30 Books to Read Before You Die (Pt. 41)

I want to say thank you to whoever is still around after so many books and so much conversation about everything to do with books. We have approached the forties, and the next milestone (60) is quickly approaching! I want to talk about my favourite famous people of our modern day who encourage reading and why I love them. For those of you who know me, that means yes, I’m going to talk about Emma Roberts again, so prepare yourself.

We all know how much I love and adore Emma Roberts and how much she encourages reading and reads herself. A very intelligent, beautiful, and talented actress, she manages to keep a busy schedule, go to the gym, do her job, make red carpet and magazine appearances and she reads books as well! She even runs a book club called “Belletrist” and it is freaking awesome as hell! Emma Roberts is such a huge inspiration to me and she has such an incredible following. All of her fans are just as lovely as she is, and she manages to read whilst also being the ultimate scream queen—so you guys have no excuse. Did I mention that I love Emma Roberts? Oh, I did, okay. Well I do—I think she’s amazing.

The next person I want to talk about is Reese Witherspoon, who I also think is amazing. She too runs an amazing book club called “Hello Sunshine” which is such a lovely name for a book club! Reese Witherspoon encourages reading so much with her very female-orientated and happy, positive book club, and she also reads herself. I have read many of her recommendations (as I have with Emma Roberts’ book club), and even though I wouldn’t pick these books regularly—I chose them because they were on her list. Why? Well because Reese Witherspoon is awesome, just like Emma Roberts is.

Eventually I’ll stop talking about Emma Roberts… Actually no, no I won’t. Emma Roberts runs a book club so please join in—it’s on Instagram as well. She’s really amazing and her book club is awesome—I’m sure you’ll love it.

Let’s get on with the list then, as soon as I’ve stopped talking about Emma Roberts. I’ll recommend you thirty books I’ve read and mark my favourites with a (*), talking about some (books, not Emma Roberts) intermittently if you haven’t had enough of me already (I hope!).

1201-1210

1201. Transparent Things by Vladimir Nabokov

1202. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

1203. Man’s Fate by Andre Malraux

1204. 'The Second Sex' by Simone de Beauvoir*

I had no idea how fun this would be to read. It was initially one of those books I was avoiding because it sounded boring and heartless. But, it is the exact opposite—it is literally one of the most heartfelt philosophy books I’ve ever read. I can’t believe I waited until I was 20 to read it as well!

1205. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality by Sigmund Freud

1206. The Horseman on the Roof by Jean Giano

1207. Confusion of Feelings by Stefan Zweig*

1208. Journey to the End of the Night by Louis Ferdinand Celine

1209. A Russian Beauty by Vladimir Nabokov

1210. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

1211-1220

1211. The Order of Things by Michel Foucault

1212. The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil

1213. The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron

1214. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

1215. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome*

1216. American Pastoral by Phillip Roth

1217. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

1218. Gypsy Ballads by Federico Garcia Lorca

1219. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

1220. 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks*

Take my word from it. This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful war novels you will ever read. It took me a few reads to appreciate it, but it is seriously beautiful. I read it for the first time when I was 15 and read it again in my late teens and once in my 20s. It gets more and more heartfelt every time—the language is absolutely perfect.

1221-1230

1221. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

1222. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

1223. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1224. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett*

1225. The Stand by Stephen King

1226. The Joke by Milan Kundera

1227. Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson

1228. The World According to Garp by John Irving

1229. John Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

1230. Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews