10 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Hi, everyone, it is your girl Jenn and today I’m finally posting my favorite books of all time post. This is actually one of my most requested posts and I thought I would just buckle down, post it today and it was just, the problem was that it was really hard to narrow it down to only 10 books but I tried to make it as well-rounded as possible, just kinda genres for everybody. Also, if you are not commentd by now, what are you waiting for? The button’s down below. Come join the family. Stay up to date and with that said, let’s get cracking with the books. The first book I’m gonna recommend is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. This book is a classic. It’s just like a piece of literature that I feel like everyone needs to read before they die. I mean, there’s a reason why this is assigned reading in school but I know it is not fun when you are forced to read it and you are getting graded on it but I swear, with fresh eyes and reading recreationally, this book is gonna take you on a journey. It’s about two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons and there’s just a whole lot of drama. The tea has been spilt and it goes on generations. I feel like this book has everything you need in a story.

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It’s got guilt, it is got rivalry, it is got the struggle to be loved and finding acceptance and also, I feel like this book has the best villain of all time, Cathy. She is psycho, she’s crazy and just raunchy and she does like the craziest stuff and she just kept me thoroughly entertained. Every time she was in a chapter, I was like, ah, my girl is back. It’s very clear, easy to understand and it is just a masterpiece. Moving on to book number two. I have Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I have read a number of Murakami books like Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood but Kafka on the Shore will always remain my favorite. It’s about a boy, a teenager. He runs away from home and he tries to find his lost mom and his lost sister and he ends up spending some time in this little town and he works at a library and that’s where things start to get a little twisted, a little dark and very, very surreal. One of the main reasons why I love Murakami is that he really takes you on psychological mind-benders. You really do not know where he’s gonna take you and he creates such vivid scenes that I would have never imagined and I love the fact that he just takes you from point A to B to C to Z, just everywhere. I remember when I was reading this, I was really trying to learn how to lucid dream. I was drinking all these teas and all this stuff and reading a Murakami just made me feel like I was dreaming. That was the closest I have ever come to lucid dreaming. I have never met an author or I have never read an author like Murakami and so I think it is so cool that he has his own distinct way of writing and storytelling. If you are the type of person that needs all the buttons buttoned and all the ends tied in a pretty bow, I’m not sure if you will like this because this is more about the journey and the experience than a clear explanation.

My next book is The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This is one of those books that you can just smash out in a day or read on vacation. It’s one of those nice, happy books. It’s about an old man named Eddie and he just kinda lived a dull, meaningless life and on his 83rd birthday, he dies and that’s not a spoiler alert. It happens within the first post and also clearly he dies because heaven is in the title but each one of these people he meets, they explain his connection with him and how they changed his life or vice versa knowingly or unknowingly. Some people might think it is corny or cheesy but I love this book. It left me feeling all happy and warm inside and so if you are looking just for a quick, happy read, this is the one for you. Alright, gonna keep cracking on. My next book is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and this was actually recommended by a bunch of you guys so thank you. You know me so well. This is one of my favorites now. This is a sci-fi dystopian novel which is right up my alley. I love books like this and it is in a world where just everything is in shambles. Pretty much everyone’s living in poverty because global warming has just taken a toll and a lot of people just escape this world by going into this virtual reality called the OASIS. It’s kinda like The Matrix and internet. The main character is a teen named Wade and he spends all his time in the OASIS and he is dying to play this scavenger hunt game because the winner of that game, it is kinda like winning the lottery so a lot of people see that as their way out of poverty and Wade just has to go through all these crazy adventures and there’s so many 80s references and I love it.

It really takes you on thrilling adventure. Definitely recommend it if you are looking for just a fun adventurous read. Moving on to more dystopias. Had to feature 1984 by George Orwell. This is another literary classic. Highly recommend. It’s about a world where the government controls absolutely everything even the way people think and there’s no sense of individuality. There’s no speaking up. It’s like a tyranny where just the government is constantly reading. Big brother’s reading. And it follows a man named Winston and his job is an editor so he rewrites documents and just Photoshops photos so these historical documents follow the government story. From an outside perspective, Winston’s a good man following and showing face but in actuality, he is just freaking miserable and he’s trying to find a way to rebel and resist. This is a very bleak read but I just, I find these stories so fascinating because this could have easily happened to where we live now and there are places in the world where this is a reality and not just a story. Also, Marzia is the one who got me this copy for Christmas a few years ago so thanks babe. So this is my last book on dystopias I promise. I could honestly post an entire separate post of my favorite sci-fi slash dystopian novels but maybe I will save that for another time.

