Creating Your Own “Books to Read” List
August 20th, 2009
Many times I have thought of the lists of books I want to read in my lifetime, realizing that I am not as well-read as I would like to be. I have consulted lists, my parents, and other “reputable” sources, but in the end I have discovered that no one can make such a list for you. There are countless amounts of “books you should read” around the world spanning many a country, many of which you will never even hear about. Therefore, you are left in a conundrum as to how to maintain a substantial literary background while still reading books that are interesting to you.
Starting off on this sojourn, many times your English teachers in high school will have equipped you with many of the skills necessary to work your way through nineteenth century English novels and early tenth century epic poems. During this time, you probably also were introduced to many different forms of literature which you never would have normally read, including Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Shakespeare, and Homer. This is a very diverse crowd, and trying to get through it as an adult (amidst the children, jobs, and marriage) is a difficult task to endure, but in order to gain a substantial reading of the better books to read, you will need to tap into this hidden vault of English sources within you and discover your true understanding of literature.
Once you discover what books speak to you in the best way, you can delve into that category of literature. Maybe you have an affinity for Shakespeare and want to delve more into the sixteenth century historical texts or would like to read more into Tolstoy’s works in nineteenth century Russia (before the country was seemingly destroyed by the Soviet Union). Creating your own list of reputable literary sources allows you to tweak the list in such a way so that it caters specifically to your own interests. It is easy to research novels that go along with your original literary work, and the research becomes that much more beneficial if you create a list that you know you will get through. So many of the “books to read” lists contain those books that many of us will never read: War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, David Copperfield, etc. While these are all great literary works, if you know they will not interest you in the long run, there is no point to read them. I have found that when a novel does not capture my attention from the beginning, there is little hope that I will continue reading the novel with a critical mind, and will instead forget everything I read immediately. By delving into what interests you, you will discover more about yourself and determine what books you like to read, whether they are literary books or simple modern books. The main criteria should just be the fact that you are still reading in this type of society which has begun to stray away from a good old-fashioned book.
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