Wednesday, August 9, is National Book Lovers Day. The holiday is a great one for bibliophiles everywhere and is your chance to share your love of books! Some celebrants use the day to drop literary references into everyday conversation, or, if you'd "prefer not to," others reread their favorite books, create and post a BookTok on social media, or seek out a local book club.
Since its inception, the Alachua County Library District has sought to bring beloved books to its patrons. August 9 is a great day to come to your local branch and browse its shelves looking for a new great author, or do the same by perusing our card catalog.
As part of their Great American Read project, PBS evaluated and assembled a list of America's 100 best-loved novels which were chosen in a national survey. These books encourage readers to explore: "what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience." How many have you read or intended to read? How many are the classics you read growing up? How many are books you've never heard about, but can now explore today?
This list is a true treasure trove for the bibliophile in you. We offer all these books in our collection, whether through print copy, downloadable copy, or audio copy. Get started with the top ten listed below, and then assess the full list to find your next read.
Number Ten
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre is raised in her aunt's house after the death of her parents. Her aunt cannot stand the queer, quiet child and sends her off to a spartan boarding school where she is severely mistreated. She survives, however, and eventually finds herself a situation as a governess in the household of Edward Rochester. She and Rochester fall passionately in love, in one of the great literary love stories. But a dark secret in his house will tear them apart and send her alone into the wilderness before she can find her way back to him.
Number Nine
the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Four English schoolchildren find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist its ruler, the golden lion Aslan, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.
Number Eight
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women in two parts, each resoundingly popular and receiving critical acclaim. The novel follows the lives of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, from childhood into maturity. The journey is not an easy one, and each is humbled and ultimately uplifted by her encounters with love, society and death. The work is based loosely on Alcott's experiences growing up with three sisters.
Number Seven
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. When he discovers that he is destined to be someone's dinner, Wilbur the pig is desolate until his spider friend Charlotte decides to help him.
Number Six
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The tumultuous romance of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler is set against the backdrop of the elegance of the antebellum South, the ravages of the Civil War and the desperate struggle of Reconstruction, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the bestselling novels of all time.
Number Five
the Lord of the Rings series by J.R. Tolkien. The discovery of the One Ring ignites the great war between good and evil in Middle-earth, as a courageous group of adventurers embarks on a perilous quest to destroy the dangerous artifact.
Number Four
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows us the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.
Number Three
the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and his friends attend a magical boarding school for seven years. In this time they grow as witches and wizards, battle the evil Lord Voldemorte, and learn the truths of past generations.
Number Two
the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Hurtled back through time more than two hundred years to Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself caught in the midst of an unfamiliar world torn apart by violence, pestilence, and revolution and haunted by her growing feelings for James Fraser, a young soldier.
BEST LOVED
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, Scout, as her father, Atticus Finch, a crusading local lawyer, risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.