Had to mention Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and I will like you five times more if you have read this book. In this world, women have absolutely no rights. They can’t have a job, they can’t have money, they can’t read, they can’t write. They’re all assigned to these roles and some women are wives. Those are the better off women and then some of them are aunts which are kinda like the maids, facilitators and then there are handmaids and the handmaids are the ones that literally just have to give birth and I mean, it is not a good role. These women get raped every month and this is also a TV show on Hulu so if you are not gonna read this book, I highly recommend the TV show. It’s the best, every Wednesday. So yeah, check out the book or check out the show. So my next book is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Unfortunately, I do not have a physical copy because I bought it on my Kindle but this is me holding my imaginary copy. It is a story of a group of students in this really prestigious elite university and it is a murder mystery. The main character is named Richard and he does not come from money so he’s just kind of plopped into this world where just, where everyone’s just wealthy and everyone’s super posh and he’s in a class, a very small class that studies ancient history and one of the students dies but you do not know who did it or why so that’s where the story just kinda takes off. This kinda reminds me of And Then There Were None but the teenage version. I mentioned this book not too long ago in my favorites but it is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I love this book. Quick summary, it is about a man named Dorian.

He’s very attractive, young and he gets his portrait painted and he meets this man named Lord Henry Wotton and he lived just a super hedonistic lifestyle. He gives zero for anyone but himself. So Dorian gets very inspired by that and he ends up selling his soul so he can look young forever and he just lives this very materialistic life and he’s just living for himself, just selfish and he’s just a big dick. I read this book when I was 18 or 19 and it taught me just to balance, not go overboard. It taught me the importance of not being so decadent and knowing my limit. My next book recommendation has such sentimental value to me. It is the Perks of Being a Wallflower. I read this book when I was 15 and it just left such a huge impact on my life because this was one of the first books that I read outside of my assigned reading. So when I read a book like this and I followed the story, it was a storyline that I was just genuinely interested in and there were a lot of characteristics of the main character, Charlie that just, that I felt like he just got me. He was sensitive and introverted and those were the personality traits that defined me especially when I was younger and when I reread it as an adult, there was just this huge overwhelming wave of nostalgia. It’s crazy that when you revisit something from your past that you love you so much, to be transported and feel that same way is just, it is insane. It’s like a time machine. So this book will always have a special place in my heart and it is very interesting and an unconventional coming of age story but I feel like I understand why this has affected so many teens. My last book is my first non-fiction on the list. It is the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I have also mentioned this in my monthly favorites but I had to mention it again because this is, this has changed my life in such a positive way.

I feel like I’m always trying to find ways to increase my productivity, my efficiency and my self-growth and this book just hit all those targets for me. Obviously, this book is about seven habits that make you more effective but I feel like it is beyond just that. This book has taught me to be more self-aware and to be a better person and I could easily just tell you what the seven habits are but they are not gonna make sense until you read the book, read each of the stories attached with the lessons and then you will really absorb it. I’m actually on my second time reading this book because it is not one of those books that you just read once and you are like ah. I just wanna remember these lessons for the rest of my life and applyem that way. Alrighty, guys, those were my top 10 favorite books of all time and honestly, I had so much fun posting this post, explaining all the books and I would love to, I mean, I do not know if you guys would be interested in me doing another book countdown. I have so many other recommendations. I could just do another 10 more favorite books or I can do books on just self-help or just sci-fi or just fiction. I do not know, there’s so many possibilities. Also, I would absolutely love it if you would tell me your favorite book recommendations along with a little summary and why you like it. I would love to read what you guys read. It’s crazy how much I love reading recreationally because it really just broadens my horizons and it brings light to so many stories that I otherwise would have never known and I think it is an art form that everyone or not an art form but a skill that everyone should utilize because the brain is such a powerful tool and it needs to be worked out and I feel like reading just really keeps your brain stimulated in a good way. I’m not a scientist but I just feel like it does that but anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this post, hope you have a beautiful day and I will see you guys in the next one.