Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

[Tizzalicious]

Is anyone else reading books from Boxall's "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"?

It's a great way to find new books to read, especially if you want to read more classics/litarature but you don't know where to start.

How many of the books have you read so far and how many had you read when you got the book/started reading off the list?

So far I've read 33 books from the 2012 edition (the latest) and 42 books from all editions of the book combined. When I started I read about 18.

[kennyc]

There are a million and one lists of must-reads, classics, favorites, award winners, etc.

I don't tend to pay homage to any particular one, mostly because there are generally from or for a particular person. I do tend to take note of books that consistently get listed on multiple such lists and have read many of them resulting in great experiences and others that I wanted to (or literally did) throw across the room.

Is there a link to the list? Is it on-line or only printed/published?

Update: looks like the 2006 list is here: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/222...e-2006-edition

[mcrow]

I must be pretty low brow or something because I think I've only read about 10 books in the top 500 of that list.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by mcrow

I must be pretty low brow or something because I think I've only read about 10 books in the top 500 of that list.

That's not good for a Top Gun!


Of course that's one more than me....

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by mcrow

I must be pretty low brow or something because I think I've only read about 10 books in the top 500 of that list.

I have read only 5-6 in the first 500; another 10-12 in the second 500 though, so it got a little better. Skimmed it fairly quick and may have missed some (I can hope.)

Originally Posted by kennyc

There are a million and one lists of must-reads, classics, favorites, award winners, etc.

I don't tend to pay homage to any particular one, mostly because there are generally from or for a particular person. I do tend to take note of books that consistently get listed on multiple such lists and have read many of them resulting in great experiences and others that I wanted to (or literally did) throw across the room.

Is there a link to the list? Is it on-line or only printed/published?

Update: looks like the 2006 list is here: http://www.listsofbests.com/list/222...e-2006-edition

By my count I've read 136 of them. I did not try to keep an exact count but by my estimation anyone who had been dutiful about reading book club selections here at MR would have read at least 25-30 from the list. As far as being a "Must Read Before You Die" list, meh. It's a real mixed bag of great works and less than stellar but popular works.

Originally Posted by mcrow

I must be pretty low brow or something because I think I've only read about 10 books in the top 500 of that list.

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I have read only 5-6 in the first 500; another 10-12 in the second 500 though, so it got a little better. Skimmed it fairly quick and may have missed some (I can hope.)

I don't think the list is a ranking. Not unless several books by Haruki Murakami are superior to many great works of literature.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

...

I don't think the list is a ranking. Not unless several books by Haruki Murakami are superior to many great works of literature.

Caught my notice as well.

[Xanthe]

I didn't read any of the first 100 on the list, so I don't hold out much hope for the remainder of the list. Looks like I'll just have to stay immortal, then.

[rkomar]

It seemed to me that the first hundred or so were just best sellers from the last 15 years or so. It wasn't until later in the list that I started seeing classic items. Until that point, I had the impression that the list was just a marketing device.

[BenG]

I've read 141 of them, though I wasn't going by any list. In the U.S at least you should have read several of them in school.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Another Euro-centric list. I've read sixty-nine. When I saw Around the World in Eighty Days on the list and Tono-Bungay I threw up in my mouth a little.

The problem I have with these lists is they tend to ignore much of the world.

[Tizzalicious]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

The problem I have with these lists is they tend to ignore much of the world.

I think they fixed that in the newer versions of the book.

There's no way I will only read from this list, or read all the books on it, but I do think it's a great way to be reminded of those books you always heard about but never got around to reading. Plus it's nice to have a book which describes all the books on the list!

[Tizzalicious]

Originally Posted by BenG

I've read 141 of them, though I wasn't going by any list. In the U.S at least you should have read several of them in school.

It actually has one horrific book I read when I was in High School. A Dutch one (as I'm from Holland), Eline Vere. I hated it SO much when I had to read it, so getting to cross it off this list was very satisfying. Finally some purpose to having read that. Though why it's on the list... :S

[DrNefario]

It is a bit of a bizarre list. Marquis de Sade? Really? Twice? And it's also a very long list. Too much to sensibly attempt to work through, I'd say, but then it took me three or four years to finish the Hugo winners. There were only about 64 of them, and I'd already read half when I started.

I've read about 60 of these, with a few more I'm not sure about, and quite a few on my TBR.

[meeera]

I've read 62 in the first 500, didn't look at the rest. There's somewhat of a mix in there, though with a strong lean toward adult northern-hemisphere/Anglo literary books. I noticed a few from my TBR on the list, too.