The List

I'm trying to build a list of books that I think my daughters should read. It isn't supposed to be the 100 best books ever written, but more of a list of 100 books that will give my girls a well rounded appreciation for the world they live in. As such, I have a few categories that I want to fill, but I also want to make sure I have a significant "Miscellaneous" section.

I made a non-comprehensive list of things about humanity that I want the list to touch on (that's right, a list for my list). They include creativity, intelligence, emotion, spirituality/morality, curiosity/exploration, and brutality/war. Additionally, I want the authors and subject matter to cover the globe. These books will be a combination of well written stories and ideas that have had a profound impact on how the world thinks, speaks, acts, and is structured.

It is also worth noting that I will try to avoid long tedious works as much as possible. So for example, I'm reading the Wealth of Nations right now. It is a book that has clearly had a profound impact on the world, but it is long and tedious. I want my daughters to enjoy reading this list as much as possible.

I haven't read most of these yet, but it is a first crack at what I think might be on the final list with quite a bit of space for additions. I would love your comments or suggestions as I gradually piece this together. As I read these and other books, I will post my reviews on this blog.

The Cultured 100

North American Literature (target of 20 books)

• Huckelberry Finn - Twain
• A Hemmingway Novel - maybe. I need a good suggestion on what his best ones are.
• The Red Badge of Courage - Crain
• The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald
• The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men - Steinbeck
• Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
• The Call of the Wild - London
• Catch 22 - Heller
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee
• Ulysses - Joyce

European Literature (15)

• Pride and Prejeduce - Austin
• Great Expectations - Dickens
• Heart of Darkness - Conrad
• The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas
• Kim or Captains Courageous - Kipling
• The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitzyn
• The Trial or Metamorphosis- Kafka
• Hamlet - Shakespeare

Asian Literature (10)

• Dream of the Red Chamber - Cao Xueqin
• The Tale of the Genji - Shikibu
• 
  

South American Literature (5)

• One Hundred Years of Solitude - Marquez
• The Devil to Pay in the Backlands - Rosa

Middle East Literature (5)

• One Thousand and One Nights - ??
• Cities of Salt - Munif
• Palace Walk - Mahfouz
• The Rose Garden (Gulistan) - Saadi

African Literature (5)

• Cry, The Beloved Country - Paton
• Things Fall Apart - Achebe
• Epic of Sundiata - ??

Science Fiction (2-5)

• Dune - Herbert
• The Lord of the Rings - Tolkein

Classics (5)

• Illiad - Homer
• Odyssey - Homer
• Aenid - Virgil
• Republic - Plato

Exploration (2-5)

• Kon Tiki - Heyerdahl
• Endurance - Worsley
• Through the Dark Continent - Stanley

Spirituality/Morality (6)

• The Epic of Gilgamesh
• The Bible - Judaism/Christiantity/Islam
• The Analects of Confusius
• Bhagavad Gita - Hinduism
• Dhammapada - Buddism
• Quran - Islam

Political/Social/Philosophical (5)

• The Art of War - Sun Tzu
• The Prince - Machiavelli
• Nietzsche?
• The Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and Federalist Papers
• The Communist Manifesto - Marx/Engel

Miscellaneous

• Origin of the Species - Darwin
• Sherlock Holmes - Doyle
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Brown
• Silent Spring - Carlson