Bored Much?

This blog post originally appeared 5/23/2008.

If you ever find yourself wondering what you're going to read next, never fear, we have your next reading list: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. This is a quirky book full of works of critical acclaim as well as cult classics. The more than one hundred international critics that compiled this book recommend everything from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.


Here are a few more examples to further whet your literary appetite:

Pre-1700: Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave by Aphra Behn

1700's: The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella by Charlotte Lennox

1800's: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

1900's: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

2000's: White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Each book entry includes short bibliographical information, a brief synopsis, and related artwork, if possible. This book is part of the reference collection at the Mississippi Library Commission. You may search our online catalog here.

We also invite you to check out the following article from the New York Times, which inspired this blog post:
Volumes to Go Before You Die by William Grimes.

Happy Reading!

-Tracy

Boxall, Peter. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die