Readers’ Corner: America’s Top Ten Books

"Reading the Bible," Currier & Ives (Library of Congress)
“Reading the Bible,” Currier & Ives (Library of Congress)

The Bible is still the number one book in Americans’ hearts. At least, that’s according to a new poll by Harris Interactive that surveyed American adults to find out what their favorite book was. The rest of the top ten books are all fiction (insert atheist gag here), starting with the somewhat curious inclusion of Gone with the Wind at number two. Here’s the list:

  1. The Bible
  2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  3. Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
  4. The Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  6. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  7. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  9. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The poll further breaks down the list by ethnicity, politics, age, geography, and gender. Conservatives and moderates preferring Gone with the Wind while liberals’ fave was the Harry Potter series; either way, everybody likes fantasy.

The last time Harris conducted the same poll was in 2008. Interesting, among the books that dropped off in the intervening six years were Atlas Shrugged, The Stand, and two Dan Brown novels. New on the list since then were a couple classics deserving of the name (The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath), possibly showing that Americans’ tastes are improving. That, or people who really like Ayn Rand and Dan Brown either just aren’t reading anymore, have started to die off, or are sticking with pretending to have read the Bible.

(h/t: New Republic)

Readers’ Corner: Whiskey and the Dylan Thomas Centenary

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Dylan Thomas drank here: The White Horse Tavern, circa 1961 (Library of Congress)

The thunderously great poet Dylan Thomas would have turned 100 years old yesterday. So of course the date was used as an excuse to announce that Rhys Ifans would be playing the writer of “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light” in an upcoming film.

Whether Thomas was done in by poor medical attention or the demon drink back in 1953 is still a question for debate. But what’s unquestioned is the staggeringly large amounts of alcohol he consumed over his lifetime—and when other writers are shocked by how much somebody drinks, then you know they might have a problem.

And whether or not these actually were his last words, they need to be noted once more:

I have had 18 straight whiskies, I think that’s the record.

Department of Weekend Reading: May 2, 2014

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Quote of the Day: May Day, 2014

May Day Parade, New York (Library of Congress)
May Day Parade, New York (Library of Congress)

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

—”The Economic Bill of Rights,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt