A Different Kind of Book List

I'm planning to have this blog more or less chronicle my own reading progress (rather egocentric that, but what blog isn't?) however, before I get truly started, I wanted to put in a word for the books that I've already read. Now we've all seen gigantor lists with titles like "Top 100 Book List" or "100 Must-Read Books." But if we're honest with ourselves, how many of us really have the time to read 100 books, many of which tend to be lengthy, heavy reading? Well, now you don't have to feel guilty about that long uncompleted list. You can simply tackle this one--my own personal list of "10 Books to Read Before You Die."

*snaps out of advertisement voice*

In all seriousness, this list truly is the product of my own experience. I haven't read every great masterpiece of the world--no, not even the Top 100 Book List (I confess!) and I know that a book may not have an equally strong impact on different people. But here's my list, for what it's worth (in no particular order).

1. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Dostoyefsky once said that "Beauty will save the world." This book is the best fictional example I know of that kind of beauty, as well as, in my opinion, THE fantasy text of the 20th century.

2. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes. One man's story that is at once intensely personal and unescapably universal. You will never see the mentally challenged, or indeed any human being, the same again.

3. 1984, by George Orwell. A brilliant dystopian work whose predictions, I feel, are scarily coming true and whose warnings are needed more now than ever.

4. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. An intelligent and witty exploration of beauty, art, sin, pleasure, and consequences.

5. Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmund Rostand. This is technically a play, but you can of course find it in book form. You'll laugh, you'll cry. I think this play is nothing less than a whole-hearted expression of the love of a man and the heart of a woman.

6. Atonement, by Ian McEwan. With an almost obsessive realism, this is a painful coming-of-age story with some unusual and thought-provoking archetypes.

7. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes is the detective who started it all! This is my favorite one in the Holmes collection.

8. The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy. Another guy who started it all! Sir Percy Blakeney is the ultimate masked defender--complete with a hapless alter-ego and a strongly romanticized love interest.

9. The Treasure Seekers, by E. Nesbit. A poignant and humorous story that will definitely awaken your inner child.

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Laughter is the best medicine! This book is so funny it shouldn't even be legal, and it's actually quite philosophical too.