The Epic Quest of 30 Books Before 30

Some time ago, back before my 29th birthday, I stumbled upon a list of 30 Books Before 30. The idea resonated with me; I do love to read and I would like to have something concrete accomplished before my thirtieth birthday since my "career goals" include teaching Ben to pee before he does a number two so he doesn't pee all over the bathroom floor every damn day. Of course, I didn't like the books on that particular list, so I decided that I would make my own list of 30 Books Before 30. And then I was too lazy to bother with that, and my birthday came and went without any goal setting whatsoever, except maybe stop getting drunk and humiliating my ownself. 

So fast-forward to today, when in a Day-Quil coma I happened to read Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 Greatest Books of All Time, and I finally decided to challenge myself to a literary adventure and do 30 Books Before 30. This led me to look for best books lists from slightly more reputable sources; I love EW, but they aren't exactly literary experts. I looked at the NY Times list, the Modern Library, and Time's Greates Books of All Time. I do have a degree in English Literature, so I've read a fair chunk of the great classics, but I still have lots of incredible authors to experience for the first time. I didn't want my list to be all books I'd read for classm though. I decided to research some of the great modern novels, since I find myself sadly delinquent when in comes to contemporary fiction, with the exception of those that touch on the magical (Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell!). And, since I do really want to expand my reading parameters, I threw in spme classic science fiction, some mysteries and noir, and even a little non-fiction (I never do non-fiction!).

I have 281 days until I turn 30, so that's roughly one book every ten days. That's not terrible, especially for me, except that I have no intention of forgoing my usual reading of things that look interesting at the library and my endless reread of the Wheel of Time books. So going to be an actual challenge, a difficult challenge. I can't wait to get started.


Here's my list:

• To Kill A Mockingbird  -Harper Lee
• Middlesex  -Geoffrey Eugenedis
• Freedom  -Jonathan Franzen
• The Imperfectionists  -Tom Rachman
• Tess of the D'Ubervilles  -Thomas Hardy
• David Copperfield  -Charles Dickens
• The Secret History  -Donna Tartt
• On The Road  -Jack Kerouac
• To The Lighthouse  -Virginia Woolf
• A Portrait of a Lady  -Henry James
• Ulysses  -James Joyce
• American Gods  -Neil Gaiman
• A Room With a View  -E.M. Forster
• The Tipping Point  -Malcolm Gladwell
• Lolita  -Vladmir Nabokov
• One Hundred Years of Solitude  -Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Road  -Cormac McCarthy
• The Sun Also Rises  -Ernest Hemingway
• The Age of Innocence  -Edith Wharton
• Ender's Game  -Orson Scott Card
• Dune  -Frank Herbert
• The Big Sleep  -Raymond Chandler
• Infinite Jest  -David Foster Wallace
• Rebecca  -Daphne Du Maurier
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  -Mark Twain
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes  -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Murder On The Orient Express  -Agatha Christie
• Treasure Island  -Robert Lewis Stephenson
• A Clockwork Orange  -Anthony Burgess
• The Devil in the White City  -Erik Larson
• 
  

and a few alternates, in case I find one of the others intolerable:

• Bonfire of the Vanities  -Tom Wolfe
• Rainbow  -D.H. Lawrence
• House of Leaves  -Mark Z. Danielewski
• The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao  -Junot Diaz
• 
  

The list isn't in any particular order. I think I will start with The Imperfectionists, since I know I have a copy waiting to be read. I'm going to attempt to write a new post every week when I finish each new book. I hope you'll stick with me! You can help keep me accountable and on track, dear reader. Please leave a comment, to let me know what you think or even suggest your favorite book. Off I go to put my nose in a book! I'm gonna make 29 count!