Amazon 100 books to read in a lifetime (part three)

The last part, thank you if you’ve read them all! 😊 I love challenges (and use list challenges) and it’s always fun to think about the way that you read and the way reviews and advertising can influence reading choices.

67. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’m convinced there’s a ghost in my house haha because I distinctly remembering reading half of this book in the bath then it genuinely disappeared- my whole house has been cleared out since then and it’s nowhere to be seen. I enjoyed what I read before the ghost stole it so I’ll definitely finish it soon.

68. The Handmaid’s Tale- Margaret Atwood

I took a while to finally read this book because it was just everywhere and I didn’t want to expect to much, but I really enjoyed it! I listened to the audiobook and I feel that the emotion within the narration (by Elisabeth Moss) added to the storytelling. This book is written in quite a plain style which is deliberate and works well to transport the reader into the dystopian setting. Overall, I found the concept of this book very interesting and really enjoyed it! I will say though, I went on to listen to The Testaments and it felt a bit unnecessary, I personally feel that this is more powerful as a stand alone novel.

69. The House at Pooh Corner- A. A. Milne

I was given the entire collection of Winnie the Pooh stories when I was born and still have the book, I love the stories that I’ve read, and I’ll definitely read them to any children I have. I feel like Winnie the Pooh created philosophy for children and the messages in the stories and incredibly touching and at times emotional. 

70. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins

I recently reread and discussed this series; I just think it’s perfect.

71. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

72. The Liar’s Club: A memoir- Mary Karr

73. The Lightening Thief- Rick Riordan

74. The Little Prince- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

75. The Long Goodbye- Raymond Chandler

76. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11- Lawrence Wright

77. The Lord of the Rings- J.R.R. Tolkein

I recently read this book for the first time, however, it wasn’t my favourite. Whilst I love Tolkein’s writing style and appreciate the influence of this saga on fantasy as a genre, I unfortunately wasn’t very interested in the story or the characters.

78. The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tale- Oliver Sacks

I started this book because it sounded really interesting, but I never finished it. I think lots of people would love it, but after studying Psychology at Uni I’m a bit sick of clinical science terms haha. For academic non-fiction I think I’m more interested in books about philosophy (although I haven’t read many, so please feel free to recommend). 😊

79. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals- Michael Pollan

80. The Phantom Tollbooth- Norton Juster

81. The Poisonwood Bible- Barbara Kingsolver

82. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York- Robert A. Caro

83. The Right Stuff- Tom Wolfe

84. The Road- Cormac McCarthy

85. The Secret History- Donna Tart

86. The Shining- Stephen King

87. The Stranger- Albert Camus

88. The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway

89. The Things They Carried- Tim O’Brien

90. The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle

Who hasn’t read this classic in nursery haha (at least in the UK, I’m not sure about elsewhere). I remember my nursery teacher read us this story then we looked after little caterpillars and watched them turn to butterflies.

91. The Wind in the Willows- Kenneth Grahame

92. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle- Haruki Murakami

93. The World According to Garp- John Irving

94. The Year of Magical Thinking- Joan Didion

95. Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe

I read this book in school so I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I could due to the stressful exams etc haha. I do actually still remember quotes from it because I drilled them into my head so much, and I can’t remember if I even wrote about this book. I remember liking Ikemefuna and Okonknwo’s dad, but I don’t remember any other characters. I’d be interested to read this again now to see if I take it any more elements of the story and it’s themes.

96. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee

97. Unbroken: A World War 2 Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption- Laura Hillenbrand

98. Valley of the Dolls- Jacqueline Susann

99. Where the Sidewalk Ends- Shel Silverstein

100. Where the Wild Things Are- Maurice Sendak

I’ve read 18 out of 100 oh dear hahaha. Ah well, maybe it means I’ve got a while to live yet (I always get strangely worried to complete lists like this in case I jinx it and get struck down by lightening). There are a few on this list that I’d love to read, please let me know if you’d recommend any in particular! 😊

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