"The Great American Read"
Next month, PBS will premiere an eight-part television series that asks, "What is America's favorite book?" Hosted by Meredith Vieira, The Great American Read puts the focus on fiction and intends to "to get the country reading and passionately talking about books." Episodes will feature authors, celebrities, and notable American book lovers. The idea is to "book club" the novels on the list with its viewers and then to get everyone to vote for their favorite via social media throughout the summer until the series finale, which will air in October. 
In preparation for the debut, PBS has posted its list of "100 most-loved books." This list was created using the public opinion polling service YouGov, "to conduct a demographically and statistically representative survey asking Americans to name their most-loved novel." About 7,200 responded, and the list was then winnowed according to criteria (e.g., each author was limited to one title, the book had to be published in English, etc.) set forth by an advisory panel of thirteen literary professionals. The result is an eclectic list -- a mixture of usual suspects like The Catcher in the Rye, Little Women, and The Great Gatsby, plus some high school curriculum classics like The Grapes of Wrath and Things Fall Apart, and then there are contemporary selections like Stephen King's The Stand and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. By my count, 33 were written by women.
The two-hour premiere debuts on May 22. Until then, get reading! And check out the trailer here.
Image via PBS
