30 Books to Read Before You Die (Pt. 25)

I know I’ve probably been going on forever now, but you need to realise that there are a ton of books out there to be read. I mean I don’t think I could even cover all the good ones in these lists, but I’m going to keep going, because of the fact that I adore reading. Very recently, I had some great book recommendations from people that, at the moment, I am working my way through. I feel like maybe I’m going to be reading forever, but then again, that’s not a bad thing at all. I understand that all different kinds of people like all different kinds of books, and even though some people may not like reading, that doesn’t make the concept of books boring at all. I thoroughly believe that if someone says they don’t like reading then they really just haven’t found their book yet. I don’t discriminate against graphic novels and comics (I do really enjoy my Shonen Jump collection!) and I don’t think that reading a magazine isn’t reading (well that’s because I have and collect so many magazines!). I think that if you’re reading something that you enjoy, and something that will take you somewhere, then you’re reading something and that’s the point. Be that as it may, I won’t be including graphic novels, comics, and magazines on these posts purely because I want to save them for posts of their own. I feel like if I gave too many different media types in these posts we’d all just end up getting very confused.

As you can probably tell, I love and adore books. I will read anything that I think is worth reading from YA novels, to classical philosophy, to world war novels, to political writings on the French Revolution, and all the way to steampunk at the turn of the 20th Century. There’s just so much to read that you couldn’t possibly limit yourself to only a certain aspect of literature—you really never know what you could discover out there if you opened your reading mind.

Now, we’re going to do this the same as we’ve always done. I’m going to put an (*) next to my favourites, and talk about one or two of the books intermittently throughout the article. I hope you’re enjoying reading these, and you're getting some reading material out of them as much as I enjoy making them! And remember, I’ll never put a book on the list that I haven’t read myself, so if you don’t see your favourite book on these lists then please don’t hesitate to recommend it to me! I love new recommendations!

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721. The King Must Die by Mary Renault

722. The Vegetarian by Han Kang

723. Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre

724. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

725. 'Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close' by Jonathan Safran Foer*

I really enjoyed this book from the very first time I read it. I also thought that the symbols in the book were incredibly post-modern in their use. For example: one of the symbols in the book is “keys.” Keys unlock doors, but there is also the metaphorical key to unlock a new path. I think the main character in this book requires that one key to unlock a new path in life after a tragedy strikes him at a young age. I read this book a couple of years ago, and I have thoroughly loved it ever since. I hope you choose to read it as well!

726. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

727. 'Cogheart' by Peter Bunzl*

I adore this book so much, it is so innocent, and yet so adventurous! I love the concept that there are automatons in the setting as if it is normal, and thus, the book takes you to an entirely new world. The idea that someone is going on a search for their father, and trying to find out more about him in the process is a timeless storyline—but this one has a big twist to it that I don’t want to tell you here, because you should definitely read the book. It is possibly one of the greatest books of the last five years!

728. Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowles

729. The Impatience of the Heart by Stefan Zweig*

730. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

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731. Helena by Evelyn Waugh

732. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

733. Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler

734. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

735. The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice*

736. Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

737. 'In Tune' by Ben Wynne*

This book is all about Jimmie Rodgers, Charley Patton, and the birth of American Country and Blues music. I thought that this book was increasingly informative, and I actually wrote an entire article that reviewed the book. Oh my gosh, I had never read something so great about Charley Patton and Jimmie Rodgers, but I had also never read anything so thorough about how it all began, where it all came from, and what happened during their turbulent times. I love the music, I love the stories, and I love all the information I got about them and more incredible musicians from their period of history.

738. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris

739. The Beach by Alex Garland

740. Greek Lyric Poetry by ML West

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741. Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer

742. York Mystery Plays by Richard Beedle

743. Mexico City Blues by Jack Kerouac*

744. Television Was a Baby by Allen Ginsberg

745. Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin*

746. Six Memos for the New Millennium by Italo Calvino

747. Flying Home by Ralph Ellison

748. Wait ‘Till I’m Dead by Allen Ginsberg*

749. Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves

750. The Collected Poems of Vladimir Nabokov