Books to Read

Most of us have those books: You know, the ones that sit on our shelves for years, staring at us, intimidating us with their page lengths and making us feel guilty because we haven’t found the time or motivation to read them yet. They’re the books that show up again and again on demanding lists of “books to read before you die.” We know we should read these books, and we definitely will — eventually. After all, they’re featured on the aforementioned distinguished lists for good reason. The lessons and characters in these novels sometimes reach across centuries and continents to speak to our hearts and minds, to broaden our horizons, and to completely shift our perspective on the meaning of life. But gaining the motivation to read a 500-page book can feel impossible when scrolling on our phone is more accessible and often more immediately gratifying. So don’t feel guilty if you haven’t read the books on this list — after all, the shortest (East of Eden) clocks in at a cool 600-700 pages, and a few others have an eye-popping page count of more than 1,000. So while we certainly understand why starting any of these books may feel like a daunting task, we hope these quotes will make their respective tomes feel more accessible and maybe even inspire you to crack one of them open at long last. yeremiah@aol.com Yeremiah Hardt