Big Little Books: 50 books to read before you die

Hello people reading my blog, it is time for another post.  Today, the subject is a little bit different. It is about reading. I used to read A LOT, of everything. Books, magazines, newspapers you name it. Anyways, I literally stopped reading out of the blue a few years back, probably when I started consuming TV Shows. I say consuming because I am at about 36 episodes of different scripted series each week. And that cannot simply be called "watching".

I started reading again when I bought myself a tablet two years ago. I have moved quite a bit in the past few years, it has become harder to transport books with me as they are heavy, and take a fair amount of space. So plane fares and my bank account do not agree with my reading needs. I do not give a damn if you are one of those purists who believe that an e-book is a sacrilege. It is either that or I simply do not read at all. So F off with your useless prejudices, I have heard enough of them.

I won't lie, not being able to own physical books breaks a little bit my heart every time I think about it. I know that when I will be able to buy them again, it will mean that I will finally have found Home. But we are not there yet. In the meantime, I thought a tablet would be a good compromise.

I have read some books in the past year, tried the listening thing (which is definitely not reading by the way, but that is another subject that maybe will be treated later) and I am happy to rediscover the joy of imagining the setting and characters of a story along with learning new words, new meanings. To celebrate the end of my studies I allowed myself to buy a single hardcover book. It felt like the Amazon delivery guy was bringing me the most precious treasure. Long story short, I found myself in need of a bookmark. That's a lie, I did not NEED one. As usual, after meeting a friend next to a mall, I ended up in the bookstore checking everything from stationary to travel guides. I did NOT go in there with the intention, or the money for that matter, to buy. 

My treasure. I added pillows ...

In the course of a shelf full of kids' colouring books, there it was. Hanging on its hook, just waiting for me to pick it up. The 50 books to read before you die bookmark. When I saw it, I thought "Well, that's a goal I can reach". Obviously, the books in question are mostly classics that any person who has attended school long enough has at least heard of, if not read some of them. The people who know me are well aware that I am not a big fan of classics. I have a hard time getting into the stories, getting familiar with the characters, etc ... However, I attach a great importance to these stories as they are not only entertainment anymore. They are part of humankind History and they probably exist to relay a life lesson, knowledge. So, yes. I bought that bookmark and I intend to read all these books, hopefully before I die. I would definitely like to reach the end of that list before I am ... let's say 35. I have ten years to read books that I might not entirely enjoy or comprehend but are most likely food for my soul. My marketing teachers would be proud, I just set a S.M.A.R.T objective. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based. 

... and stones. Because apparently, this is what you are supposed to do on a blog. That is the bookmark by the way.

Without further ado, here is the list of the fifty classic works from the world's great writers mentioned on that etched stainless steel bookmark, bought for 3.99£ at WHSmith, that you can also find on eBay (yeah I know, I just sounded like those people trying to sell you something very early in the morning on TV, just deal with it):

Title	Author
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy	J.R.R. Tolkien
1984	GEORGE ORWELL
Pride & Prejudice	Jane Austen
THE GRAPES OF WRATH	JOHN STEINBECK
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
JANE EYRE	CHARLOTTE BRONTË
Wuthering Heights	Emily Brontë
A PASSAGE TO INDIA	E.M FORSTER
The Lord of the Flies	William Golding
HAMLET	WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
A Bend in the River	V.S Naipaul
THE GREAT GATSBY	F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Catcher in the Rye	J.D Salinger
THE BELL JAR	SYLVIA PLATH
Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK	ANNE FRANK
Don Quixote	Miguel de Cervantes
THE BIBLE
The Canterbury Tales	Geoffrey Chaucer
ULYSSES	JAMES JOYCE
The Quiet American	Graham Greene
BIRDSONG	SEBASTIAN FAULKS
Money	Martin Amis
HARRY POTTER SERIES	J.K. ROWLING
Moby Dick	Herman Melville
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS	KENNETH GRAHAME
His Dark Materials Trilogy	Philip Pullman
ANNA KARENINA	LEO TOLSTOY
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll
REBECCA	DAPHNE DU MAURIER
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Mark Haddon
ON THE ROAD	JACK KEROUAC
Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad
THE WAY WE LIVE NOW	ANTHONY TROLLOPE
The Outsider	Albert Camus
THE COLOUR PURPLE	ALICE WALKER
Life of PI	Yann Martel
FRANKENSTEIN	MARY SHELLEY
The War of the Worlds	H.G. Wells
MEN WITHOUT WOMAN	ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Gulliver’s Travels	Jonathan Swift
A CHRISTMAS CAROL	CHARLES DICKENS
Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain
ROBINSON CRUSOE	DANIEL DEFOE
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest	Ken Kesey
CATCH 22	JOSEPH HELLER
The Count of Monte Cristo	Alexandre Dumas
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA	ARTHUR GOLDEN
The Divine Comedy	Alighieri Dante
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY	OSCAR WILDE