39 Books You Need to Read in Your Lifetime

I don't always do well on these kind of lists, indeed I often fare quite badly, but was surprised by this list from Mamamia. But then it's more populist than highbrow big L literature.

Monique Bowley sneaks in an extra book before she starts actually starts the list but warns that it isn't technically an "adult" book.

Oh, The Places You'll Go - Dr Seuss

Hmmm, well neither is Mem Fox or Beatrix Potter... Books certainly don't need to be "adult" to be worthy of inclusion in a books you should read in your lifetime list. Although my lifetime is going to need to be pretty long to get through all that I have already.


1. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson

2. Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta (see my review)

3. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

4. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

5. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

6. Possum Magic - Mem Fox

7. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

8. The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman

9. Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey

10.  Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

11. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris (see my review)

12. Bossypants - Tina Fey

13. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

14. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

15.  The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

16. On the Road - Jack Kerouac

17. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson

18. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson (3 copies I have of this, 3. None of them read)

19. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

20. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (see my review)

21. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

22. Tomorrow When The War Began - John Marsden

23.  The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

24. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - Mark Haddon

25. The Age Of Innocence - Edith Wharton

26. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

27. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt

28. The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices

29. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling (well 1/7)

30. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

31. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

32. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

33. One Day - David Nicholls

34. The Tale of Ginger and Pickles - Beatrix Potter

35. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

36. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (see my review)

37. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

38. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

39. Burial Rites - Hannah Kent (see my review)

21/39

Not bad. A number of the books that I haven't read yet I don't really want to read in this lifetime or any other. There's still a few that I really do quite want to read though.

Dec 2015 22/39

June 2018 23/39