was something I looked into the other day, over the holiday. Because I am curious and think this way. How do my favorite books, 83 so far, rate with others on Goodreads? I’ve been a member of the popular online booksite since 2006.

Everyone can list the books they read, rate them (1 – 5 stars), and also write a review. Goodreads keeps track of how many members read which books. As well as many other “stats”.

My Methodology

was to only count and list books that had been read by at least ten thousand (10k) other readers. Of my 83 favorites, 34 met the mark. Then I ranked those books by order of which ones were most read. Of my favorites, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo was number one. It had been read by 2,838, 068 (2,838k) “bookies”.

For each of the books on my favorites’s list, I’ve written a review. One of them I’ll link in case you’re curious. It was a fun thing to do. If you are reader and not already a member, I recommend you become one. It’s free.

My Conclusion

is vague. I don’t know what it means. Like I said, it was a fun thing to do and I’ve ‘time on my hands’. By far, the two most popular were novels with a female heroine. Or anti-hero. Regardless, they are young, fiery, feisty, smart women. Actually the first six books featured that same type of woman.

Maybe the take-a-way is that’s the demographic that reads. (That was the case when I owned a bookstore. Buyers were 80% women.) People like to read about themselves. Of course in inflated ways. In other words – more brave, smart, fiery, feisty, pretty and capable than they are in real life.

I know I do. My favorite character in all those books is Hank Stamper, in Sometimes A Great Notion. Hank. Hank (great masculine name) an independent logger in Oregon in the 1960’s, was called “King Kong” and “Superman” by his baby brother, Leland (very feminine name). Whom he (Hank) might have been father to. It’s unclear and speculation on my part.

Enjoy.

The List:

1. 1. The girl with the dragon tattoo.  Stieg Larsson.  2,838
   2. Gone girl.  Gillian Flynn.  2,584
   3. Eat, pray, love.  Elizabeth Gilbert.  1,587
   4. Gone with the wind. Margarett Mitchell.  1,135
   5. The girl who plays with fire.  Stieg Larsson. 863
   6. Wild. Cheryl Strayed.  685
   7. Middlesex.  Jeffery Eugenides.   608
   8. Man’s search for meaning. Viktor Frankl.  508
   9. The Fountainhead. Ayn Rand.  308
   10. War and peace. Leo Tolstoy.  290
   11. A visit from the goon squad. Jennifer Egan.  189
   12. Sphere. Michael Crichton.  179
   13. Freedom. Jonathon Franzen.  160
   14. The marriage plot. Jeffery Eugenides.  115
   15. The perfect storm. Sebastian Junger.  109
   16. Infinite jest. David Foster Wallace.  81
   17. Sex, drugs, and coca puffs. Chuck Klosterman.  75
   18. The liars’ club. Mary Karr.  64
   19. When Nietzsche wept. Irvin Yalom.  55
   20. Consider the lobster. David Foster Wallace.  49
   21. A supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again. David Foster Wallace.  38
   22. Underworld. Don DiLillo.  28
   23. Clapton. Eric Clapton.  27
   24. How children succeed. Paul Tough.  23
   25. Sometimes a great notion. Ken Kesey   .  22
   26. The broom of the system. David Foster Wallace.  20
   27. The art of the deal. Donald Trump.  19
   28. Pygmalion and three other plays. George Bernard Shaw.  18
   29. Heal your body. Louise Hay.  16
   30. The brothers k. David James Duncan.  15
   31. Oblivion. David Foster Wallace.  13
   32. How should a person be. Shelia Heti.  12
   33. Every love story is a ghost story. T. J. Max.  11
   34. Waging heavy peace. Neil Young.  10