The Great American Read, PBS’s forthcoming eight-episode documentary on reading in American culture, has attracted more than 2 million votes as part of the program’s ongoing effort to find America’s Best Loved Novel.
The Great American Read will return to PBS on September 11 with an hour-long show hosted by TV personality Meredith Viera, and continues through the fall with a new show each week on books and reading. Voting for Best Loved Novel will also continue through the fall. The winning book will be revealed during TGAR’s final episode in October 2018.
PBS has revealed the top 40 titles leading the vote for Best Loved Novel (listed alphabetically and not by vote total). Listed among the most popular titles so far are 1984, Atlas Shrugged, The Color Purple, The Handmaid’s Tale, Little Women, Lonesome Dove, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Wuthering Heights. Viewers can vote for their favorite titles at pbs.org/greatamericanread.
The search to find America’s Best Loved Novel launched during TGAR’s 2-hour kickoff program in May. During that program, the show unveiled a list of America’s 100 Best Loved Novels (chosen by polling and a panel of 13 literary experts) and called on fans to cast a vote for their favorite book.
TGAR also features a companion book The Great American Read: Explore America’s 100 Best Loved Novels (Black Dog & Leventhal, August), a Facebook book club with 36,000 members, and educational resources for teachers.
