Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime

[Kirsten]

OMG! This takes me back!

I loved this one! -->



My mom's favorite book -->



What?? Why is *this* on the list?? -->



Why haven't I read this yet? -->



Loved this! -->



YES!! -->

I NEED to read this!! -->

Can't go wrong with some Vonnegut! -->



Crucify me, but though I liked this one, I never considered it that great -->



Forgive me, but is Franzen as good as his hype?? -->

I loved this book, but it's hardly top 100 fare -->

YES! DEFINITELY! -->



Loved this book, never could figure out why Christians hate it so -->



Probably in my personal TOP FIVE books! --> (If you haven't read it, why not?)



I loved this, but - once again - wouldn't put it in top 100 -->



Another book I liked but can't imagine putting on a 100 Best Books list -->



I was going to be upset if Gone Girl had knocked this off the list -->



If I had to pick one Stephen King, I would've gone for The Stand -->



Huh? This book made the Top 100, but no Dr Seuss? -->



Incredible! -->

Important!! In my TOP 5! -->



The link for the original site is: http://www.amazon.com/b?ref_=tsm_1_tw...

Now, books I can't believe were left off and these are just off the top of my head:

I'm sure there are more... what about you guys??

[Lisa]

Wow loads to think about here! I feel rubbish as I haven't read even half of these books! There are some fab ones here...and some surprising ones. Agree with you on ones left off

[Kirsten]

Thanks, Lisa. Can you think of any others they left off? Any you think shouldn't be there?

[Lisa]

All the ones on the list I've read I agree should be on there and I would like to see , , , . Although I think I could go on and on with these! :)

[Beth]

The Corrections? Really? Blech, I hated it!

[Angela M]

Beth,
I hated The Corrections , too . I disliked the characters so much , I couldn't finish it . I read Freedom and it was just okay . IMHO I think Franzen is overrated .

[Beth]

Angela wrote: "Beth,
I hated The Corrections , too . I disliked the characters so much , I couldn't finish it . I read Freedom and it was just okay . IMHO I think Franzen is overrated ."

I didn't bother with Freedom because The Corrections was just so agonizing to read - it is just such a weird book. I started it over and over and over again and finally finished it about two years after I had started it - it bordered on painful!

[Charlie]

Okay, so I think the thing to remember here is that it's 100 Books to Read, not necessarily the 100 Best books ever. Sometimes we should read something because of the content, or the originality, not necessarily because it's fantastic. For instance, Bel Canto, which made this list, was a good book, but not necessarily a "must-read" in my opinion. The Hunger Games should probably make the list because it best represents the new age of fiction. Gone Girl, while I freaking HATED, was unique in it's own way - who has written such terrible people before? Plus it was such a phenomenon in the literary world. My book club was so divided about this book, in a way that had never happened before. I hated it, but I agree that people who consider themselves afficionados of literature should read it to garner their own opinion.

[Beth]

Charlie wrote: "Okay, so I think the thing to remember here is that it's 100 Books to Read, not necessarily the 100 Best books ever. Sometimes we should read something because of the content, or the originality, n..."

I loved Gone Girl. I thought it had to be one of the most sick, twisted stories I had ever read - which to me meant it was brilliant!

[ally ¯\(ツ)/¯]

Was this 1 book/author?

[Angela M]

Beth , even though it took you two years to get through it , you've got more stamina than I do . I just couldn't finish it .

[Beth]

Angela wrote: "Beth , even though it took you two years to get through it , you've got more stamina than I do . I just couldn't finish it ."

Don't worry, you didn't miss much - it never got any better.

[Charlie]

Beth wrote: "I loved Gone Girl. I thought it had to be one of the most sick, twisted stories I had ever read - which to me meant it was brilliant! "

See, I thought it was unrealistic. In the end, when he (view spoiler)[was like "Okay, I'm done fighting you" just at the drop of the hat like hat? Irritating and completely for the argh factor. In reality, wouldn't he have fought for custody AND for her to go to jail? (hide spoiler)]

She is a very unique author, I will give you that.

[Beth]

agree. I looked past any inconsistencies because I thought it was such a great story and as I said above, it was just so completely sick and twisted, I just thought it was brilliant.

[Kirsten]

The Amazon list says 100 books to read before you die. There were books on there I thought I could definitely survive without having read. And some books I thought were necessary weren't on it.

Jonathan Franzen - I've never read him but I'm prejudiced against him. When you get great reviews before your book is even released...

[Cherene]

I wish they had explained there choices more.

[Sarah]

Victor Hugo's Les Miserables

[Stacey]

I couldn't agree more that Jane Eyre should have been on this list.

I also loved Gone Girl, although I didn't love the ending.

I've picked up The Corrections several times and put it back down almost immediately. Looks like maybe I should leave it down.

[Eleri]

Gone Girl was pretty amazing simply for the fact that Gillian Flynn created a whole cast of characters who were so irredeemably bad that it was actually almost impressive.
Although I can't decide whether it remains impressive or becomes less impressive by the fact that her other woks have the same ratio of irredeemable and unlikeable characters.
Either way she creates some truly dark yet emotive and obsessive storylines.

[Eleri]

Also... I was made to read Vonnegut in my final year of uni and wasn't too impressed... Until I actually read it... And omg my mind was blown and a whole new genre was opened up to me. Although I haven't had a lot of time to really explore the genre it's definitely added to my to-read list a lot.