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", with the support of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and Stiftung 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. 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.[1][2][3]

## Results

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

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## References

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1. ^ "Unsere Besten – Das große Lesen" (2004) ZDF Jahrbuch
2. ^ Unsere Besten – Das große Lesen: Das Lieblingsbuch der Deutschen
3. ^ [1] Archived June 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

## External links

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* BBC Big Read website