I find so many of these lists so boring for so many reasons, as a lot of them are very repetitive classics and my biggest pet peeve in life is when I’m looking at one of these lists and there are
multiple entries by a single author. So my criteria would be:
A) only one entry per author. Because the list is a relatively small number (in comparison to all literature) I think it’s just a more efficient use of space to list more author vs multiple titles by one author. If a user of the list decides they really like a particular author, I trust them to seek out more ot that authors work on their own
B) it must be a book I’d be comfortable recommending to *anyone*. Much as I love, say, the Animorphs and *wish* everyone would read them, I recognize the situations in which a recommendation of Animorphs is actually warranted are few and far between
C) it must be a book I think needs to be read by *everyone*. A lot of these list will have like HS lit titles like Catcher in the Rye, but really, I’m not sure how many people over the age of 14 who haven’t read Catcher in the Rye *need* to read Catcher in the Rye, y’know?
by JingleHelen11
26 Comments
There are frequently request threads on for example r/booksuggestions asking for books that ‘changed the way you think about life’ or books that people found exceptionally moving emotionally, or books with really well written characters, or books with exceptional prose style/ authorial craft and skill.
My list would be based on some mix of that, with an addition of books that are just exceptionally fun to read.
I would put books in all languages that i know on the list. Reading in more than one language should be more encouraged.
My list wouldn’t be about authors, or best sellers or things that could change your life. I think I’d base it on scenarios.
“A book recommended by a friend.”
“A book to make a break up better.”
“A book about someone exactly like you.”
“A book about someone who’s nothing like you.”
“A book that took you a day to finish.”
“A book that took forever to end.”
“A book to make your hair stand on end.”
“A book to make you want to fall in love.”
“A book you wanted to throw out of the window.”
My must read list would be less about specific titles and more about specific moments I think you should have as a reader.
I would add to your list “must be a self contained story.”
For example: “Fellowship of the Ring” as part of a trilogy wouldn’t make it, but “The Hobbit” although part of the the middle earth series is a complete story in and of itself and would fit the criteria.
>C) it must be a book I think needs to be read by everyone. A lot of these list will have like HS lit titles like Catcher in the Rye, but really, I’m not sure how many people over the age of 14 who haven’t read Catcher in the Rye need to read Catcher in the Rye, y’know?
I feel like all I do anymore is disagree about *Catcher in the Rye* takes, but I disagree! I didn’t read it until this year, as an adult, and I honestly think it’s best read as an adult. As a kid I don’t think you can quite understand the scope of Holden’s (hidden) trauma. I think that’s why there’s so many people out there who hate Holden and hate the book because they were forced to read it in school when they were too young to ‘get it’.
But anyway, to answer your question: I think there needs to be a variety in what you get out of the books. Some books that are page-turners you can’t put down. Some that strike you emotionally to your core. Some that are classics, foundational to understanding of culture or genre. And some, honestly, that aren’t that great. I think it’s important to read both good and bad.
Variety. Include authors from various backgrounds. Female authors, POC, queer, neurodivergent or disabled in some other way, maybe the author is actually a scientist and they wrote a fantasy that’s very scientifically based etc. Sometimes, “change my life” just means “seeing things from a new perspective” and it’s better to get that perspective from authors who are writing from their own lives.
A factor for me with some but not all of the books would be the impact it’s had on society. There are authors like P.G. Wodehouse and Eric Ambler who can be considered mainly as entertainment yet still merit an inclusion for fulfilling that aspect of reading. But even for some novels if that’s all we’re considering, I’d look for an extraliterary legacy like Charles Dickens’ or Elizabeth Gaskell’s.
That raises the subject of religious and philosophical works, economic and scientific treatises, travel diaries and history books: all have had strong influences on society because they were meant to, and would crowd out the novels if a list was based only on the most tangible social impact. I wouldn’t want that in such a list.
