This book with a juicy title, “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die,” creates a sense curiosity in the reader.

It almost sounds like a challenge or even edging on insult to the reader’s intellect. If you look deeply, it suggests that you as a reader may not have read even half the list of books and dares you to find out whether your reading powers have been up to the mark created by the writer.

This book is British and as it is well-known, the British love literary lists. Peter Boxall, who teaches English at Sussex, supposedly asked 105 critics, academics and editors to submit lists of all-time great novels and from this list, he is said to have derived the list of 1001, and the British publishers felt that “books” sounded better than “novels” in the title.

The list excludes Shakespeare and Milton; however Professor Boxall could come up with a lot of books.

Even assuming that a reasonably educated person would have read 300 books, there still remain 701 books. If a good reader can complete one book a month, it still takes 701 months, at the end of which, upon reaching title No. 1001, which is “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, death may almost be a relief. (more…)

Summer is almost over, but your stack of books to read probably isn’t anywhere close to finished. If you aren’t done collecting the summer’s hottest reads, add these to your stack.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
By J.K. Rowling
If you don’t have this one yet, you’re a bit behind the times. This is the final book in the Harry Potter series. Finally we’ll know who lives and dies. Actually the rest of us already know, but we won’t spoil it for you.

The Diana Chronicles
By Tina Brown
Tina Brown has some serious gossip and investigative credentials as the editor of various magazines, but she spent two years gathering information and stories about the young Princess Diana. Now her book pulls all the rumors, gossip and truth together to tell the story of a doomed marriage and a successful, if too short, life. (more…)