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AP, TVWeek

The Search for America’s Best-Loved Novel Is About to End — Here Are the 10 Finalists

Oct 22, 2018  •  Post A Comment

An effort that has been playing out over the past six months to determine America’s best-loved novel will conclude Tuesday night, when PBS airs the finale of “The Great American Read.”

The AP reports that with more than 4 million votes now cast, the field has been whittled down to 10 finalists. Among them are many that have been adapted for high-profile media projects, including Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series and J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series.

The rest of the top 10 — the titles are not ranked — consists of  “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White; “The Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis; “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell; “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte; “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott; the “Outlander” series by Diana Gabaldon; and “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.

2 Comments

  1. Count me skeptical of any list of top 100 best loved books if the list doesn’t include either Starship Troopers or, better yet, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

  2. Maybe someone at the AP should do a little deeper research. Gone With the Wind was adapted for a high-profile media project that resulted in the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress to Hattie McDaniel, (becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award). Also, for the discussion of Books to Media, it also won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard). The Academy Awards also recognized the film for Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), and Best Actress (Vivien Leigh). Another high-profile media project was To Kill a Mockingbird. Among its Academy Awards was Best Adapted Screenplay for Horton Foote and Best Actor for Gregory Peck. You might also want to check with Starz about whether Outlander is a high-profile media project, that has brought feminism to the traditional action drama.

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