10 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once: A Non-Exhaustive List

And I do mean everyone. Even people that "don't like to read", hear me out: pick one of these books and... I don't know. You might suddenly find you love reading. Life is too short to waste on reading books we are not enjoying, so why not read books that are JUST GOOD from cover to cover? Below is an unnumbered list of just that sort of books because they are each in a category of their own), and once read, they will –probably– stay with you your entire life. This list only includes books published in the past 60 years. [Heads up: covers not included... because it would be such a mistake to judge any one of these books by it's cover]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

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Absurd, sardonic, outrageous, hilarious and indisputably iconic. It's guaranteed to make you laugh out loud as you travel across the galaxy with the stalwart crew of the Heart of Gold... looking for answers of life, the universe, and everything.

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

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One of those rare books that gets better as it goes along. It's not surprising it's still considered one of the best novels of all time 50 years after it was written. The catch? You might be constantly torn between laughing and wanting to cry along with Yossarian and the cast of larger than life characters that surround him.

A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)

Huntington Theatre Company / Via culturacolectiva.com

"When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him." –Jonathan Swift. Any book that is rated either with 5 stars or with 1 star is truly a book to be reckoned with. I will not even attempt to explain what it's about; I'll just say this: every seemingly absurd and confusing string of the jumbled (and hilarious) plot will straighten itself out by the end of the book– in the most improbable and unexpected way possible. Don't try to piece it together, just enjoy the ride.

The Name of The Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)

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A story-within-a-story narrated by the hero of the tale himself. It is an adventure, a fantasy, a story of love, betrayal, trust and, most importantly, a story about the power of words. It is crafted with precision and detail –yet that doesn't interfere with the action and sheer motion it holds in its pages. Even if you don't like reading fantasy, you might find yourself swept away by the poetic prose of Rothfuss, and the powerful story of Kvothe.

A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)

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What would you say about spending many (many) years in a hotel in Moscow, unable to leave? Feeling a bit trapped already? Yet, somehow, Towles casts a beautiful spell as he tells the story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov –a hero deemed traitor in tumultuous twentieth century Russia. It is a bittersweet tale of humanity, masterfully told and brimming with humour. You might not want to leave Sasha and all the unlikely friends he made at the Hotel Metropol behind as you turn the final page.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)

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Have you ever read a book where you can clearly hear the voices of each character, the sounds in the streets, smell the smells and feel the autumn wind on your face? This is one of those books; eerie, suspenseful and absolutely magnificent. It will throw you into the streets of Green Town from page one, just in time to witness Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show roll in sometime after midnight. For those who still dream and remember, step inside...

The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt)

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You may find that this book, like all the best books, has polarised reviews. I will just say that Tartt is a master of language, and the real magic of her writing is in the characters she creates; characters so vivid you will hear their voices and see their faces as if they were standing in the same room as you.

All The Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)

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This is not just "another WWII novel"; it is a beautiful coming-of-age story told from two very different perspectives... and there is nothing stereotypical about the moment when Marie Laure and Werner's paths finally cross. Each scene is short and crafted elegantly. Each detail is just right. It is an ode to the invisible strings that tie us together, and Doerr masterfully weaves the past, present and future together; heightening our senses in the process and holding us within the narrative. Plus, like all the best stories, there is a mystery to be uncovered.

Stardust (Neil Gaiman)

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One of the virtues of fiction is the ability it gives us to escape the mundane... and what a better place to escape to than to a vivid world full of adventure and magic? Anyone who reads this book will wonder how so much can be contained in so few pages. How can Gaiman spin a tale so familiar without even once being redundant? Haunting and delightful, when you finish Stardust, you will be surprised (and disappointed) to suddenly find yourself out of Faerie and back in reality.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows)

StudioCanal / Via Netflix

The genius of this story lies in how the writers managed to weave the bulk of the narrative –the characters emotions, their doubts, their hopes, fears and dreams– into the realm of the unsaid. For those who might not know it, this is an epistolary novel, and Shaffer works her magic so that the story not only exists but flourishes after every letter sent and endures in the hearts of the readers. The way in which each character writes is so unique to each of them and so vivid, the reader feels like another correspondent; a part of the story itself, in a way. There are many, many books out there about WWII, and while the war is obviously a central point in the narrative, it is not the main one. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a story about the power of books; about how they can bring people together and create bonds that transcend death itself, and about the strength of the human spirit.

The narrative is beautiful as much as it is offbeat and witty. The characters glow warmly within the pages and stay with the reader even after the last bittersweet page is spent.