Thirty books to read once in your life
Here are the books listed in the above linked article. The author of the article thinks that everyone should read each of the books at least once in their lives. I have read 10 of them. More if you count the whole series of Harry Potter.
I am amazed at the price on these books. Almost all of them are worth reading, I think. The fact that most of these are first editions and have inscriptions make them even more special.
The most expensive on this list was $35 million for an original copy of the book of Mormon. Each book is beautiful, and I am glad I got to see photos of them on this list.
In a previous post, I mentioned that the way to feel well-read was to read across multiple genres. This quiz has a varied list and contains many books that I own and many books that I’ve started and haven’t finished. I didn’t count any of those in my total. I only counted the books that I actually finished.
Below is the full list of 500 books. Many are on my TBR list.
According to Goodreads, the above linked article shows the best books of 2020. I have read a few, and want to read others. It’s a varied list, and I think they did a great job putting it together.
Some of my favorites on the list are Such a Fun Age, The Midnight Library, and The Vanishing Half. I hope to get to the others soon.
The above linked article is a list of books to read to make yourself well-read. I personally think there are others that one could read, also, but this is a start.
I know I’m not as well-read as I could be, and the fact that I have only read a few of these shows me that. I truly disagree with the fifty shades series being literature and I will continue to refuse to read them. I think that they make no one well-read.
The author’s point, though, was to give the idea that it’s not what you read in certain genres that make you well read, it’s reading across many genres. You don’t want to read just one and say you’ve read a lot.
Another point that the author makes is that the more a person reads, the more that person realizes that she isn’t well- read. There’s always more to read.
Here’s a list of some of the genres the author recommends reading. I disagree with the actual book suggestions, but they are just suggestions and the author’s attempt to get the point of the article across.
Western Classics (Ancient & Modern): to give you a good foundation for the who’s who of Western literature.
Dystopia: the stuff of our worst fears and nightmares.
Science Fiction & Fantasy: we can’t overlook the geeky cousin of the classics, can we?
Great American Novels: these zeitgeist works practically defined a time period of U.S. history.
Literary Heavy Hitters: books that make people go “Whoa, dude!” when you say that you’ve read them.
Popular Fiction: those guilty indulgences that everyone has read (but won’t necessarily admit to it). Warning: this is U.S.-centric, feel free to indulge in your country’s guilty pleasures.
Immigrant Experience (U.S./U.K.): ah, the magical experience of being thrust into a new culture.
Non-Western Classics (Ancient): if Westerners get theirs, so should the rest of the world.
Non-Western Classics (Modern): the stuff that you should read to feel worldly and well-read. (More applicable if you’re from the U.S. or Western Europe.)
Satire: throw in a little giggle into your reading list.
In the above linked article, The New York Times lists its most notable books of 2020. I have a few of them, but haven’t read most of them.
The Death of Vivek Oji and The Vanishing Half are on my book stack list. Earthlings, A Promised Land, and Memorial are on my TBR list. I hadn’t heard of Hamnet, but I would like to read it. The same goes for Overground Railroad and The Dead are Arising.
There are a lot of books that are worth reading on this list. It looks like I didn’t get to any of them this year, but I hope to.
All of the books listed in the above linked article are horror books by diverse authors. The descriptions of them make them all sound wonderful. I’ve added a couple to my TBR list.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun
Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias
We Cast A Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
The Good House by Tananarive Due
Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
The actual question should be, “what kind of bookworm are you?” I did score a 20 here. What about you?
I’ve read 9.
Right now, many bookstores are selling out of several books on anti-racism. Here’s a list of books to choose if you are finding that you have to wait for your book choice to be in stock.
