30 before 30 : 30 Books That I Should Read Before I Turn 30

I am happy and proud to say that I am already 28 years old and will be celebrating my 30th birthday two years from now (November 8, 2014 to be exact)! Do I feel old? In some ways, yes. Now I know that this is how my slightly older cousin feels (ehem, Ate Jenny) everytime I tease her that she is alreay old especially since it's now my younger cousins turn to return the "favor" of reminding me my age! haha! digital karma! (plus the proverbial question: When are you getting married?). But like what I always say, I am not complaining. I am actually enjoying the season where I am now. And besides, it is not as bad as I thought! I used to relate "aging" with fear during my younger years. I imagined "old" people not having nor enjoying their lives. Where did I ever get that?! :D  Like what they, old people,  say age is just a number. And this is starting to become my mantra now :D

Not that turning 30 is a big deal for me. It's just that since I am nearing that BIG 3-0 mark, I now feel that things are starting to change. Thank God that things are changing into something better (well, less some signs of physical aging, hehe)! I now feel more secured, more confident and more at ease with who I really am. I also believe that I am a LOT wiser in dealing with different situations  and I know and value the things and people that really matter in my life. So exciting!!! :)

image from the web

As part of welcoming this "mark" in my life, I decided to make a personal challenge that is, collecting AND reading 30 books before I hit the "mark". My goal is to widen my view on things and develop the love for reading. I actually got a list of books from the web (you may check www.marcandangel.com among others) and actually started with it. I actually finished reading 1 book from the list. However, I couldn't push myself to read other books because I felt that most books were too deep for me. So, I decided to ask my friends for the title of the books that they think I should read. Yes, this was time consuming on their part and that is why i am truly GRATEFUL for their time and patience, hehe :) But this made my list more personal and I believe that this will also strengthen my bond with them (imagine having other things to talk about aside from the usual "updating" on our lives!) :)

I wanted to categorize them but the fact that I haven't read these books made it difficult for me.

Here goes my list :)

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
2. Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Love in the Time of Cholera
5. One Hundred Years of Solitude

by AJ Jacobs
6. The Year of Living Biblically
7. The Know It All

by George Orwell
8. 1984
9. Animal Farm

10. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
11. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
12. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
13. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
14. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
15. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
16. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
17. Watership Down by Richard Adams
18. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
19. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
20. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
21. Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
22. Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg
23. Lego Principle by Joey Bonifacio
24. Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity by Charles R. Swindoll
25. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
26. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
27. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
28. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
29. Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner
30. Filipino Women Writers in English: Their Story, 1905-2002 by Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz

I love it that the list is quite diverse! This goes to show that my friends have different choices on books :) This makes it more exciting! I can't wait to start collecting these books and reading them. Somehow this is also a reflection of who my friends are. It's quite a variation of the saying, tell me the books that you read and I will tell you who you are. Hehehe :)

Actually some of the books on the list I have read already (but I don't have my own copy) or I have my own copy (but I haven't started / finished reading yet). So to keep me updated, I will cross out the books that I have already collected AND read.

PS: Special thanks to my awesome and book lover friends for spending time in giving me these titles :) You actually gave me MORE THAN 30 titles but I want to make it realistic and doable for me so I only chose 30 :) For sure, I will start with 40 before 40 and get back to your list! :D

Special mention to Bobbie, Bem (who even included short descriptions of all the books that she recommended! Wow!), Angie, Mia, Lory, Joan, Eva and Alex. I actually have friends who will be replying soon but I can't wait to start reading already so I will just use their recommendations for my 40 before 40 or 50 before 50! :p