A Lifetime's Reading

Of the many lists of great books out there, the best is Philip Ward's: it's broad in terms of geographic and temporal scope, without missing any obvious touchstones. Ward structured his list as a 50 year reading plan; I aim to do it in ten. Or fifteen. I reserve the right to make additions, substitutions and especially deletions when his picks are too long or lame. In particular, I don't envisage reading much of the poetry: I've got enough of that on my backlist.

The full list

Lewis Carroll: The Alice stories A+

Plato: Apology, Crito, Phaedo B+

The Old Testament A++

Vaclav Havel: The Memorandum A

Gilgamesh A+

Tacitus: Annals A+

E.H. Gombrich: The Story of Art A

Abélard and Héloïse: Letters A–

The New Testament A

Suetonius: The Twelve Caesars A

Murasaki Shibiku: The Tale of Genji A+

William Shakespeare: King Lear A++

Vincent Van Gogh: Letters A–

Maxim Gorki: The Lower Depths A

Lin Yutang: The Importance of Living A–

The New Testament A+

Buddhist Scriptures A

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment A++

William Trevor: The Children of Dynmouth A+

St Teresa: Life A–

Apuleius: Metamorhphoses B

Arrian: Anabasis A

Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes: Selected Stories A+