The greatest books I've never read. A list! Maybe I'll even read them one day!

Jelgerhuis, "Bookshop," (1820)

I am always a sucker for book lists that ask things like: Have you read more than 6 books on this BBC book list? (I've read 47/100, which made me feel pretty good). Or, "How well-read are you?" (Gulp, just 40 out of 155). Or, how many of the 100 best-loved novels of all time  have you read? (44, so a little better). And of course, How many of these top 101 crime novels have you read? (Just 18, ouch)

And then I look at what the "experts" identify as the "best" 100 novels. The Modern Library's 100 best novels (I've read 18 of 100). One hundred best American Novels (1770-1985) (I've read 12 of 100). And, of course,  responses to such lists (I've read 13 of 100).  And lists that combine both such lists.  (For the record, I've read 31 of 100).

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The lists are fun, but sometimes,  puzzling. (Seriously, Ayn Rand? Not sure I'll ever see the attraction there).  Mostly these lists just remind me of all the books I want to read, but haven't gotten around to it.  So I thought I'd create a list of books I thought that I've wanted to read.  See if any are on your to-be-read pile!

[update: I have actually crossed one off my list!]

Books in the "Why am I waiting to read this?" category:

1. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
2. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
3. The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett
4. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, by John le Carre
5. Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
6. The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain
7. Laura, by Vera Caspary
8. Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers
   

Books in the "This looks interesting, I'll read it if I remember it" category

1. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
4. Crime and Punishment, by Dosteovsky
5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon [Terrific! Quick and fascinating read]
   
6. Brideshead Revisted, by Evelyn Waugh
7. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
8. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton
9. Dune, by Frank Herbert
10. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
11. Prizzi’s Honor, by Richard Condon
12. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
13. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
14. The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne
15. From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming
16. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
17. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
18. Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick
19. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
20. Possession, by A.S. Byatt
21. The Masters, by C.P. Snow
22. The Secrete History, by Donna Tartt [awesome terrific read]
    

Books in the "It MUST be good because everyone loves it but I couldn't get into it the first time I tried" category

1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
2. The Hobbit, by J.R. R. Tolkien
3. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R. R. Tolkien
4. On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
5. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Persig
6. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
7. Devil in the White City, by Eric Larson
   

Let me know how many of these you've read! (and since I need to prioritize, let me know which one I should read first!