Another Wednesday dawns, and it’s another one not in work. I’d be sad, but it means I once again have time to read, write, and just generally keep on top of all things blogging. Some of you might remember back to 2016 when I looked at the Amazon list of 100 books to read before you die. Well, four years later I decided it might be time to revisit that list! This post contains affiliate links – read more in my disclaimer.
It dawned on me that in exactly 9 posting days, I will be posting on my 25th birthday – a rather terrifying thought! As I reach the quarter of a century milestone in age, now seems as good a time as ever to take stock of how many of the 100 books before you die list I have actually read. I had started off putting a strike through the books I’ve read, but realised pretty quickly that means you can’t read them! So instead, any I have read are in bold. As I said, this post contains affiliate links. If you would like to learn more about affiliate sales, check out the Beginners Guide to Affiliate Sales [AFF].

- To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
- Lord of the Flies – William Golding
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Judith Kerr
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
- American Gods – Neil Gaiman
- The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
- The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat – Oliver Sacks
- Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Secret History – Donna Tartt
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne
- Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
- Noughts & Crosses – Malorie Blackman
- Atonement – Ian McEwan
- Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
- In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
- The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
- Catch-22 – Joseph Heller and Howard Jacobson
- Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemmingway
- Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
- Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
- Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
- Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
- Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
- Bad Science – Ben Goldacte
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 – Sue Townsend
- A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
- The Stand – Stephen King
- American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
- One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Maarquez and Gregory Rabassa
- The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett
- Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
- The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
- Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
- The Road – Cormac McCarthy
- The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
- The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
- Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
- Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer
- All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
- A History of the World in 100 Objects – Neil MacGregor
- Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China – Jung Chang
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John le Carré
- Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
- The Hare With Amber Eyes – Edmund de Waal
- The Sense of an Ending – Julain Barnes
- White Teeth – Zadie Smith
- Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
- I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith
- The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins
- Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee MBE
- Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
- London: The Biography – Peter Ackroyd
- Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Long Walk To Freedom – Nelson Mandela
- Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – J R R Tolkien
- To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
- Casino Royale – Ian Fleming
- Knots and Crosses – Ian Rankin
- The Story of Tracy Beaker – Jacqueline Wilson
- The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
- Venice – Jan Morris
- Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathon Swift
- Last Orders – Graham Swift
- London Fields – Martin Amis
- Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally
- The Hound of the Baskervilles & The Valley of Fear – Arthur Conan Doyle
- Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson
- The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
- The Mill On The Floss – George Eliot
- The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
- Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
- The Commitments – Roffy Doyle
- A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin
- Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
- Dissolution – C. J. Sansom
- The Time Machine – H. G. Wells
- Winnie-the-Pooh – A. A. Milne
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
- The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
- Watership Down – Richard Adams
- Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz
- The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
- The Enchanted Wood – Enid Blyton
- Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
- My Man Jeeves – P. G. Wodehouse
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J. K. Rowling
- Watchmen – Dave Gibbons
- High Fidelity – Nick Hornby
- Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian
- Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
- Bridget Jones’ Diary – Helen Fielding
- The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy
So all together, I have read 31 out of the 100 books to read before you die. Compared to 24 books back in 2016, I would say that’s reasonable. How many have you read? Pin this post to come back and tick them off as you read!



Are you thinking of self-publishing your own book? Why not pick up a copy of The Ultimate Guide to a Powerful Book Launch [AFF] for just $8.50?
Tea Spangsberg
I’ve read 9 on this list. There’s some good books on that list that’s already on my shelves ready to be read 😂 I just need to actually do it. And then there’s a few I’ll probably never get close to reading. Good job on getting through so many
Vox
I have probably read about a quarter of these, but then again, my day job requires that I am familiar with many of them. Recently, I have been trying to crack open the ones that interest me most—instead of just the ones o am required to read. 📚
Alice Myles
I’ve literally only read seven of these! I have so many classics still to read!
Pea Green
I’ve read 52 of these! Loads that I need to put on a list though.
If you want to pick one of these next to read for the first time, please please make it be Hitchhiker’s! It’s the best, funniest, silliest read. Even better, try and get hold of the original radio recordings. I had a link somewhere but can’t find it again just now.
Bianca Leer
Hi Katie, I really enjoyed this post! I’ve read either 18 or 19 of these (Tracy Beaker I may or may not have read – it was long ago 😂).
The Book Thief was absolutely beautiful, touching and so sad. I leaned against my bed and just CRIED the first time I read it.
I started the Hitchhiker’s Guide when I was 14, gave up and continued when I was 18. Very confusing to my addled brain but otherwise a work of art and very entertaining, especially that bit about the whale. 😂
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (and the next one, The Light Fantastic) were a bit meh BUT the next forty-something of them were brilliant and are my favorite books in the world, besides Pride and Prejudice! Really, the entire Discworld by T.P. is a hilarious, thought-provoking masterpiece and I highly recommend the following:
– Pyramids (ancient Egypt; tradition vs progress)
– Small Gods (religion and/or indoctrination, abuse of power)
– Jingo (racism/xenophobia)
– Monstrous Regiment (war, feminism)
– Thud! (Racism again)
– Going Postal + Making Money (corruption, bad guy turned good)
– Men At Arms (just because I love the Night Watch crew)
I hope you decide to read and enjoy them! 😁
Bianca Leer
Hi Katie, great post! I really enjoyed reading through this list. I’ve read either 18 or 19 of these (I may or may not have read Tracy Beaker, it was long ago 😂).
The Book Thief was absolutely beautiful, touching and so very sad. I just leaned against by bed and CRIED the first time I read it.
I started the Hitchhiker’s Guide when I was 14, promptly gave up and continued/finished the series at 18. It was very confusing to my addled brain but otherwise very entertaining, especially that bit about the whale. 😂
I didn’t enjoy the Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett, and next book was a bit meh as well, BUT he’s my favourite author and the next forty-something books in the series are absolutely hilarious and brilliant! I highly recommend the following:
– Pyramids (tradition va progress)
– Small Gods (religion and indoctrination/abuse of power)
– Jingo (racism/xenophobia)
– Thud! (racism again)
– Monstrous Regiment (war, feminism)
– Going Postal + Making Money (corruption, bad guy gone good)
– Men At Arms (because anything featuring the Night Watch crew is worth reading over and over again)
I hope you decide to read and enjoy them! 😜😊
Helen
I’ve only read 19, most I read when I was in high school lol So glad to see Anne Frank’s Diary on there. I think ALL of the Harry Potter books should be on there lol
Which would you say was the most influential book that you’ve read from that list?
Pingback: April 2021 Advertisers | 4 Fabulous Bloggers | Life With Ktkinnes