Amazon’s Top 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime

~ Justine

I spotted this tag over on Thrice Read‘s blog and decided to give it a go.  I love these kinds of lists — they always remind me of amazing books that I’ve read in the past or remind me of things I want to read.  This is the Amazon Top 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list.

Amazon.com has a list of “100 Books to Read in a Lifetime” that’s been compiled by Amazon’s editors, and the question is, how many of Amazon’s recommended books have you read?

  1. Include the link to Amazon’s List
  2. Tag the creator of the meme (Perfectly Tolerable)

*The names of book titles US versions rather than UK.

Title Author Read?
1984 George Orwell
A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Ishmael Beah
The Bad Beginning Lemony Snicket Yes
A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle  Yes
Selected Stories, 1968-1994 Alice Munro
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll Yes
All the President’s Men Bob Woodward
Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir Frank McCourt
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Judy Blume
Bel Canto Ann Patchett
Beloved Toni Morrison
Born to Run Christopher McDougall
Breath, Eyes, Memory Edwidge Danticat
Catch-22 Joseph Heller
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl  Yes
Charlotte’s Web E. B White Yes
Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese
Daring Greatly Brené Brown
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney
Dune Frank Herbert  Yes
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury  Yes
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson  Yes
Gone Girl Gillian Flynn Yes
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brow  Yes
Great Expectations Charles Dickens  Yes
Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond Ph.D.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone J.K. Rowling Yes
In Cold Blood Truman Capote
Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri
Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware
Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain
Life After Life Kate Atkinson
Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov  Yes
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez  Yes
Love Medicine Louise Erdrich
Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor E. Frankl
Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris
Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides
Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game Michael Lewis
Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham
On the Road Jack Kerouac
Out of Africa Isak Dinesen
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Marjane Satrapi
Portnoy’s Complaint Philip Roth
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen  Yes
Silent Spring Rachel Carson
Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut  Yes
Team of Rivals Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon
The Autobiography of Malcolm X Malcolm X
The Book Thief Markus Zusak  Yes
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Díaz
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
The Color of Water James McBride
The Corrections Jonathan Franzen
The Devil in the White City Erik Larson  Yes
The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank
The Fault in Our Stars John Green Yes
The Giver Lois Lowry  Yes
The Golden Compass Philip Pullman  Yes
The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald  Yes
The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood Yes
The House at Pooh Corner A. A. Milne  Yes
The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins Yes
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
The Liars’ Club Mary Karr
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry  Yes
The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Lawrence Wright
The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien  Yes
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat Oliver Sacks  Yes
The Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan
The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster  Yes
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
The Power Broker Robert A. Caro
The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe
The Road Cormac McCarthy
The Secret History Donna Tartt  Yes
The Shining Stephen King  Yes
The Stranger Albert Camus
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle Yes
The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami
The World According to Garp John Irving
The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion
Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe  Yes
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Yes
Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand
Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann
Where the Sidewalk Ends Shel Silverstein  Yes
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak        Yes

Hey, I did alright!  I count 36 out of 100.  There are some books on here that I have wanted to read for ages and a few I know I’ll never get around to.  However, I always appreciate a more ecclectic ‘Top 100 Books’ list.

 

How many of these books have you read?  Are you encouraged to read more from this list?  Do you like these kinds of lists? Let me know!

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9 thoughts on “Amazon’s Top 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime”

  4. Pingback: The 20 Questions Book Tag – Bionic Book Worm

  6. Hey Justine,
    I only read 5 of these books; oops. Do you plan on reading some of the books and do you agree with this list?
    There are a lot of classics and it’s nice to see Stephen King, too. But what about “Gone Girl”? Sure, it’s a nice book, but is it really one you have to read in your lifetime?
    Greetings,
    Elli

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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