that's because they are carefully studying Homer, Dante, Milton, etc.

[Tolstoy's Beard]

http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/i/1582/original/picard-facepalm.jpg

[DanielBenoit]

^:smilielol5:

DaVinci Code at #1 and Ulysses at #100? I wonder what this says about Canadians :idea: (I kid, I kid ;) )



It makes me wonder though when you see certain classics on such public lists that half of them are probably put on because people think they should, rather than they really want to. I mean one of them other lists was like: Rand, Rand, Rand, Br*wn, Br*wn, King, Joyce!

Yeah it's curious how ten consecutive mass market novelists pop up and then the very last person you ever expect to follow names like Dan Brown or Stephen King; James Joyce. I mean think about it, is there a certain sector of the population, say 25%, who read Finnegan's Wake while the rest revel in The DaVinci Code and It?

[ktm5124]

Dan Brown's work is tosh, but on the bright side it keeps people visiting bookshops in search of more, contemporary stuff - so there's hope for new, aspiring writer surely.
The time to start worrying is when people stop reading books altogether, or merely stick to the tried and tested classics..... or am I being naive?

Good point. And it also serves, like any book, to increase people's attentions spans - something that has sadly waned over time in this fast-paced world.


Really? Dan Brown at number one? That makes me want to vomit.

While I think reading something is better than reading nothing, I also share this visceral reaction :-/ To see Dan Brown at the top is kind of like being hit over the head... I don't mind people reading him if it keeps up their reading habit, but his spot at #1 disgraces all the authors below him on that list.

[spookymulder93]

What do you guys think people should be reading then?

[Emil Miller]

What do you guys think people should be reading then?

People should read what they want to but it's within their interest to move beyond the meretricious to works that are more fulfilling. This doesn't mean that they should aim for Finnegans Wake but there is a world of difference between The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter etc. and Joyce's journey into the absurd.

[Il Dante]

As hard-boiled and unliterary as Dan Brown is... I don't think we should castigate the Canadians for this list for several reasons. First, there are a lot of superb masterpieces on the list, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, etc. Second, they were asked to list their "favorite" books, not the books they considered the "best" in general. Third, I think it is not so good to demand that every reader be a Joycephilic, Ulysses-loving literato. Joyce's books are difficult—a fact which he was extremely proud of.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying "low" literature. It's not a sin. Not everyone chooses to dive deeply into the literary realm, and that should be OK—just as not everyone dives into the intricacies of quantum physics or dives into the complexities of mathematical chaos theory or dives deeply into existentialist philosophy, or whatever else. People should be free to dabble.

[gruntingslime]

It probably doesn't matter what the rest of the world is reading. I've never understood the need to thrust things on others.

[Delta40]

I loved watership down....I haven't read a book where the authors name ends in es, ov, or oy!

[spookymulder93]

People should read what they want to but it's within their interest to move beyond the meretricious to works that are more fulfilling. This doesn't mean that they should aim for Finnegans Wake but there is a world of difference between The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter etc. and Joyce's journey into the absurd.

What if Harry Potter inspires someone to make his own fictional universe and he turns around and makes millions. What if on the other hand he reads Journey into the absurd and just falls asleep.

[Delta40]

I think it is more likely this book will appear in the top 100!

http://brainofj.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-talk-about-books-youve-never.html

[BienvenuJDC]

What is Joyce's journey into the absurd?


Joyce's journey into the absurd.

[loe]

While I think reading something is better than reading nothing, ...
I would like to agree with this, but I have been thinking about something.
There are cheap dubious newspapers not with the purpose just to inform people but to manipulate them and so on.
So, is it really better that people read those kind of papers instead of reading nothing?

Maybe this is more important in relation to newspapers than to books but in general I'm referring to the great influence the written word could have to people and could make them believe things.

I know the possibility of manipulation depends on every individual person itself and also serious papers and books can manipulate, but these are just a few thoughts I had in mind to this subject.

Certainly, if reading is just for fun it wouldn't really matter what to read.

Best regards

[LitNetIsGreat]

Again I see to agree with you loe, I can't help but think that the influence of some newspapers (or indeed quite a lot of them) are bad. I personally avoid as much news as possible because it doesn't do any good for my blood pressure levels. What angers me is not just the news stories, but the way they are purposely written in order to manipulate the population and - in fact I think I'll stop there on the news front because I am stressing...

When it comes to fiction, I don't have a problem if people want to read trashy novels for the most part, it is after all up to them, but I can't understand why someone would purposely choose rubbish over good. On top of this, it is when people push these rubbish texts above the level of what they are that really annoys me. People who read junk and admit to the habit fine, but please stop pushing that as quality based soley on enjoyment - I've said all this before too many times and I'm stressing out...

[MANICHAEAN]

Hillwalker. No you are not being naive.

[Emil Miller]

What if Harry Potter inspires someone to make his own fictional universe and he turns around and makes millions. What if on the other hand he reads Journey into the absurd and just falls asleep.

