The Telegraph has compiled a bunch of Top 100 of the 00s lists, and topping the book list is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
If you don’t know what a Muggle is by now, you’re either Rip van Winkle or enormously stubborn. This is the seventh and final instalment in Rowling’s record-breaking series about Harry Potter, the world’s most famous lightning-scarred boy wizard and his tribulations with Lord Voldemort. We’ve seen Harry grow from a spindly, messy-haired 11-year-old into a heroic young adult. Children have grown up with him, finding in his battles metaphors for their own. This volume alone sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours after it was published. Whether wickedly skewering suburbia, or bringing Harry, Ron and Hermione into mortal danger, Rowling is never less than absorbing. Some may sneer at her books, but they are triumphant sagas about the defeat of evil that tap into our basic hunger for stories. Most importantly, she makes reading a 700-page book seem easy. This one even has a quotation from Aeschylus as its epigraph. It stands as a cornerstone of the decade, a melding of high and low culture that appeals to all ages and nations.
Red Rocker on 
Fricka on 
professor l on 
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Sad to say, I’ve only read two books on that list, & I wish I hadn’t read one of those. I’ll leave you to discover which one I mean. I’ve read Twilight, aptly described thus “Astonishing, mainly for the ineptitude of her prose. Teen vampire schlock that has the nation’s youth in thrall. ”
Then, I’ve also read the sublime, glorious, masterful, deeply meaningful Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I’ve read 1, 19, 20, 32, 72 and 76.
I’ve scanned or skimmed or skipped through 9, 11, and 84.
I’ve got 16 and 96 sitting on my book shelf.
Would recommend 76: good science fiction romance, although a little bleak in its outlook (think Slaughterhouse Five)
Would recommend 72 to anyone who wants a good cry.
20 is untaxing and funny.
I’m not sorry I read 32 (the book that shall not be named, by me at least, for fear of bringing on the ire of its devotees). I read it because I was curious. So now I know.
I, too, have read only two books on the list. The other one is The Da Vinci Code , which I enjoyed. I am not a literary critic, so I cannot comment on the quality of Dan Brown’s writing. However, he sure does tell a good story.
I did see the movie based on Atonement. It is one of those movies that my wife dragged me to, which I found (reluctantly) that I really enjoyed. (This happens a lot.) I highly recommend the movie.
Well, I’ve read three books on the list, which makes me one book ahead of revgeorge!
# 84, Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss was a hoot. If you hate it when you see grammatical errors, this book is for you. (I’m an English teacher, so naturally I loved it!)
I did read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It’s great storytelling, yes, and has a most interesting plot. Too bad, though, that Mr. Brown is not as meticulous in his research as is JKR. There was almost a cottage industry built out of writers pointing out all the mistakes in Brown’s book. Kind of makes me wince now when I realize I didn’t catch a lot of them while I was reading the book.
I’m still waffling on whether to read his latest book or not.
Of course, I’ve read the book at the top of the list. That was a fairly decent review, too, except for that snarky one-liner at the end. Bah.
I’ve only read four of them:
84 Eats, Shoots and Leaves: loved it. Hilarious.
32 Twilight: I’ll refrain. John’s book, Spotlight, is due out in a few weeks, for those interested.
4 Da Vinci Code – Easy read, didn’t like it.
1 Deathly Hallows – No need to comment here, I think.
Travis and Fricka – I did not read Eats, Shoots and Leaves – but now on your recommendations I will seek it out for sure. I have read the food books by Lawson, Naked Chef and the surprisingly beautiful Appetite. Also The Corrections and the second volume of Matisse. I started A Million Little Pieces but quit mid-way through – life is too short to spend time reading self-indulgent crap.
I shall be very, very careful talking about books I have not read – but I have no desire to read the following on the list:
Being Jordan – by the day-glo-orange Katie Price (I can’t tell if she’s jaundiced or was left under the broiler too long)
Da Vinci Code – I love Mary Magdalene though
Jade – moronically subtitled “My Autobiography”, poor thing.
Twilight
The Insider – Piers “no scruples” Morgan
My Booky Wook – I’m tempted though.
That Call-Girl book – by Belle du Jour or Soup du Jour whatever – though I hear she’s a brilliant mad scientist – in this day and age women can get a job and keep their self respect – no excuses.
