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70 Books to Read Before You're 70

As he confronts his 69th birthday and the onset of his 70th year, our maverick English Teacher turns reflective and considers 70 books that in some way offer an examination of both real and imagined pasts, and/or face the uncertainties of memory, aging, regret, compromise, redemption, and mortality. Some are classics, some are great popular successes, and some are obscure gems. All of them, our compiler feels, offer continuity, insight and illumination.
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made by James Loranger
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1
King Lear (Shakespeare (Signet))
King Lear
Shakespeare (Signet)
2
The Winter's Tale (Signet Shakespeare)
The Winter's Tale
Signet Shakespeare
3
The Tempest (Signet Shakespeare)
The Tempest
Signet Shakespeare
4
The Snows of Killamanjaro and Other Stories (Hemingway)
The Snows of Killamanjaro and Other Stories
Hemingway
5
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
6
A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway)
A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
7
Islands in the Stream
Islands in the Stream
8
Molloy (Samuel Beckett)
Molloy
Samuel Beckett
9
Malone Dies (Samuel Beckett)
Malone Dies
Samuel Beckett
10
The Unnamable (Samuel Beckett)
The Unnamable
Samuel Beckett
11
Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho (Samuel Beckett)
Nohow On: Company, Ill Seen Ill Said, Worstward Ho
Samuel Beckett
12
Exit the King (Eugène Ionesco)
Exit the King
Eugène Ionesco
13
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
14
Swann's Way (Marcel Proust)
Swann's Way
Marcel Proust
15
Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats (W.B. Yeats)
Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
W.B. Yeats
16
Home (Storey)
Home
Storey
17
No Man's Land (Harold Pinter)
No Man's Land
Harold Pinter
18
Affliction by Russell Banks
Affliction by Russell Banks
19
Arsenic and Old Lace (Joseph Kesserling)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Joseph Kesserling
20
Behold a Pale Horse (Pressburger)
Behold a Pale Horse
Pressburger
21
Beowulf (Crossley-Holland)
Beowulf
Crossley-Holland
22
Shoeless Joe (W P Kinsella)
Shoeless Joe
W P Kinsella
23
The Boys of Summer (Roger Kahn)
The Boys of Summer
Roger Kahn
24
Cancer Ward (Alexander Solzhenitsyn)
Cancer Ward
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
25
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr.)
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter M. Miller, Jr.
26
Connections (Burke)
Connections
Burke
27
The Day the Universe Changed (Burke)
The Day the Universe Changed
Burke
28
The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson)
The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson
29
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (Dylan Thomas)
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Dylan Thomas
30
Ending Up (Kingsley Amis)
Ending Up
Kingsley Amis
31
The Fourth Courier (Smith)
The Fourth Courier
Smith
32
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Fannie Flagg)
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Fannie Flagg
33
Ghost Story (Peter Straub)
Ghost Story
Peter Straub
34
High Fidelity (Nick Hornby)
High Fidelity
Nick Hornby
35
I Remember Nothing (Nora Ephron)
I Remember Nothing
Nora Ephron
36
In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash (Jean Shepherd)
In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash
Jean Shepherd
37
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories (Jean Shepherd)
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories
Jean Shepherd
38
Winter's Tale (Mark Helprin)
Winter's Tale
Mark Helprin
39
In Sunlight and in Shadow (Mark Helprin)
In Sunlight and in Shadow
Mark Helprin
40
Indian Country (Philip Caputo)
Indian Country
Philip Caputo
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