BBC Big Read Top 200

BBC Big Read Top 200 is a ranked list published in 2003 — one of the 14 sources behind the book canon, weighted as editorial list. 75 of its 200 entries appear in the aggregated canon.

1. 1The Lord of the Rings — J. R. R. TolkienCanon #66
2. 2Pride and Prejudice — Jane AustenCanon #5
3. 3His Dark Materials — Philip Pullman
4. 4The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — Douglas AdamsCanon #248
5. 5Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire — J. K. Rowling
6. 6To Kill a Mockingbird — Harper LeeCanon #27
7. 7Winnie-the-Pooh — A. A. Milne
8. 8Nineteen Eighty-Four — George OrwellCanon #13
9. 9The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — C. S. Lewis
10. 10Jane Eyre — Charlotte BrontëCanon #10
11. 11Catch-22 — Joseph HellerCanon #56
12. 12Wuthering Heights — Emily BrontëCanon #7
13. 13Birdsong — Sebastian FaulksCanon #244
14. 14Rebecca — Daphne du MaurierCanon #109
15. 15The Catcher in the Rye — J. D. SalingerCanon #42
16. 16The Wind in the Willows — Kenneth GrahameCanon #147
17. 17Great Expectations — Charles DickensCanon #17
18. 18Little Women — Louisa May AlcottCanon #33
19. 19Captain Corelli's Mandolin — Louis de Bernières
20. 20War and Peace — Leo TolstoyCanon #12
21. 21Gone with the Wind — Margaret MitchellCanon #47
22. 22Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone — J. K. Rowling
23. 23Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets — J. K. Rowling
24. 24Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — J. K. Rowling
25. 25The Hobbit — J. R. R. TolkienCanon #154
26. 26Tess of the d'Urbervilles — Thomas HardyCanon #241
27. 27Middlemarch — George EliotCanon #11
28. 28A Prayer for Owen Meany — John IrvingCanon #201
29. 29The Grapes of Wrath — John SteinbeckCanon #21
30. 30Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Lewis CarrollCanon #48
31. 31The Story of Tracy Beaker — Jacqueline Wilson
32. 32One Hundred Years of Solitude — Gabriel García MárquezCanon #4
33. 33The Pillars of the Earth — Ken Follett
34. 34David Copperfield — Charles DickensCanon #49
35. 35Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — Roald Dahl
36. 36Treasure Island — Robert Louis StevensonCanon #75
37. 37A Town Like Alice — Nevil Shute
38. 38Persuasion — Jane AustenCanon #57
39. 39Dune — Frank Herbert
40. 40Emma — Jane AustenCanon #155
41. 41Anne of Green Gables — Lucy Maud MontgomeryCanon #222
42. 42Watership Down — Richard Adams
43. 43The Great Gatsby — F. Scott FitzgeraldCanon #19
44. 44The Count of Monte Cristo — Alexandre DumasCanon #54
45. 45Brideshead Revisited — Evelyn Waugh
46. 46Animal Farm — George OrwellCanon #37
47. 47A Christmas Carol — Charles DickensCanon #105
48. 48Far from the Madding Crowd — Thomas HardyCanon #85
49. 49Goodnight Mister Tom — Michelle Magorian
50. 50The Shell Seekers — Rosamunde Pilcher
51. 51The Secret Garden — Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. 52Of Mice and Men — John SteinbeckCanon #130
53. 53The Stand — Stephen King
54. 54Anna Karenina — Leo TolstoyCanon #15
55. 55A Suitable Boy — Vikram Seth
56. 56The BFG — Roald Dahl
57. 57Swallows and Amazons — Arthur Ransome
58. 58Black Beauty — Anna SewellCanon #198
59. 59Artemis Fowl — Eoin Colfer
60. 60Crime and Punishment — Fyodor DostoyevskyCanon #3
61. 61Noughts & Crosses — Malorie Blackman
62. 62Memoirs of a Geisha — Arthur Golden
63. 63A Tale of Two Cities — Charles DickensCanon #82
64. 64The Thorn Birds — Colleen McCullough
65. 65Mort — Terry Pratchett
66. 66The Magic Faraway Tree — Enid Blyton
67. 67The Magus — John Fowles
68. 68Good Omens — Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
69. 69Guards! Guards! — Terry Pratchett
70. 70Lord of the Flies — William GoldingCanon #100
71. 71Perfume — Patrick Süskind
72. 72The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists — Robert TressellCanon #113
73. 73Night Watch — Terry Pratchett
74. 74Matilda — Roald Dahl
75. 75Bridget Jones's Diary — Helen Fielding
76. 76The Secret History — Donna Tartt
77. 77The Woman in White — Wilkie CollinsCanon #79
78. 78Ulysses — James JoyceCanon #1
79. 79Bleak House — Charles DickensCanon #44
80. 80Double Act — Jacqueline Wilson
81. 81The Twits — Roald Dahl
82. 82I Capture the Castle — Dodie Smith
83. 83Holes — Louis Sachar
84. 84Gormenghast — Mervyn Peake
85. 85The God of Small Things — Arundhati Roy
86. 86Vicky Angel — Jacqueline Wilson
87. 87Brave New World — Aldous HuxleyCanon #38
88. 88Cold Comfort Farm — Stella GibbonsCanon #217
89. 89Magician — Raymond E. Feist
90. 90On the Road — Jack KerouacCanon #86
91. 91The Godfather — Mario PuzoCanon #212
92. 92The Clan of the Cave Bear — Jean M. Auel
93. 93The Colour of Magic — Terry Pratchett
94. 94The Alchemist — Paulo Coelho
95. 95Katherine — Anya Seton
96. 96Kane and Abel — Jeffrey Archer
97. 97Love in the Time of Cholera — Gabriel García MárquezCanon #110
98. 98Girls in Love — Jacqueline Wilson
99. 99The Princess Diaries — Meg Cabot
100. 100Midnight's Children — Salman RushdieCanon #206
101. 101Three Men in a Boat — Jerome K. Jerome
102. 102Small Gods — Terry Pratchett
103. 103The Beach — Alex Garland
104. 104Dracula — Bram StokerCanon #60
105. 105Point Blanc — Anthony Horowitz
106. 106The Pickwick Papers — Charles DickensCanon #249
107. 107Stormbreaker — Anthony Horowitz
108. 108The Wasp Factory — Iain Banks
109. 109The Day of the Jackal — Frederick Forsyth
110. 110The Illustrated Mum — Jacqueline Wilson
111. 111Jude the Obscure — Thomas HardyCanon #78
112. 112The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 133⁄4 — Sue Townsend
113. 113The Cruel Sea — Nicholas Monsarrat
114. 114Les Misérables — Victor HugoCanon #34
115. 115The Mayor of Casterbridge — Thomas HardyCanon #103
116. 116The Dare Game — Jacqueline Wilson
117. 117Bad Girls — Jacqueline Wilson
118. 118The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar WildeCanon #73
119. 119Shōgun — James Clavell
120. 120The Day of the Triffids — John Wyndham
121. 121Lola Rose — Jacqueline Wilson
122. 122Vanity Fair — William Makepeace ThackerayCanon #39
123. 123The Forsyte Saga — John Galsworthy
124. 124House of Leaves — Mark Z. Danielewski
125. 125The Poisonwood Bible — Barbara Kingsolver
126. 126Reaper Man — Terry Pratchett
127. 127Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging — Louise Rennison
128. 128The Hound of the Baskervilles — Arthur Conan DoyleCanon #72
129. 129Possession: A Romance — A. S. Byatt
130. 130The Master and Margarita — Mikhail BulgakovCanon #121
131. 131The Handmaid's Tale — Margaret AtwoodCanon #191
132. 132Danny, the Champion of the World — Roald Dahl
133. 133East of Eden — John Steinbeck
134. 134George's Marvellous Medicine — Roald Dahl
135. 135Wyrd Sisters — Terry Pratchett
136. 136The Color Purple — Alice WalkerCanon #159
137. 137Hogfather — Terry Pratchett
138. 138The Thirty-Nine Steps — John Buchan
139. 139Girls in Tears — Jacqueline Wilson
140. 140Sleepovers — Jacqueline Wilson
141. 141All Quiet on the Western Front — Erich Maria RemarqueCanon #123
142. 142Behind the Scenes at the Museum — Kate Atkinson
143. 143High Fidelity — Nick Hornby
144. 144It — Stephen King
145. 145James and the Giant Peach — Roald Dahl
146. 146The Green Mile — Stephen King
147. 147Papillon — Henri Charrière
148. 148Men at Arms — Terry Pratchett
149. 149Master and Commander — Patrick O'Brian
150. 150Skeleton Key — Anthony Horowitz
151. 151Soul Music — Terry Pratchett
152. 152Thief of Time — Terry Pratchett
153. 153The Fifth Elephant — Terry Pratchett
154. 154Atonement — Ian McEwanCanon #136
155. 155Secrets — Jacqueline Wilson
156. 156The Silver Sword — Ian Serraillier
157. 157One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Ken Kesey
158. 158Heart of Darkness — Joseph ConradCanon #59
159. 159Kim — Rudyard KiplingCanon #135
160. 160Cross Stitch — Diana Gabaldon
161. 161Moby-Dick — Herman MelvilleCanon #8
162. 162River God — Wilbur Smith
163. 163Sunset Song — Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. 164The Shipping News — E. Annie Proulx
165. 165The World According to Garp — John Irving
166. 166Lorna Doone — R. D. Blackmore
167. 167Girls Out Late — Jacqueline Wilson
168. 168The Far Pavilions — M. M. Kaye
169. 169The Witches — Roald Dahl
170. 170Charlotte's Web — E. B. White
171. 171Frankenstein — Mary ShelleyCanon #14
172. 172They Used to Play on Grass — Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. 173The Old Man and the Sea — Ernest HemingwayCanon #83
174. 174The Name of the Rose — Umberto EcoCanon #116
175. 175Sophie's World — Jostein Gaarder
176. 176Dustbin Baby — Jacqueline Wilson
177. 177Fantastic Mr Fox — Roald Dahl
178. 178Lolita — Vladimir NabokovCanon #24
179. 179Jonathan Livingston Seagull — Richard Bach
180. 180The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-ExupéryCanon #35
181. 181The Suitcase Kid — Jacqueline Wilson
182. 182Oliver Twist — Charles DickensCanon #107
183. 183The Power of One — Bryce Courtenay
184. 184Silas Marner — George EliotCanon #122
185. 185American Psycho — Bret Easton Ellis
186. 186The Diary of a Nobody — George and Weedon Grossmith
187. 187Trainspotting — Irvine Welsh
188. 188Goosebumps — R. L. Stine
189. 189Heidi — Johanna Spyri
190. 190Sons and Lovers — D. H. LawrenceCanon #51
191. 191The Unbearable Lightness of Being — Milan KunderaCanon #220
192. 192Man and Boy — Tony Parsons
193. 193The Truth — Terry Pratchett
194. 194The War of the Worlds — H. G. WellsCanon #125
195. 195The Horse Whisperer — Nicholas Evans
196. 196A Fine Balance — Rohinton Mistry
197. 197Witches Abroad — Terry Pratchett
198. 198The Once and Future King — T. H. White
199. 199The Very Hungry Caterpillar — Eric Carle
200. 200Flowers in the Attic — V. C. Andrews

List compiled and published by its original authors; positions shown as published. Canon ranks link to each entry's full evidence page.