Addicted to Ink

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

my fellow bookworms:

A friend emailed me the list of 1000 books you must read before you die. I was a little surprised at how many of these I haven't read - as well as some very slighted books, such as Chronicles of Narnia, Til We Have Faces (or anything by C.S. Lewis), Peace Like a River, The Secret Lives of Bees, Mandy (my childhood favorite) and numerous others.

But there are some great ones on here.

For what it's worth...

http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.22845/Books

4 Comments:

Blogger Heather said...

I couldn't take this list too seriously. It looks like the person who created it simply listed all the works by "great" authors in different places so as to not really look like he/she was just listing. Not all of Jane Austen (and I know I'm bordering on blasphemy here) is of great importance. She did a lot for her time with several of her works, but, come on, let's face it, Northanger Abbey is not really a classic. Neither was Anne Bronte's one and only book. She only got published because of the popularity of her sister, Charlotte.

So, read away, but be an informed reader. Don't just read because someone put the book on a list.

5:12 PM  
Blogger amber said...

True, but there are some good books on this list, too, and I know I'm always looking for good reads so I think some of the suggestions are helpful :)

I agree with you about Agnes Grey - totally forgettable.

Readers, this definitely is NOT a must read list. There are some on here that I wouldn't bother wasting your time with - The Hours, for one, Rachel and I both hated.

However... what would you guys say are the top "must read" books before you die are? Let's go with a nice number like 10, not 1000 :)

5:20 PM  
Blogger Heather said...

*My 10 are chosen based on my own, completely skewed reading experience. I'm unabashedly pro-Brit Lit, so the Americans are largely ignored.

10 To Read:

1)Bible
2)Mere Christianity or The Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis)
3)Anything by William Shakespeare (except King Lear because that will be the last thing you read before you die as you will want to kill yourself by the time you're finished).
4)Crime & Punishment (Dostyevsky)
5)A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
6)Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)
7)Pride & Prejudice (Austen)
8)The Awakening (Chopin)
9)Grimm's Fairy Tales (Brothers Grimm)
10)Paradise Lost (Milton)

PS - Please forgive me the Paradise Lost. It's drudgery to read, but it does make you think and a lot of our modern views on the fall of man is based on this story, not the Bible.

10:00 AM  
Blogger Meg said...

I love this updated blogger thing, where you can list your fave books on your page! (you have to scroll all the way down on mine-- but it's there).

11:32 AM  

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