Reading a book can be an intensely personal experience. Books can be truly life-changing, and also, as it turns out, make you smarter. Research repeatedly shows you boost your analytical thinking by reading, along with expanding your vocabulary, as well as your mind in general.
The question, then, is not whether you should read, but what to read.
In the early 2000s, the BBC's Big Read ran a search for the U.K.'s best-loved novel. After parsing results of those nominating their favorite books, they made a list of the top 100--a list that follows.