New Years Resolution: Books to Read for 2012

With 2012 being the year of my college graduation (finally…and long overdue) and have set out on a quest to compile a list of 15 must-read books to complete before I graduate in August.


They are in no particular order or ranked by importance – compiled this list by going over many lists I have read online of books that are high school and college graduate must-reads. I made sure t put on this list a decent amount of books that I was supposed to read in high school but back then decided to use SparkNotes instead (no bueno…I know).

The list consists of:

1. “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean

3. “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov

4. “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac

5. “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephan Crane

6. “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger

7. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

8. “1984” by George Orwell

9. “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand

10. “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell

11. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho

12. “The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper

13. “Antigone” by Sophocles

14. “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck

15. "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw

Left off the list because I have already read them (but they may become a re-read if I finish the above): Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), The Scarlett Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams).

Other books I would like to read post-graduation…not classics by general life books: Boomerang Nation: How to Survive Living with Your Parents…the Second Time Around (Elina Furman), Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert T. Kiyosaki) – I actually had to read this in High School but I think it would be a great post-grad read, What You Should Know About Politics…But Don’t: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues (Jessamyn Conrad), Emily Post’s Etiquette (Emily and Anna Post).

Ugh… okay so it was wicked hard to actually pick out the top 15 I want to read, but alas, I did. I found this really great list online though that I will definitely be using next time I am in dire need of a book to read instead of picking up a trashy romance novel.