Amazon recently came out with its `` 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime '' which is an excellent list of books that you can read over the course of your life and not have to worry about forgetting any of them. : I was more than a little shocked by the list , which crudely mixes categories . If you 're going to die soon , he suggests reading `` Walden '' by Henry David Thoreau . It 's a sublime work of literature , a better memoir than any of the memoirs included here . Parini : Only about a third of the books on the Amazon list are in any way must-reads .
Amazon recently came out with its `` 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime '' which is an excellent list of books that you can read over the course of your life and not have to worry about forgetting any of them. : I was more than a little shocked by the list , which crudely mixes categories . If you 're going to die soon , he suggests reading `` Walden '' by Henry David Thoreau . Parini : Only about a third of the books on the Amazon list are in any way must-reads .