Top 100 Teen Books : How many have you read?
(First of all, a small apology; with the Man of the House being off from work for two weeks, I have had very little time to answer comments, return emails, comment and blog; I expect things to go back to normal by this weekend and will do my best to answer all unanswered questions/emails!)
So, NPR just released their “Top 100 Teen Books” list, a selection made and voted on by readers. You all know how much I love lists, and I suspect many readers here do too, so I thought it would be fun to count how many of these supposedly “Top100 Teen Books” I had read!
I put in bold titles I have read, added a (TBR) for those I plan on reading. I put series as “read” if I have read at least one book of the series, whether I plan on reading further or not. I put as (TBR) books I already own a copy of; there are more on this list I might, some day, be reading, but I tried to keep it simple with books I have read and/or own.
Scroll down to see my total and a few comments!
NPR’s Top 100 Teen Books
1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (TBR)
11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry (TBR)
12. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams
13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery
15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (TBR)
17. The Princess Bride, by William Golding (TBR)
18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding (TBR)
19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth
20. Paper Towns, by John Green (TBR)
21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare
22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green
23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson (TBR)
27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld
29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare
30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares
33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan
35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
36. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones (TBR)
37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead (TBR)
40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix
41. Dune, by Frank Herbert (TBR)
42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series, by Terry Pratchett) (TBR)
43. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper
45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore (TBR)
46. Forever…, by Judy Blume
47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin (TBR)
48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini
49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot
50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce
51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver
53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Becca Fitzpatrick
55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson
56. It’s Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini
57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray
58. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen (TBR)
63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L’Engle
64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen (TBR)
65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud
66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead
67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate
68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast
69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (TBR)
70. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlsit, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner
75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman
76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins
78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie
79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter
80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce
82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce
84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede
85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness (TBR)
86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce
87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor
88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson
89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block
90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen (TBR)
91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison
92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld
93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld
94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones
95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen (TBR)
96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant
97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater
98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace
Books Read : 42
Books to be Read : 19
Comments : When I first started reading the list I was surprised by how many of these I had actually read; but as I went further down, I found pleasant surprises in the list, books I haven’t read and some I hadn’t even heard of before. I’m not sure what it says about my reading; I don’t read only YA and even though I have read many on the list, I can think of are the numerous ones that aren’t there. Not at all surprised to see Harry at the top of the list though, and of course, I completely agree with his first place!
What’s interesting to me when looking at this list is how “current” it is. Sure, there are some classics on there, and some books that are bound to become classics; but there are also some books and series that are very popular right now, and that I can’t imagine would still be on there if you asked readers 5, 10, 20 years from now. Some of these books are very recent, and I would imagine they would be replace by newer best-sellers as time goes on. Without taking away from any of these titles, I definitely see this list more as a popularity status than a “best YA of all time” list (which it doesn’t pretend to be, I know; just a thought!)
Some favorites I would have loved to see on there : something by Courtney Summers (Fall for Anything would be my pick), Ice by Sarah Beth Durst (magical!), and Life as We Knew it by Susan Beth Pfeffer (the first book).
I’m curious; which favorites of yours would you have liked to see on this list? Any book on this list surprises you? And, if you feel like counting; how many have you read?
If I counted correctly, I’ve read 11 of the books. I do have a few others in my TBR pile.
Counted 14 – a lot were in my TBR pile. 🙂
I’ve read quite a few of these, but apparently not enough of them! This is a great list to come back to and use as a guide for when I am in the mood for something a little in the YA vein.
I agree, I’ll keep it in mind too; there are a few on there, like To Kill a Mockingbird, that have been recommended to me many times!
I’ve read quite a few, although most of the books I’ve read (apart from Harry Potter) I read last year for my Youth Literature course – I follow a teacher training to become English teacher in the Netherlands, and our top 100 of youth literature contains many books of Dutch writers off course. (We all have to have read ‘Crusade in Jeans’ – or ‘Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek’ in Dutch – by Thea Beckmann f.i., and before this year I never heard of Judy Blume or Nathalie Babitt…)
Oh, that must make things even more interesting! My personal top 100 would be different as I would include some French books too.
There were many I read as a part of a children’s literature class too, years ago; Catcher in the Rye and Forever were amongst those.
7 ! I’m ashamed! But at least a lot of these are in the tbr pile…