The BBC Big Read

reading challenge

The Big Read

In April 2003 the BBC began searching for the nation’s best loved novel, and asked the public to nominate their favorite book. They ended up with a list of 100 books and I thought in 2022 that I would work my way through that list. Of course, I didn’t really do anything with it. There are a couple of books that I have read at some point in my life but none of them recently. So, I thought this year I would work on the list and invite y’all to do the same.

One hundred books, no deadline, and plenty of opinions to come.

Reading Journey

Current Status

↻ In Progress

Started

January 2026

finished

NOT YET!

Where I’m Starting

I would love to say that I am planning on doing the list in one year but let’s face it we all know how that will turn out. What I will be doing is updating the side bar with the current book from the list as I am working my way through them. If you happen to be reading from this list as well then please feel free to share what book you are reading in the comments.

Reading over the list some of these are books that many of us should have read in high school or college. I don’t know if they are still required reading but I can remember several from my literature classes. Of course there are a couple that will take me longer to read because of the Old English they are written in and I always seem to struggle with it for some reason. Especially Charles Dickens! He gets me every single time.

Anyway, I hope that y’all will join me on this reading list and who knows maybe next year we will create a list of our own to work our way through. Oh, FYI I will be updating on the ones I read with at least a read date next to them. I don’t know if I will be doing a full on review but we shall see.

what made the big read

The Big Read isn’t really a list of books someone at the BBC decided everyone ought to read. The books came from readers themselves. In 2003, the BBC asked people across the UK to name their best-loved novel, and the result was a wonderfully strange collection of stories.

That means there isn’t much rhyme or reason to what sits beside what. There are classics I recognize from school reading lists, children’s books, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, mysteries, and enormous novels I already know are going to take me a while. Some authors appear more than once, and some of these books have been part of readers’ lives for generations.

That variety is what makes me want to tackle it.

More than twenty years later, I’m curious about which ones will still feel deserving of all that love. There will probably be books I adore, books I don’t understand the fuss about, and at least a few that make me wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m not trying to agree with the original voters. I just want to find out what I think of their favorites.