The BBC's Big Read began the search for the nation's best-loved novel in April, and asked the public to nominate their favourite books.
The BBC Big Read is well underway now. Clive Anderson hosted the programme which revealed the Top 100, compiled earlier this year after 140,000 people nominated their best-loved novel.
Next, he will present seven weekly programmes featuring three of the novels from the shortlist each championed by a celebrity.
The final results of the voting wil be announced on 13th December.
Plot summaries of the 21 shortlisted titles are available on the BBC Big Read website - www.bbc.co.uk.bigread . Look on the author profile pages and you'll also find biographical information and some memorable quotes.
With the Top 21 revealed you now have the chance to register your vote for your favourite book:

The Top 21
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

For the Top 200 go to the official BBC Big Read Website
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I find it a bit of a disgrace that Watership Down didn't make it into the top 21.

Out of the 21 given I'd vote for " The Hitchhikers Guide..."


EDIT: In fact, I just have.

The Lord of the Rings.......by a country mile.

I have just had a look at those top 200 books, and I ascertained that the total number of books on the list that I have read is..........11.

I am not the type of person who reads a particular book because it is supposed to be good. I am really only interested in FANTASY books, so that rules out a fair proportion of the list anyway.

Oh look my trusty old favorite made it to number160:

Aww, the Watership Down.....

Here are the final results of the Big Read 2003:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

For all results click here
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