1000 Books to Read Before You Die

1000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List by James Mustich: We advise eclectic Eighth Day bibliophiles out there that this book is, quite simply, fun – an adjective that rarely appears in these hallowed pages, and one not used lightly. Who doesn’t love lists, as Marilyn McEntyre tells us (Make a List: How a Simple Practice Can Changer Our Lives and Open Our Hearts)? And who better prepared to make a “life-changing” list than James Mustich, creator of the famous Common Reader catalog that was the model and inspiration of our own. Having reviewed thousands of books over the decades, Mustich now sets his table with the best of the best – and we find the fare rich and enticing. He mixes genres freely (Edward Gibbon’s Decline of the Roman Empire, for example, nestles beside Stella Gibbon’s Cold Comfort Farm). He leaves a trail of bread crumbs to follow: other books by the author, critical studies, kindred works, even film adaptations. The summaries, often less than a page in length, are delightfully illustrated and so cogently written that one savors reliving a book once read as much as discovering the quixotic and the unknown (Independent People, Halldor Laxness’s tale of Icelandic sheepherders, went straight to my own must-read list). The fun comes in the irresistible packaging of this book – never daunting, never intimidating, begging the reader to dive in anywhere, start on any page. There’s even a real checklist of the 1,000 titles with little boxes to mark, like notches on the literary belt. Need we say more?