Reading list awards; or, Where I attach superlatives to books

Warning: possible spoiler alert!

100 down, 0 to go: Reflections on my reading list

After two and a half years, it’s finally over!  At several points I vowed never to pick up another book after these one hundred were done, and while studying at university I had on average fifty pages of mandatory reading a week, which put this list on hold for several months in 2015.  Here are some reflections from reading these books.

One hundred books to read. #100: The Lady in the Lake

This is a murder mystery, but in an American style.

One hundred books to read. #99: What Is History?

I picked up this book as I was curious to know the purpose of studying history.

One hundred books to read. #98: The Diary of a Young Girl

Personal accounts of historically significant events like these are increasingly valuable to historians.

One hundred books to read. #97: Dracula

I wanted to read this story because it is the ultimate vampire story, on which all others after it must be at least partly based.

One hundred books to read. #96: The Hobbit

This is the first time (in fifteen years of being acquainted with the fantasy world of Middle-Earth) that I have actually read a Tolkien book.

One hundred books to read. #95: The Beach

This is an unusual type of dystopia – a beach paradise that turns into hell.  The cause of the problems is not a deep secret or a lack of human freedom, but rather, the island’s inhabitants create their own nightmares.

One hundred books to read. #94: The BFG

While following the usual Dahlian formula of good versus bad, the star of this story is the title character.

One hundred books to read. #93: Frankenstein

I wanted to read this book because it is historically significant, both as an example of the Gothic and Romanticism, and as the inspiration for the genre of horror.

One hundred books to read. #92: Ender’s Game

This is an entertaining book, but I suspect that it may have overstretched itself in trying to be something deeper than simply a good read.

One hundred books to read. #91: George’s Marvellous Medicine

The power of Roald Dahl’s imagination is extraordinary.  In this story, we are treated to a creative medicinal cocktail.

One hundred books to read. #90: Tono-Bungay

This novel is a hotch-potch of various ideas, scenarios, and settings.

One hundred books to read. #89: Brideshead Revisited

Though written with great wit, Brideshead Revisited is actually an expression of the author’s newly-discovered Roman Catholic faith.

One hundred books to read. #88: Danny, the Champion of the World

Roald Dahl’s books are all so similar, but this must be a winning formula, for they are so successful.