J.K.Rowling has already done it, lightning seldom strikes twice in the same place. As for Joyce's journey into the absurd, Finnegans Wake, it would take either a very perverse or bored person to attempt to understand a book that is so convoluted that it would take many years to finish unless one had the literary equivalent of the Rosetta Stone.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I think it is more likely this book will appear in the top 100!

http://brainofj.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-talk-about-books-youve-never.html

Heh, it reminds me of this article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-469342/Jane-Austen-fan-submits-work-anonymously-publishers--receives-dozen-rejections.html)...So I agree with you and Neely, because it made me think of all the Ulysses (and the like) entries I've seen in these 100 top whatever lists compiled by editors or publishers. What are the chances they have actually read all those books?

[mal4mac]

Heh, it reminds me of this article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-469342/Jane-Austen-fan-submits-work-anonymously-publishers--receives-dozen-rejections.html)...So I agree with you and Neely, because it made me think of all the Ulysses (and the like) entries I've seen in these 100 top whatever lists compiled by editors or publishers. What are the chances they have actually read all those books?

They might have read the books years ago. Would anyone recognise the first chapter of Pride & Prejudice ten years after reading it?

[TurquoiseSunset]

They might have read the books years ago. Would anyone recognise the first chapter of Pride & Prejudice ten years after reading it?

They should at least recognize the first sentence if nothing else...

[kiki1982]

They might have read the books years ago. Would anyone recognise the first chapter of Pride & Prejudice ten years after reading it?

I agree with TurquoiseSunset. The first sentence and first chapter of that book are as legenary as Dante's 'In the middle of my life I found myself in a dark wood' or something of the sort. And I haven't even read that work. Somebody who reads books for a living and judges them should know what the main classics look like.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I agree with TurquoiseSunset. The first sentence and first chapter of that book are as legenary as Dante's 'In the middle of my life I found myself in a dark wood' or something of the sort. And I haven't even read that work. Somebody who reads books for a living and judges them should know what the main classics look like.

Exactly!

Or, Kiki, how about "All hope abandon, ye who enter in!"? :D

Ooooo, I feel a new game coming on :banana:

[kiki1982]

Yeah, great idea! :banana:

[Babak Movahed]

That truly is sad, the progression of technology and all these devices that do nothing but numb our senses have led to an influx of simplistic plot heavy books that are easily made into movies.

Thanks for destroying literature stephenie meyer, dan brown and j.k. rowling

[mal4mac]

I agree with TurquoiseSunset. The first sentence and first chapter of that book are as legenary as Dante's 'In the middle of my life I found myself in a dark wood' or something of the sort. And I haven't even read that work. Somebody who reads books for a living and judges them should know what the main classics look like.

It's a few years since I read it and I couldn't remember the first sentence. I, on looking, of course, recognised the sentence as classic, but hadn't retained the connection to the book. A sad lapse. On the other hand, the characters, introduced so memorably in the first chapter, are unforgettable - Mr Bennet, his wife, and problematic daughters. So you might have a point.

But I don't think somebody who reads books for a living and judges them should *just* know what the main classics look like. I think they should actually read them...

[Drkshadow03]

It could be a lot worse. I'm not familiar with Indigo Books, but any poll conducted by an organization depends on that organization's audience. The Modern Library, for instance, has a more sophisticated audience (click for poll results (http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html)). You still get L. Ron Hubbard, Lord of the Rings, Ayn Rand and Frank Herbert, but it's an improvement on the Indigo Books poll.

Not Frank Herbert! No!!!!!!!! A book of fantasy and science fiction made a "Best of" list, the world is going to hell!


That truly is sad, the progression of technology and all these devices that do nothing but numb our senses have led to an influx of simplistic plot heavy books that are easily made into movies.

Thanks for destroying literature stephenie meyer, dan brown and j.k. rowling

I'm pretty sure Stephanie Meyers, Dan Brown, and J.K. Rowling had nothing to do with inventing the computer, the television, the internet, the Xbox, the wii, the IPOD, etc.

Also as someone said there is a world of difference between those authors and Joyce. I would add that there is also a world of difference between Rowling and Meyers/Brown. Here is an interesting question: Why are there many literature professors willing to argue HP is good literature, but not willing to argue the same for Meyers's and Brown's books?

[tiredstudent]

ive read 15 of the list... although i can't for the life of me see why anyone would like the da vinci code.

[tiredstudent]

o come on!!! you didn't like dune? i loved it. :)

[TurquoiseSunset]

That truly is sad, the progression of technology and all these devices that do nothing but numb our senses have led to an influx of simplistic plot heavy books that are easily made into movies.

Thanks for destroying literature stephenie meyer, dan brown and j.k. rowling

Firstly, technology is not to blame. I own all the normal modern technologies and yet I still read literature/classics/whatever... I have not lost my culture because of technology and I'm not dumber for using it. Please, also realise you are using techonology (i.e. electricity, a computer, the internet...) to slag off said technology. Very ironic.

Anyway, if people want to read all those authors it's up to them. I sometimes think some people would not read at all it is wasn't for authors like Brown, Patterson, Grisham, Reich, etc. or even Mills and Boons books. So getting rid of them will not make a difference to literature.


But I don't think somebody who reads books for a living and judges them should *just* know what the main classics look like. I think they should actually read them...

Hm, I think that is what Kiki meant...


Not Frank Herbert! No!!!!!!!! A book of fantasy and science fiction made a "Best of" list, the world is going to hell!

I hope you're being sarcastic :D


Here is an interesting question: Why are there many literature professors willing to argue HP is good literature, but not willing to argue the same for Meyers's and Brown's books?

Ha, indeed :D