100 books

Blogger and author Jessie Ansons has set a challenge to read (and, I presume, review) 100 must read books.  The list can be found here.  Skimming the selection got me thinking about the books that I think are missing from that list.

For example, I would love to see Toni Morrison’s Beloved on that list.  Morrison’s text showcases the complex interplay of past, present and future, and the difficult decisions which reverberate across time and space.

I would also like to see the much beloved John Green represented in the list.  My vote would be for Paper Towns or The Fault in our Stars, however I would be happy to see any of his works make the list.  Green has this uncanny ability to consistently craft engaging adolescent voices and it is for this, as much his story telling ability, that should earn him a place on the list.

Elliot Perlman’s The Street Sweeper should also make the list.  Perlman’s knitting together of separate histories makes for compelling reading.

If I were tailoring this list for Australian audiences I would also include a few more Australian classics.  Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, Eleanor Dark’s Return to Coolami, or Such is Life by Joseph Furphy (pen name Tom Collins) would all be viable options.  That said, I suspect Picnic at Hanging Rock is probably the most readable.

I would also be keen to see a few picture books make the cut.  Fox by Margaret Wild, Mirror by Jeanne Baker, or The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan would all be good options.  I have chosen these as I think they resonate with older and younger readers alike.

I noticed on the list that Rushdie is already represented.  However, I think Haroun and the Sea of Stories is also worthy of consideration.  The text contains beautiful imagery, humour, and a selection of compelling relationships.

Also missing from the list are texts by Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and/or Edwidge Danticat.  If I were to select just one text by each of these authors I would pick Things Fall Apart, Half of a Yellow Sun (although I did love Americanah) and Krik? Krak!  (again, I love so many of the books that Danticat has written).

Do you agree with these additions?  Do you have some of your own?  Also, which texts would you boot off the list in order to make space for your favourites?