30 Books to Read Before You Die (Pt. 26)

I think you’ve probably worked out that I like to read now. If you haven’t, then you clearly haven’t been paying very much attention! We are now hitting bigger numbers and are well underway within the 700 mark. Before you ask, no, I do not know how long this will continue, but I’m happy it is continuing for as long as it has been already. I feel like there are so many books out there just waiting to be read and just waiting to be understood. Personally, I like reading classics, whether that be a really old classic or a modern classic, I don’t really mind. My genres are never fixed since I like to binge read a bunch of different things. At the time of writing this, I’m actually binge-reading a bit of Norman Mailer and a bit of Victorian Poetry as well. I think it is always important to have something to read because you never know when you’re going to need to get out of some awkward situation like a long train ride or a wait for a delayed bus. You nearly always need to have a book on your person!

I’ve been asked over the years about my opinion on kindles. Now, I do like the kindle because of the fact there’s so many books on there. But when you say to someone, “Are these going to replace your paperbacks and hardbacks?” the answer will always be: No, they aren’t. The reason isn’t because we don’t like the kindle—in fact, I think it’s pretty revolutionary. To be honest, the kindle allows me to do one thing and that’s read more books. I can now have a paperback copy of something, a hardback copy of another thing, and be reading something entirely different on my kindle. It just allows me to read more—that’s all. I just have yet another medium for reading something and it’s something I can really get into. It’s different to reading on an electronic device because technically, the kindle doesn’t have the same screen. I love my kindle and I tend to read poetry on there. It has given me extra reading ability and flexibility. I can now read my physical book at one time, read my kindle book at another time, and take up the space of only one book on my shelf!

Now, we’re going to get into the same structure as always with this list, and for the life of me, I don’t know why I don’t just copy and paste this message. I will never recommend you a book I haven’t read myself, so if you don’t see your beloved book on the list, then I probably haven’t read it yet. So do not hesitate to recommend it to me! I will mark my favourites with an (*) and I will talk intermittently about one or two books with meaningful experiences in my own lifetime.

Let’s start then…

751-760

751. The Fight by Norman Mailer*

752. Pre-Raphaelite Poetry: From Rossetti to Ruskin

753. Victorian Fairy Tales

754. A Case of Hysteria by Sigmund Freud

755. The Complete Poetry of Oscar Wilde*

We all know how much I love Oscar Wilde, and well, the poetry is no exception to that fact. Oscar Wilde’s poetry is decadent, rich, and, sometimes, overwhelming with emotion. I can’t express how much I enjoyed poems like The Ballad of Reading Gaol—that’s probably my favourite. There was an English Teacher at my sixth form who was able to quote that poem. I’d really like to know what happened to him actually…

756. Don Juan and Other Plays by Moliere

757. Empire Writing by Elleke Boehmer*

758. Hellenistic Lives by Plutarch*

759. Four Major Plays by Henrik Ibsen

760. Henry IV by William Shakespeare*

761-770

761. Dubliners by James Joyce

762. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

763. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin*

764. Irish Writing by Stephen Regan

765. The Major Works of GM Hopkins

766. Henry VIII by William Shakespeare*

767. Literature and Science in the 19th Century by Laura Otis

768. Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens

769. My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

770. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

771-780

771. Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

772. Journals by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

773. Money by Emile Zola

774. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad*

775. Night and Day by Virginia Woolf

776. Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost

777. Henry VI by William Shakespeare*

778. Four Revenge Tragedies by Katharine E. Maus

779. 18th Century Women Dramatists by Mary Pix

780. A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf*