 Jane Austen |
Read on: borough’s favourite books
Pride and Prejudice takes top honours, but there’s room in there for restoring VWs!
CLASSIC novel Pride and Prejudice has been named Islington’s favourite book.
Almost 2,600 people took part in the Love Books! – Islington’s Favourite Reads, a vote organised as part of National Year of Reading by Islington Council’s libraries, in association with Borders.
Jane Austen’s tale of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy won the main adult section.
But all other books in the top 10 were modern, from favourites like Lord of the Rings to recent titles like The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Kite Runner.
Topping the section for 11 to 15-year-olds was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last of JK Rowling’s hugely popular books about the young wizard.
And favourite among 6 to 10-year-olds was Horrid Henry Robs the Bank, by Francesca Simon, who lives in Islington.
Councillor Ruth Polling, Islington Council’s executive member for leisure and equalities, said: “We think this is the first time a borough has carried out a vote on this scale, and we have had an amazing response from local readers of all ages.
“All of the top books, and many thousands of others, can be borrowed for free from Islington Council’s libraries.
“Why not visit now and get out an old favourite or try something new from the lists?”
Voting boxes were available in all Islington libraries as well as Borders bookshop at the Angel. The first vote was cast by author Nick Hornby, who lives in Highbury.
Borders also provided prizes for some lucky voters, selected at random, who won free copies of the top 25 or top 10 books for their age category.
Matthew Atkins, marketing manager of Borders Islington, said: “We at Borders Islington are really pleased to have worked alongside Islington Council on this exciting and innovative project.
“The resulting list of books shows a real breadth and range of titles and reflects the excellent reading tastes of our customers.”
In all 2,556 votes were cast – 1,731 in the adult category, 268 in the 11-15 age group and 557 in the 6-10 group.
A huge range of books
attracted votes in the main adult category, from classic novels to unusual choices such as Haynes VW Beetle Restoration Manual and The Scooby Doo Joke Book.
And the top spot goes to...
Adult category (top 25)
1 Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
2 The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien)
3 The Time Traveler’s Wife
(Audrey Niffenegger)
4 A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
5 The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
6 To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
7 Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)
8 The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
9 The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)
10 Perfume (Patrick Suskind)
11 1984 (George Orwell)
12 100 Years of Solitude
(Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
13 Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
14 Middlemarch (George Eliot)
15 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling)
16 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
(Louis de Bernieres)
17 Great Expectations
(Charles Dickens)
18 Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
19 Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks)
20 Gone With The Wind
(Margaret Mitchell)
21 Midnight’s Children
(Salman Rushdie)
22 The Poisonwood Bible
(Barbara Kingsolver)
23 The Book Thief (Marcus Zusak)
24 The God of Small Things
(Arundhati Roy)
25 A Piece of Cake (Cupcake Brown)
11-15 year old category (top 10)
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling)
2 Horrid Henry Robs the Bank (Francesca Simon)
3 Brisingr (Christopher Paolini)
4 Twilight (Stephanie Meyer)
5 My Sister Jodie (Jacqueline Wilson)
6 Noughts and Crosses (Malorie Blackman)
7 A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket)
8 Ugly (Constance Briscoe)
9 Matilda (Roald Dahl)
10 Holes (Louis Sachar)
6-10 year old category (top 10)
1 Horrid Henry Robs the Bank (Francesca Simon)
2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling)
3 The Tra-La-La Rific Captain Underpants Collection (Dav Pilkey)
4 Black Beauty (Anna Sewell)
5 The Twits (Roald Dahl)
6 Charlie and Lola (Lauren Child)
7 Cool! (Michael Morpurgo)
8 BFG (Roald Dahl)
9 The Witches (Roald Dahl)
10 Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory (Roald Dahl)
Almost 2,600 votes were cast across Islington’s libraries and at Borders Islington. |
