Big Read (German)

The Big Read initiative was launched in Germany by the public television broadcaster ZDF in 2004, under the name "Das große Lesen". Based on the BBC version of Big Read, it was designed as a game show to determine the top 50 books read and liked by the German people.

An initial list of 200 books was sent to more than 10,000 bookshops to start the survey. Supported by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and Stiftung Lesen 60,000 votes were already cast within the first week. Four weeks later the list had grown to 12,615 book nominations, and after the casting of 250,000 votes the 'winners' were determined.

Results

 * 1) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
 * 2) The Bible
 * 3) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
 * 4) Perfume by Patrick Süskind
 * 5) The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
 * 6) Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
 * 7) The Physician by Noah Gordon
 * 8) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
 * 9) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
 * 10) Pope Joan by Donna Cross
 * 11) Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
 * 12) Outlander a.k.a. Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
 * 13) The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende


 * 1) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
 * 2) Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 * 3) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
 * 4) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
 * 5) The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
 * 6) Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
 * 7) Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane
 * 8) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling
 * 9) The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
 * 10) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
 * 11) Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
 * 12) The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
 * 13) The Neverending Story by Michael Ende