10 Books to Read Before You Die
Do you have a reading "bucket list"? Books that you vow to read (or reread) sometime in your life time? Take a look out the below 10 books to read before you die. From Atlas Shrugged to the Harry Potter series, find out the books that over 2000 adults in the US recommend. If you see your favorite book missing from the list, let us know below or on Facebook.#1 - The Holy Bible
The most popular and best-selling book of all time is The Holy Bible. No book has had more influence on the world. Its pages tell the story of the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind. Relive the story of creation and the fall of man in Genesis. Cross the wilderness with Moses in Exodus. Welcome the coming of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. The Holy Bible contains epic stories of history, heroism, and hope.
#2 - Gone With the Wind
Published in 1936, Gone With The Wind sold 50,000 copies on its first day, and two million after a year. Even though it is 1,037 pages long, readers all over the world snatched up the book. In 1937 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Mitchell prided herself on the historical accuracy of her work. Gone With The Wind is a sweeping account of how the Civil War tore apart an entire way of life, and Scarlett O'Hara is one of the most enduring characters in American fiction.
#3 - The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is regarded by many to be the most important and influential work of fantasy of the 20th century. It generated the fantasy novel industry practically single-handedly, inspiring a multitude of novels concerning elves and dwarves on quests to conquer ultimate evil despite overwhelming odds. Although intended to be published as a single volume, its division into a trilogy created the iconic format for epic fantasy literature.
#4 - Harry Potter series
Follow Harry Potter from his first days at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, through his many adventures with Hermione and Ron, to his confrontations with rival Draco Malfoy and the dreaded Professor Snape. From a dangerous descent into the Chamber of Secrets to the Triwizard Tournament to the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, each adventure is more riveting and exhilarating than its predecessor.
#5 - The Stand
In 1978, Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. It depicts his apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. It is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic. Those reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.
#6 - The Da Vinci Code
The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Robert Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller...utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.
#7 - To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is about the crisis of human behavior and conscience arising from the racism and prejudice that exist in the small Southern town during the Depression. Scout Finch tells the story of her father's defense of Tom Robinson, a young black man who is being tried for the rape of a white woman. Harper Lee's only novel, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, is a much-beloved tale of growing up, as well as an exploration of heroism confronted with bigotry.
#8 - Angels and Demons
When a canister of anti-matter is stolen from a Swiss research facility, Robert Langdon is called in to investigate. In Angels & Demons, a Harvard professor, Langdon is an expert on the ancient, quasi-scientific, and widely feared organization know as the Illuminati, who may or may not be wrapped up in the mystery.
#9 - Atlas Shrugged
Rand's 1200-page novel Atlas Shrugged is a hymn of praise to the concept of rugged individualism, personified in John Galt. This polemic for Rands philosophy of "rational self-interest" has been a steady seller since it was published in 1957.
#10 - The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger's famous and enduring chronicle of Holden Caulfield's journey from innocence to experience is the quintessential coming-of-age novel. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye was a bestseller and became an immediate cult favorite, but it has also, over the years, been subject to criticism and even censorship because of its liberal use of profanity, its frank conversations about sex, and its generally irreverent view of the adult world.
Note: This list is based on the results of a Harris Poll that asked 2,413 U.S. adults to name their favorite books.
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Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon)
Comments page 5 of 34
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maryd8123 said 7-09-2008 @9:29AM
The list is absolutely preposterous. Two books by Dan Brown. Please! No Shakespeare; no Chekhov; no Faulkner. I am reminded of a colleague from the English Department where I used to teach who said he hated to read. I doubt that the composer of his list reads very much...at least not beyond current bestsellers.
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CLARK MOSS said 7-09-2008 @9:36AM
THE BIBLE IS NOT THE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIME. THE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIME IS THE COMMUNSIT MANIFESTO. IN CHINA AND THE USSR READING THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO WAS NEARLY UNIVERSAL. LETS US NOT LEAVE OUT THE FACT THAT THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IS GIVEN RESPEXT AS A SOCIAL-ECONOMOC ANALSIS BY PRACTICALLY EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. FOR THAT REASON, UNIVERSITIES AROUND THE WORLD RECOMMEND THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IN VARIOUS AREAS OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. SOME RESEARCHERS SAY THAT THE LITTLE RED BOOK, BY CHINESE LEADER MAO IS THE BEST SELLER OF ALL TIME. THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO IS A BOOK THAT WILL BE FOUND IN MOSLEM, HINDU, CHRISTIAN, BUDDIST AND JEWISH COMMUNITIES. SO I DEMAND THAT AOL. REMOVE THE ON UNPROVEN STATEMENT THAT THE BIBLE IS THE GREATEST SELLER OF ALL TIME. THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF A MUST READ LIST. THIS IS FREQUENTLY THE CASE. BUT NOT FOR AOL.
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boboy said 7-09-2008 @9:33AM
What a ridiculous, light-weight list of must reads.
replyIt obviously was not assembled based on any deep reasoning....and the Bible was a rather bizarre add on as a list ender.
Come on!
Don't insult the intelligent......and mislead the others.
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ltlariv said 7-09-2008 @9:32AM
When this list appeared on my screen, my jaw dropped to the floor. The list is so unbelievably pathetic that it sickens me to realize just how sad pop/main stream has become. Dan Brown should not be anywhere near the top 100! And this list has 2 books in the top ten! GWTW? Landmark movie for sure...literary masterpiece it is not. These books are supposed to represent the ten books to read before we die? Salinger, Tolkien..ok. But if a top ten list omits names like Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Faulkner, Huxley, Orwell, Allighieri, Sinclaire, Twain, Hemingway, Nabokov, Dostoevsky, Austin, Kafka, Milton, Shaw, Conrad, Eliot, Woolf, etc then there is something very wrong with that list.
