100 books to read before you die (and a few more)

Amazon phrased it a bit differently when advertising their most recent list:

“100 Books to Read in a Lifetime.”

But I think my title puts a bit more urgency into the process. As in . . . get on it. You don’t have a lot of time left. Start reading cause you could get hit by a bus tomorrow.

However you want to view it, it’s a fun list. And for someone like me, a person who loves books and lists, this is perfect. Of course, the GoodReads people saw the need to edit the list using suggestions from their readers. Get that list here.

Jonesing for more? Try the Huffington Post’s 30 Books to Read Before You’re 30 and the New York Times 100 Greatest Books of All Time.

All of this book goodness got me started thinking about books I’ve read over the last few months and which ones have the potential to make some list somewhere. But I quickly figured out that what I’ve been reading lately probably won’t ever crack the Greatest Books of All Time list.

So I’m making my own list. I’m calling it The Books Glenn Read in the Last Few Months That Are Pretty Good, Fairly Useful, And Mostly Engaging But Will Never Make the Greatest Books of All Time list. It’s not a long list so feel free to add to it in the comments.

• Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War
  How the reconciliation of the surrender at Appomattox concealed a seething debate over the meaning of the Civil War.
• The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War
  By tracking down the last surviving veterans of the First World War and interviewing them with sympathy and skill, Richard Rubin has produced a first-rate work of reporting.
• The Secret Museum
  A collection of stories, not only of 60 strange and interesting objects but also of the museums that house them and the collectors and curators who care for them.
• The App Generation: How Today’s Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World
  A thought-provoking book. Particularly rewarding for educators who are interested in thinking about how young people are changing, and how we might preserve the best practices of our profession while adapting the tools that define a generation.
• March Book One
  A vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights in a graphic novel style.

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