List of books everyone should read?

Question

I feel very uneducated when it comes to literature and I was looking for anyone who has a list of books that everyone should read. Please please please do not include Harry Potter, the Twilight series or any Dan Brown novels (which I wasn't really impressed by, shock value does not make a novel dan brown) .Obscure books people often leave out of these kind of lists are much appreciated so if you don't bother putting on war and peace/works by shakespeare/atlas shrugged/catch-22 cause they are pretty obvious that's ok. Thanks!!

Answer 1

   I've a few suggestions from the sci fi/fantasy genre. Even those those genres are not to everyone's taste, it's a good idea for people to be exposed to them, in order to decide if perhaps they may aquire a taste. Sci Fi also allows the writers of the time to make comments on the social conditions and sacred cows of the time.

   Dune, Frank Herbert.

   I Robot, Isaac Asimov

   The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein

   Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov

   The Color of Magic,Terry Prachett (actually, any of the Discworld books would make good reading, though I recommend one of the earlier ones, to better savor the characters and their development)

   The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

   Lord of the Rings trilogy JRR Tolkein

   War of the Worlds HG Wells

  

  

Non Sci Fi works

Tarzan of the Apes, Edgar Rice Burroughs

Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain

Cantebury Tales Chaucer

Call of the Wild Jack London

Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand

Around the World in 80 Days Jules Verne

  This is by no means a comprehensive list, but I believe each of the books has some aspect that makes it worthy of the time spent to read it. Good question, and I'm looking forward to seeing some other peoples' answers.

Answer 2

Of course it's hard to please everyone and my list, that appealed to me , a very introverted shy person, might not appeal to someone else. Since i have to go to work in a few minutes this will just be a partial list;

        Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. A timeless classic for ALL ages

        National Velvet by Enid Bagnold

        Gone With The Wind by Margret Mitchell

        Rembrandt by Gladys Schmitt

        A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

        All Creatures Great & Small by James Herriott

        One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

        Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

        Watership Down by Richard Adams

        A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson

        The Once & Future King by T. H. White

         Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

        Nop's Trials by Donald McCaig

        Moby d**k by Herman Melville

I admit Moby d**k was a stretch for me but I did listen to it on audio book, with the incomparable Frank Muller narrating.  I loved it.

I am curious to see what other people put on their list

Answer 3

I should probably ask how old you are because a book like Ulysses by James Joyce is difficult for someone who is less than college ages (and often difficult for college students!)  Also Catcher in the Rye is a great book, but I wouldn't recommend it to a middle schooler.

The Robe by Lloyd Douglas tells about what happens to the Robe of Jesus after he is crucified and the effect it has on anyone who touches it.  It's a great book and I read it when I was in junior high or high school for the first time; now I ocassionally re-read it because it's just that good.  The Agony and the Ecstasy (sp?) is another good one about Michaelangelo.  We, the Living by Ayn Rand id often overlooked and better than Atlas Shrugged but depressing and cold!  DAvid McCullough has written a couple of really good books recently; the one I recommend is called Truman, the biography of Harry Truman. And John Knowles' A Separate Peace is also good.  The Once and Future King is gerat beach reading -- light and fun but also a real page turner.  And since you didn't list it as obvious although you may think it is, To Kill a Mockingbird.  Also try a Dickens or two; Tale of Two Cities is best.  I think just for fun, you should try at least one of what folks consider "pulp fiction" like Mickey Spillane's I, the Jury or anything by Zane Grey or an old Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  And I'll end with Tom Robbins, although he can be a little adult an hard to follow sometimes.  

Answer 4

my sisters keeper-jodi picoult

my antonia-willa cather

to kill a mockingbird-harper lee

a walk to remember

Answer 5

Before I die- Jennie Downham, You will never forget this book!!!

The series by dave pelzer of his abused childhood ( a real life changer but not a typical 'dont tell mummy' book )

Change of heart by jodie picoult

Answer 6

Utopia by Thomas More

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Lord of the Flies

Fahrenheit 451

Answer 7

I know exactly what you mean personally I hate harry potter, twilight stuff and dan brown, there were a bit dull really...

-The Borgia bride (jeanne kalogridis)

-False Impressions (jeffery archer)

-Muddle earth series (childish yes.. but everyone has read them)

-The other boleyn girl (great movie even better book by phillipa gregory)

-Of mice and men (john steinbeck)

-Around the world in 80 days (Jules Verne)

-Canterbury Tales (chaucer)

-The Notebook (nicholas sparks)

-Pride and prejudiced (jane austen)

-Sigma protocol (robert Ludlum)

-Lord of the RIngs (J.R.R Tolkein)

-Any greek mythology you can find

-Wind in the Willows (kenneth grehame)

-Immortal (sorry can't remember)

-Marly and me (john grogan)

-Tom Sawyer ( Mark Twain)

-War of the Worlds (H.G Wells)

-Helen Of Troy (Margaret George -must read,a great take of the story)

-Lord of the Flies (Peter brook)

-Atonement (Ian McEwan)

- How to Kill a mockingbird (Harper Lee)

-Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel García Márquez) (must read)

hope this helps!

have fun reading!