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Suzanne said 7-09-2008 @9:35AM
First of all, the Bible should have been number 1.
replySecond, it's obvioius to me, that whoever came up with this list doesn't read much. There are much better books out there than Lord of the Rings, although they were very good. And Dan Brown's books??? Please!!!
Very disappointing list.
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Patrick W. Crabtree said 7-09-2008 @9:38AM
"Popular opinion poll"... Ha! Americans born after 1970 are pretty much illiterate. Five books on the AOL list are pure trash. Here are the ten that everyone should read before they die (or, prior to their being killed *.*):
reply1. War and Peace, Tolstoy
2. Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
3. The Gadfly, Voynich
4. The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
5. Ship of Fools, Porter
6. The City of God, St. Augustine of Hippo
7. The Secret Agent, Conrad
8. Invisible Man, Ellison
9. Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein
10. The Jungle, Sinclair
There, you have it from someone who's read three books per week for decades.
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deeceevoice said 7-09-2008 @9:37AM
This list is crap. I'm assuming the list was supposed to be only of fiction works. Still, there's nothing on it -- predictably -- by ANYONE of color. And HARRY POTTER?!!! Oh, PLEASE! And while I'm a fan of Stephen King's "The Stand" and some of the other selections, they hardly rise to the level of a spot on a literary "bucket list." How about something classic and MEANINGFUL and/or uplifting by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Rabindranath Tagore...? Bleh. The list just flat-out sucks.
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Charlie Brown said 7-09-2008 @9:40AM
The list was going great until you just had to throw the bible in there. Leave religion out of it. Of course though, everyone on here is just so pleased to see it. In fact, I guess it's supposed to be the only book on the list. AOL, you should know better than putting religion on this list. You are supposed to be a neutral site. Shame on you
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reyyera said 7-09-2008 @9:49AM
The Bible should be the first and formost book to be read. Simple reason: It tells everything that the other books that this list hails as great works of literature.
replyClaims important to humanity. Such as deceipt, cruelty, love, compassion, hope, faith and redemption.
It doesn't get any better!
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Frank said 7-09-2008 @8:29PM
To each their own....when I enter a book store these days it seems that most of our population has written some kind of book about every topic imaginable...eegads. I don't care what book I start reading...if the writer doesn't hold me in a fluid,comprehensible,colorful visualization....I drop it....why waste time reading what you aren't truly enjoying ? Life is short.
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kel said 7-09-2008 @9:55AM
What about A Tree Grows In Brooklyn or The Power of One? Anything by Dan Brown hardly qualifies as must-reads. They are entertaining summer reads at most. The same goes for Harry Potter. They are very entertaining and groundbreaking as far as children's lit is concerned but one is certainly not a dunce if they haven't read JK Rowling. I think that Catcher In the Rye is overrated and outdated in its importance.
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lm said 7-09-2008 @9:51AM
"Angels and Demons"? "The DaVinci Code"? Really? These are hardly "mandatory reading" before one's death. What are people thinking???
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Lee Picton said 7-09-2008 @9:54AM
What a perfectly ghastly list! No wonder it is said that the American public has been dumbed down beyond all recognition. Sure, the bible should be there as a great work of fiction, and To Kill a Mockingbird might make the cut. But there are dozens of books infinitely more worthy than the rest of this puerile list.
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Tom said 7-09-2008 @9:59AM
Please, kill me before you make me read Dan Brown. To put Brown on the same list as Tolkein is like putting compost on the same list as the strawberrys growing in it.
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Stasia said 7-09-2008 @9:54AM
I love that the Bible is on the list. It deserves to be Number 1.
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Lacapai said 7-09-2008 @9:59AM
THE BIBLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NUMBER ONE - NOT TEN. GONE WITH THE WIND, WHILE WRITTEN WELL, PALES IN THE FACE OF THE BIBLE. LET'S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT.
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taj said 7-09-2008 @9:59AM
there are only three books on here that are a necessity to read before you die...to kill a mocking bird, atlas shruged, and basically any ane rands books, and catcher in the rye!...the fact that harry potter and the lord of the rings are on that are just crazy, they do have a wide audience that i understand but they arent very thought provocing books and they dont apply to everyday life...also the bible, now if your religous this is a differnt story but its not even the biggest religoun in the world!...basically this list was done by a right winged religous group
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csovyak said 7-09-2008 @10:00AM
The problem with creating a list like this is that current popularity usually has a stronger vote than literature that has stood the test of time. While some on the list I agree with, there are only two I have actually read, They are the Catcher in the Rye and the Bible. I'm still asking where's Twain, Shakespeare, Dickens, Melville, Tolstoy, or Dostoyevsky.
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Jim said 7-09-2008 @10:00AM
This is not a list of great books; it is an advertisement to buy the books on the list.
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Phil said 7-09-2008 @10:00AM
Nine of these books can be considered fiction. The 10th, the Bible, is a theological read with a historical aspect. Gone With The Wind, even though historically accurate, doesn't really qualify as a "history" book.
replyThe problem with the list is that it does not contain any books on history. Some of the greatest lessons in life can be learned from the experience of others.
There should be a couple of history books on the list.
Also, the claim of the Bible as "No book has had more influence on the world" is spurious and related only to a Christian society or perspective. If you asked a Jew, a Muslim, or a Buddhist if that was the case you wouldn't get any agreement.