Assuming the list is for general consumption, I would simply pick best sellers in various genres, many of which I would have never read, would have no interest in reading, or have read and didn’t care for, but would put on a list like that because I was trying to impress.
I mean I would just pick the books I’ve learned the most/have been influenced the most by. I don’t really need any criteria with it
CITR changed my life. No shit. My older sister had to read it in HS. I read it because it was lying around. I was in the 6th grade and was kind of fucking-up, academically. I thought it was a cautionary tale. I was like, I better apply myself at school, or I’ll end up as some pathetic loser like Holden. No fucking way. It lit a fire under my ass and I stayed on the honor roll thereafter.
Well for starters, they’d have to be books.
I would put the 100 books that I had found most enlightening/thought provoking/conceptually “sticky”. It’s not my job to spread the love around or consider the audience. It’s my job to recommend the best stuff I’ve read. “100 Books to Read Before You Die” sounds aspirational to me. You’re supposed to rise to the level of the work. It’s not supposed to meet you where you are.
These lists are also mostly English language and not a lot of literature in translation. I was trying to compile the ultimate list of top 100 books by going through a bunch of different publications and it’s mostly Western canon. How complete can it be if it’s just the US, UK, and a few European countries? There are a few token books in translation but I want books from Mexico, Polynesia, China, India, Iraq, Palestine, etc.
For me it would be did the book negatively impact a relationship, school grade, or job. Those would be books that kept my attention over what was supposed to be important at the time.
Books you keep reading over and over
I would pick out diverse books from Africa, Asia and Australia and make those 100 books to read in my lifetime
I’d probably have to read 100 books first. The problem is I don’t like most of them.
It has to make you think differently about life, it must induce sympathy for someone different than you, it must teach you something, it must make you wish you had written it. To kill a mockingbird; master and margarita; slaughterhouse five; a tale of two cities/a Christmas Carol; the invisible man; Dr Jekyll snd Mr Hyde; the idiot; shall I keep going?
I’d take favorites from different periods in my life. Books I loved as a child, as a teenager, in my 20s, etc. They reflect what interested me at the time, and that would give a fuller sense of my special books than a list of books I love at this particular moment.
I think I’d just base it off books I really enjoyed and some that were formative or important.
One advantage I’d have is that almost half of the list would be from a single series and that’s Sir Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” series. 😀
Less Western Euro / America centric, I get that these places are significant historical / cultural hubs but it really irks me when they dominate booklists
These lists often lack nonfiction entries
If Catcher in the Rye has no haters left, that means I’m dead and buried. I will die on the hill of it being the most pretentious, overrated piece of annoying entitlement out there.
That being said.
My criteria would be a book has to actually be readable. So many lists include “The Bible” and while it’s obviously one of the most culturally relevant books, there is no way I am reading that thing front to back. What non-religious person is gonna read the whole entire bible in their lifetime?
A story needs to also be timeless for it to make the list. I am always surprised to barely see any fairytales on there for example, as if we are not all still actively retelling those stories. A book that was a gamechanger in the 18th century but is impossible to get through in modern times, should not be on the list.
My son found a list of “top 100 books” online. and found 95 of them in our library. We figured that was good enough.
No Lolita
For myself the classics of every genre. I want to see what has inspired what is being made since then and read those and then read what was inspired by them. I feel like going as far back as possible to see how far we have come is great and you can really see like language and how it’s changed. This year I read several on my list.
Moby dick. At the mountains of madness. Jaws. The haunting of Hill House. Hell house. I am legend. The shining. Currently reading the necronomicon. The killing zone Fredrick Downs Jr.
Next on my list. Treasure island. The Hobbit. The Lord of the rings. I also have a huge list of just sci Fi alone.
Last year I read Jurassic park, all Edgar Allen Poe, Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde, Dracula, Frankenstein, at the mountains of madness yeah I’ve read it three times in about a full year. I found so many movies that used it my book is full of annotations for each.
It would depend on if the person is like me. My husband has enjoyed my pick of books so far.