Documentary
A journey through America that introduces our list of the 100 best-loved books and explores the many ways in which these novels affect, reflect and connect us all.


America’s 100 best-loved books are revealed, launching the campaign & the nationwide vote.

Join host Meredith Vieira in the search for America's best-loved novel. The voting is underway, and the competition is heating up; any book could win.

Explore the ways that America's best-loved novels answer the age-old question, “Who am I?” From life lessons to spiritual journeys, these books help us understand our own identities and find our place in the world.

Follow the trials and tribulations of some of literature's favorite protagonists. From Katniss Everdeen to Don Quixote, examine how these everyday heroes and anti-heroes find their inner strength, overcome challenges and rise to the occasion.

Learn why literature's most notorious villains began behaving badly. Many weren't born evil, but became that way when faced with some of the same choices we make every day. See what these villains can teach us about our own dark impulses.

Fall in love with some of literature's most beautiful romances and explore the many forms of love, from family to passion to the unrequited type. Learn how America's best-loved novels reflect the things we do for love.

Take a magical journey to another world through some of America's best-loved novels. From Middle Earth to Lilliput, the trials and tribulations of these alternate universes help us to better understand our own world.

And the winner is... after millions of votes, find out which of the 100 nominated books is crowned America's best-loved novel.

Self - Host

Who was Homer, and what is the meaning of The Odyssey? In this documentary we follow the footsteps of Ulysses, also known by his Greek name Odysseus—a hero as relevant today as he was nearly three thousand years ago, on a journey across some of the most fascinating landscapes and seascapes of the Mediterranean region. With the help of prominent international scholars, we seek to resolve the questions that still surround one of humanity’s greatest literary works and its enigmatic author.

In celebration of the biggest movie release of this summer - Christopher Nolans' The Odyssey, Richard E. Grant recreates the route of Odysseus' 20-year voyage, travelling to Malta, Sicily, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey, Corfu and Ithaca, exploring the ancient worlds and modern places which formed the inspiration for Homer’s masterpiece.

With Botequim, in the Lisbon neighborhood of Graça, as a starting point, we will remember the Portuguese writer, poet, and great figure of the capital’s literary salons. During a long period od the her life, especially in latter years, Botequim was the centre of the writer's life, with her being the greatest personality of the salon that gathered around her.