If you’re looking for books to read before you die, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re trying to decide on a book to pass on to your children, or you simply want a quick book to keep your mind engaged, there are plenty of great books out there that you can choose from.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman is a celebrated English author who has written many prize-winning books. He is best known for his acclaimed fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials.
His Dark Materials is an epic, sweeping fantasy. It follows two children as they travel through a range of parallel universes. The story involves a fight between good and evil.
Philip Pullman, who wrote the trilogy, describes himself as an “agnostic atheist.” However, His Dark Materials is laden with theology. Several religious groups have panned the book and the Vatican has boycotted the trilogy.
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is a work of literature that combines African mythology, biblical mythology, and Greco-Roman mythology. It also has a lot to say about human flight and the effects of erasure in an American society.
The main character of Song of Solomon is Macon “Milkman” Dead III. He is an African American living in Michigan. His father has urged him to search for gold, which he eventually does. However, his lack of interest in his own life hinders his success.
Room by Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing is a work of art. It uses the third-person limited narrative to explore the conflicting emotions of a light-skinned biracial person. In the process, Larsen highlights the pitfalls of living outside of social norms.
The novel is centered around a young woman named Irene Redfield. She is a proud Black American who passes as white. At first, she is focused on motherhood. But she soon begins to doubt her husband’s love and commitment. After all, she is married to a racist white man.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the world’s most popular novels. It has been adapted into films and television series. As a result, it has sold over twenty million copies.
Pride and Prejudice was written in 1813. Jane Austen’s family and close friends knew that she was the author of the novel. Her writing was known for its social satire. She believed that character development depended on understanding others.
Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel set in the early nineteenth century. It explores themes such as class, marriage, and the nature of love.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 is a satirical war novel. It is set during World War II and explores the absurdities of military bureaucracy.
This book was inspired by Heller’s experience as a bombardier in the US Air Force. He served in Europe during the Second World War. He flew 60 combat missions in Europe and later returned home to New York City.
The satire of war, bureaucracy and McCarthyism in the novel is hilarious. However, there are also some deadly serious insights.
The Alchemist by Chinua Achebe
Amongst all the pixie dust and booze aficionados, aficionados of the written and verbal arts, the novel by the book, aficionados of the ilk and unwitting readers, aficionados of all three, aficionados of all of them together, aficionados of the entire genus, and aficionados of the geriatric persuasion, aficionados of the rest of us, aficionados of all aficionos and aficionados of all genus, the alchemist aficiono is one aficiono, if not many, aficionos and all that. The Alchemist has been a bestseller by the hundreds, not to mention the millions of copies printed, aficionos and afflicted aficionos alike, aficionos and unafflicted alike.
Lolita Vladimir by Humbert Humbert
Lolita is a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. It is about a European pedophile named Humbert Humbert and a prepubescent American girl named Dolores Haze, aka Lolita. They embark on a cross-country trip in 1949 and spend two years together.
When they arrive in Elphinstone, Colorado, Lolita falls ill. She is taken to the local hospital where she remains for several days.
After a few weeks, she becomes increasingly erratic. Her behavior seems to have evolved into some sort of communication with the mysterious red car that follows them.
Passing by Nella Larsen
Nella Larsen was born in Chicago, Illinois in the 1890s. She was born to a mixed-race father who was of Danish West Indian ancestry. The family moved to Harlem, New York. A short time later, Nella married Elmer Imes, a black physicist.
Nella Larsen was the first African-American woman to graduate from a library school. Her writing has been praised for its complex portrayal of race and gender. In 1929, she wrote the novel Passing.
While Larsen’s first novel was autobiographical, her second novel was written more as a reflection of her racial identity. Using a third person limited narrative view, Larsen explores the conflicting emotions of biracial individuals.
