There are thousands of books to read but you won’t be able to read most of them. That is why we turn to the internet and find out which books to read. Today, we will be looking at the 25 books to read before you die according to Powell!
No list is perfect but some lists can be get pretty close to that. Powell’s list is an interesting one and worth discussing. Reading is meant to be a fun and enjoyable experience. If you don’t enjoy the book you are reading, then don’t finish it. Choose to read what makes you happy.
This list includes books that are critically acclaimed. But more importantly than that, they are books that millions of people enjoyed. You may or may not have the same experience. Many of these books show up on many lists and that is a good sign. That these are books that you should read to see if they are must read books. You can see the full list below!
The 25 Books to Read Before You Die According to Powell
- 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
- All about Love by bell hooks
- Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
- Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
- A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- The Left Hand of Darkness Book by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- Maus by Art Spiegelman
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
- Poems by Elizabeth Bishop
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
A Unique List
I have come across hundreds of lists and dozens of books to read before you die lists. Most of them are the same and rightfully so. When it comes to books, most readers agree what the best of the best are. But there will always be surprise picks and this list has more than a few.
Right of the bat, the first book on the list is 2666 by Roberto Bolaño. It is not a novel that makes many lists, let alone must read lists. These books were chosen from over 1400 nominations. I don’t think this list got it right but I am always a fan of making things interesting.
This list includes some of the best works of fiction all time such as Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It even has The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. All amazing novels.
But the books in between those make this list fall short. Part of the reason is that there is no right answer. However, there are wrong answers. Not including some works of fiction and choosing others over them makes this list seem more suggestive than official.
Conclusion
That ends our discussion of the 25 books to read before you die according to Powell. How many of these books have you read? What do you think of this list? Let us know in the comments below!