I just scanned the list while buying books for an upcoming long trip away from the Internet and other media (i.e. my annual Alaska boat trip: http://arachnoid.c

I just scanned the list while buying books for an upcoming long trip away from the Internet and other media (i.e. my annual Alaska boat trip: http://arachnoid.com/alaska2013 http://arachnoid.com/alaska2013). I might have selected two from the list. The problem with the list is it's not a true list of classic, worthwhile books, it's instead populated by books that (a) sell well and (b) are available at the moment from publishers. Those who don't read much, or who are beginning as adult readers, shouldn't be misled by its contents. Here is a slightly better list, one unfortunately also biased by what's available in the current mass publishing market: http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/books-everyone-should-read http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/books-everyone-should-re... But while searching online for quality "classic" or "essential" book lists, I am surprised to say that there's no such readily available list, at least that I can find. Obviously there's also the issue of taste -- one person's list of classics isn't likely to be another's.