Obviously, I enjoy books, I read them as often as I’m able (I’ve been keeping a steady pace of about a book a week for the past month and a half, which I’m quite proud of) and I talk about them here. Part of the reason I started my blog was to help me keep track of the books that I’ve read, and I’ve done a decent job of cataloguing everything since then.
One of the other things that I’ve most enjoyed about starting my blog, and I suppose that this is arguably the main point to blogging in general, is reading other blogs and finding out about other books that people have loved through their blogs. I’ve also noticed in the past couple of years that I’ve found myself drawn to lists of books, as they often help me find new books to read.
I’ve talked before about some fairly specific lists of books, the first two that come to mind being the NPR lists for the top 100 Fantasy and Science Fiction novels of all time, and their list for the top 100 YA books of all time. Well, a couple of weeks ago I came across another list that I thought was interesting, as you can probably tell by the title of this post, I’m talking about the Amazon.com list of 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.
When I first saw title of the list, I had to check it out and see whether or not I agreed or disagreed with the books on the list. And while there may be some books on this list that I don’t like, overall I think this is one of my favorite “Top 100” book lists that I’ve ever seen. “Top 100” is in quotes both times in this paragraph because they creators of the list didn’t intend for it to be a be-all end-all list of books, they made it to create some discussion, and I’ll start that discussion here with why I loved the list.
The people who picked the list chose a variety of different styles of books, ranging from children’s books to non-fiction, poetry collections to epic fantasy, young adult to memoir. There is such a wide variety of books on this list that I think everyone will be able to find at least 6 or 7 books on the list that they would enjoy, and probably quite a few more than that. As it stands right now, I’ve read 14 1/2 of the books (I’ve read about half of Oliver Sacks book “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat,” which is a collection of clinical stories. I’ve also read a version of The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, but it was when I was younger and it was probably abridged.)
Along with the books that I’ve already read from the list, there are a couple of others that I already own that I plan on reading. This is one of the more interesting lists of books that I’ve come across in some time, and I think that it stands out precisely for that reason.
So what do you think of the list. Are there any of the books on the list that you think absolutely shouldn’t be on the list? Are there any books or authors that you think are sadly missing?
I’d probably have to consider adding Flowers for Algernon and The Willow Tree – the last two books that I gave a 10/10 rating to on my blog – and I’d probably want to throw in a couple more Fiction and Fantasy novels, something like Asimov’s Foundation trilogy, The Wheel of Time, or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’d also want to throw in something like Lamb by Christopher Moore, which is one of the funniest books that I’ve ever read, or perhaps And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, because one of the best mysteries by one of the most famous mystery writers of all time deserves to be on the list.
Reviews and Ramblings 
Hannah Bassett
/ March 18, 2014I was happy they had Omnivore’s Dilemma on there, because I want where our food comes from to get more attention.
I didn’t see any that I think should be removed. As for adding, I would also say Flowers for Algernon, Hitchhikers Guide, and even perhaps Watchmen for its astounding effects on the comic book industry, Ender’s Game for it’s amazing sci-fi-ness, and His Dark Materials for its ability to question everything about government, the church, and “god.”