My count is five. 98. Persepolis, 43. The Amber Spyglass, 32. Twilight (unfortunately), 3. The Da Vinci Code, and of course 1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I browsed through 5. The God Delusion several times, but never read it in its entirety so I won’t count it.
I’m surprised that I’ve read four of the books on the list. Normally new book prices scare me away! So obviously some of these are already in the second-hand stores…
I got Dangerous book for Boys for my son and we’ve read many of the chapters together. I bought this one new (not that much of a skinflint!).
The plot against America was a fascinating ‘what if’ where pro-Nazi Charles Lindburgh becomes President and Jewish Americans start experiencing policies like Nazi Germany’s. I’m very interested in US politics and history so this was a great read.
I haven’t read a book quite like A heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Very funny and moving. I found myself re-reading sections becuase the language was delicious.
I’ve read 10 from the list.
I agree with Red Rocker‘s assessments of Time Traveller’s Wife and Lovely Bones. I’m looking forward to the movie adaptation of the latter.
Charlie, glad you enjoyed Atonement, if a little reluctantly at first. The book is excellent.
Joivre, I’m a foodie like you – Nigella Lawson is one of my all time favourite tv chefs and her writing always makes me hungry! Jamie Oliver is my mother’s favourite – she has all of his books.
I’m surprised that not more people have read Golden Compass – I’ve read this trilogy about once a year since it came out.
I didn’t see Golden Compass on the list. I thought only Amber Spyglass was on there. I read the first, but not the second and third of that series.
Interesting list, rather snarky and apparently the product of opinion, but interesting. I rolled my eyes a few times, but not at the inclusion of The Book Which Shall Not Be Named, which I have read with all its sequels five times. Eats, Shoots and Leaves was a fantastic book and made it to #19 on my own Fifty Favorite Books list. And I wouldn’t make a very good Blogengamot member if I hadn’t read Deathly Hallows.
“This volume alone sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours after it was published” … Short of getting knocked on the head, I’ll never forget that night.
Part of me wants to read The Golden Compass and sequels, and part of me doesn’t. But really, “The Amber Spyglass … made us take children’s books seriously?” I thought Harry Potter did that.
Part of me wants to read The Golden Compass and sequels, and part of me doesn’t. But really, “The Amber Spyglass … made us take children’s books seriously?”
I saw that line, too, Jenna. A very absurd line which says a lot more about “us” than it does about children’s literature.
Amazing that a widely-scorned book would place so highly. One dismissed by hearsay, by academia, and after a surface read; dismissed for its readers, for the ‘shipping enthusiasm and the writing caliber of a young mom inspired with an idea. Ridicule is acceptable, even invited, but defense is not. Therefore I’m wary of confessing my happiness that Deathly Hallows made it to the top of the list.
In addition I’ve read a few others, including Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. I highly recommend anything by Gladwell–fascinating!
I have read 7.5 of these. Several more are on my to-read list (and I’m happy to take suggestions of what’s worth reading and what’s worth skipping!)…..
#91 The Crimson Petal and the White. A guilty pleasure, but captivating. Not sure how it “defined the decade,” though, set in Victorian England.
#84 Eats, Shoots and Leaves. A must for anyone who loves the English language. Or for writing professors who snarl when their students mess up “its” vs. “it’s.” Not that I would ever do that.
#76 The Time Traveller’s Wife. All the über-complex plotting of a good time travel tale, but ultimately hollow at its core. (And note the correct use of “its” there!)
(#63. The Dangerous Book for Boys. This is the “half” of the 7.5 — I skimmed bits of it after I bought it for my son, whom I believe has never opened it. I wonder if anyone who bought it actually read the whole thing.)
#32 Twilight. Too self-important and badly written for words… yet somehow I couldn’t put it down (yet never felt the urge to pick it up again).
#11 The Tipping Point. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I have read it, I have reread it, I have taught from it, I have given it as a gift. I will read anything Malcolm Gladwell writes.
#3 The Da Vinci Code. I read it so I wouldn’t be one of those people condemning something they hadn’t read. What a waste of time. My husband really liked it, though. Whatever.
#1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Well, duh. “Defined the decade”? You better believe it, baby!