The Big Read (Bulgarian: Голямото четене, trans. Golyamoto chetene) was a survey initiated by the Bulgarian National Television, the goal of which was to find the favorite book of Bulgarians. Based on the BBC campaign of 2003, Golyamoto chetene started in October 2008 and finished on 25 March 2009 with the announcement of the winner. Initially Bulgarian public voted for any book they wished. Based on those votes a list of the top 100 books was drawn up. The 12 books that headed the list were put forward for further voting, which had to determine the winner.
Top twelve
| № | Title | Author | |
| Name | Nationality | ||
| 1 | Under the Yoke | Ivan Vazov |
|
| 2 | Vreme razdelno ("Time of Parting") | Anton Donchev |
|
| 3 | Tyutyun ("Tobacco") | Dimitar Dimov |
|
| 4 | Zhelezniat svetilnik ("The iron oil lamp") | Dimitar Talev |
|
| 5 | The Little Prince | Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
|
| 6 | The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov |
|
| 7 | The Lord of the Rings | J. R. R. Tolkien |
|
| 8 | East of Eden | John Steinbeck |
|
| 9 | Osadeni dushi ("Doomed souls") | Dimitar Dimov |
|
| 10 | The Count of Monte Cristo | Alexandre Dumas |
|
| 11 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams |
|
| 12 | One Hundred Years of Solitude | Gabriel García Márquez |
|
Winners by nationality
| № | Author's nationality | Books | № | Author's nationality | Books |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Bulgaria
|
24 | 8 |
Colombia
|
2 |
| 2 |
USA
|
20 |
 Czech
|
2 | |
| 3 |
United Kingdom
|
19 |
 Italy
|
2 | |
| 4 |
 Germany
|
8 | 9 |
 Australia
|
1 |
| 5 |
France
|
6 |
 Brazil
|
1 | |
| 6 |
 Russia
|
5 |
 Chile
|
1 | |
| 7 |
Soviet Union
|
3 |
 Greece
|
1 | |
 Sweden
|
3 |
 Poland
|
1 | ||
 Spain
|
1 |