Much thought has gone into this updated book list. I realized during this update that reaching for 100 was forcing concession on my part. Therefore, I offer here a list of 50 books.
My original list was much more personalized. I included numerous titles from the Adventure/Travel genre for example. This is not something I would consider universal reading – it’s not for everyone. Neither did my first list present particularly easy reading; for example, including Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey makes almost every list of must-read books (which I agree with) but let’s me be honest, how many people are actually going to pick up these books.
My approach this time, I think, is more universal, and the categories reflect such. There are some titles that I left out that I might include in a slightly larger list, such as Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, which is both I think, a necessary reference book and author to be read.
This time around I purposely stayed away from military, leadership and professional titles; Who Moved My Cheese? and Team of Teams, for example. These would (probably will) make the future list of 100 books I recommend.
All that stated, here we go:
Books I consider necessary reference books (if you’ve ever referred to a ‘catch-22,’ wouldn’t it be prudent or appropriate to have read the book from which the reference is derived?)
- Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
- The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli
- On the Road – Jack Kerouac
- A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking
Books that I think are both necessary reference reads, but also authors that need to be read (I’d encourage the exploration of more of these author’s works)
- Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
- The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
- The Old Man and the Sea – Hemingway
- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
- Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
- Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Books (and author’s) that Canadians should read (again, I encourage exploring these author’s other works)
- The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
- Vimy – Pierre Berton
- A Short History of Canada – Desmond Morton
- A People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn
Books where the author is a necessary reference, but also whose views of the world, society, or humanity are critical
- 1984 – George Orwell
- Animal Farm – George Orwell
- Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
- The Road – Cormac McCarthy
- The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
- Utopia – Sir Thomas More
- Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Books that will enlighten or inform or challenge one’s views, perspectives or fears (of our past, present and future)
- Rule by Secrecy – Jim Marrs
- Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond
- Confessions of an Economic Hitman – John Perkins
- The Next 100 Years – George Friedman
- Future Crimes – Marc Goodman
- Rise of the Warrior Cop – Radley Balko
- Perfect Weapon – David Sanger
- A Short History of Progress – Ronald Wright
Books to sate the philosopher in you and thoughts about life, meaning, and purpose (and ethics and values)
- Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig
- The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck, M.D.
- Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
- Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
- The Republic – Plato
- Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
- The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein
- The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
Books that bridge the gap between philosophy and religion (and which both challenge and inform convictions, faith and history)
- The Bible
- The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
- The Heathen’s Guide to World Religions – William Hopper
- The Source – James A. Michener
- The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
Books to inform and caution some of life’s hard realities
- Go Ask Alice – Anonymous
- The Wealthy Barber – David Chilton
- The Geography of Bliss – Eric Weiner
- The War of Art – Steven Pressfield
And the book I consider, still, the number book for everyone, at any stage in life (and probably at least once at every stage of life)
- The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Bonus: What I’m Reading Right Now
- The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers – Eric Weiner