Calling All Men

August 30, 2011

Recently, I was meandering through the shelves of non-fiction, and stopped suddenly when I saw a rather small book just before all of the computer books: 100 Must-Read Books for Men. Intrigued, I picked it up and checked it out to compare my reading habits.

Within the pages of this small book are names such as Hemingway, Fleming, Melville, and London. It lists some very well-known books and some very obscure books. It is published as part of the Bloomsbury Good Reading Guides, and the editors have attempted to pique the interest of male readers. Though many people may stereotype "man books" as full of action, sex and violence, this is not the case. There is a wide variety of books that may appeal to different men altogether. They have thematic lists of books, and there are over 500 books listed for further reading as well!

After reading about some of the more obscure titles like The Ox-Bow Incident, I found myself wanting to read a lot of the books on the list. I have a lot of catching up to do.  Out of 100 titles, I have only read four. There are many classics on the list, and sadly that means I haven’t read them. Maybe, I’ll try to read more in the future. Free time is hard to come by sometimes.

If you are a man (or a woman; there’s no reason that you can’t read these) looking for something to read, whether it is similar or a far cry from what you’re used to, you should check out 100 Must-Read Books for Men and see how you measure up to the list.

If you’re curious, the four that I have read are You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming, The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.

Dan B.
Blue Springs South Branch