One of the greatest joys in the world is coming across an amazing book. You question how you survived without reading that novel before. That made us make a list of 12 books that everyone should read at least once in their lives. Keep reading to find out which novels made our list.
This is a continuation of our series so many books will be left out as a result. You can check the full list here. These 12 books were chosen because they are incredible reads and not reading them seems like a crime. We included some books mentioned in the comments by our readers that slipped our minds. You can see the list below.
12 Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once in Their Lives
- The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
- Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- Middlemarch by George Eliot
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Stranger by Albert Camus
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- The Odyssey by Homer
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- Ulysses by James Joyce
Must Read Books
We had to include some gems on this list such as Heart of Darkness and Beloved. These are powerful novels that anyone that loves books must read.
But not every book has to be powerful to make the list. We also included some classics such as Don Quixote, The Odyssey, and The Sun Also Rises. Knowing how to balance novels is important or you might get burnt out.
Conclusion
These are 12 books that everyone should read at least once in their lives. How many of these have you read? What books should we include in our next list? Let us know in the comments below!
The Stranger is excellent
No Dickens?
I second this comment – without at least one Dickens novel this list does not deserve its title.
No Hemingway ?
The Sun Also Rises is non other than Hemingway.
Sorry I meant No Gibran book The Prophet…?
Sorry I meant No Gibran book The Prophet…?
Please read my above comment again : it is not a repeat, but a correction for mentioning Hemingway…
IMHO Gibran is grossly overrated.
I feel like Uncle Tom’s Cabin is extremely outdated and perpetuates the white savior myth, as well as the “childlike nature” myth. Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad is a much better choice if you want a book about the evils of slavery.
To Kill A Mockingbird, should be on this list.
What about the Bible? This is one should not be forgotten.