Friday, August 8, 2008

The 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Part 1)

You may have seen such lists on the Internet, you might have even jotted down some of the titles to add to your "To Read List", but have you ever thought of making your own list?

I asked myself that question and realized that, no I hadn't, but why not!? I've looked through the 100 book lists before and even the 1001 book lists. I've found several books I have read, several I want to read, and even some that I have no interest in ever reading no matter what the list says, but I've never made my own list... until now.

This blog post will include the first 25 of my 100 books I recommend you read before you die (watch for upcoming posts with the remaining 75 book titles). This list will only include books I've read, since it seems weird to recommend a book you've never read. Once I'm done I may post a separate list of highly recommend books by others that I have not read, but plan to... we'll see.

And so here they are -- the first 25 my 100 in no particular order (except that I alphabetized them for this list):

1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
3. All Creatures Great And Small by James Herriot +
4. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery +
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck +
6. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
7. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
9. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
10. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder +
11. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
12. The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis +
13. Middlemarch by George Elliot
14. North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell
15. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
16. Persuasion by Jane Austen
17. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
18. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
19. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
20. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
21. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy +
22. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
23. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
24. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
25. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

What would you include if you had such a list?

2 comments:

Carrie said...

Hmm...........that's an interesting idea. I don't know that I could stick to such a list. And by your standards I'm a little behind. But oh! Sarah . . . East of Eden!? =P Thwwwppt.

I'll try and forgive you.

I WILL read The Woman in White. I will, I will, I will!

Sarah M. said...

Yeah, I know. I really hesitated before I added that to the list. I kind'a hated that story... but I felt I needed to include Steinbeck on that list. It was such a well written book -- even if I hated the story. My list is an evolving one (I still have to come up with 75 more books) so bear with me. :)