{"id":102594,"date":"2019-03-25T15:23:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=102594"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:10:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T14:10:53","slug":"1000-books-to-read-before-you-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #493: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are over a hundred million books in existence. And the average person only has 8 decades in which to read them. So which books should you choose to read over others before you croak?<\/p>\n

It’s a question that’s launched scores of lists and many an argument, and my guest today has fired his own missive in the debate. <\/p>\n

His name is James Mustich, he\u2019s been in the book business for over 30 years as a book seller, reviewer, and editor, and he’s created the ultimate book list in his book 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die<\/em><\/a>. Today on the show, James explains his guiding philosophy on the books he decided to include in his list, and how he designed the book to have the feel of browsing through an ideal bookshop. James then makes the case for why book lists are helpful, but should never be seen as strictly prescriptive. We then dig into the surprising genres of books that James includes in his list, including science fiction, detective novels, and children\u2019s books, and one or two of his very top recommendations in each category. At the end of our conversation, James makes a list just for the AoM audience of books every man should read before he dies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are over a hundred million books in existence. And the average person only has 8 decades in which to read them. So which books should you choose to read over others before you croak? It’s a question that’s launched scores of lists and many an argument, and my guest today has fired his own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42384,42376,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-culture","category-podcast"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nBest Books to Read Before You Die | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are millions of books in existence. 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So which books should you choose?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/books\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-25T20:23:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-06T14:10:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/493.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #493: 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-25T20:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T14:10:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":221,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/493.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Culture\",\"Podcast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/\",\"name\":\"Best Books to Read Before You Die | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/culture\\\/books\\\/1000-books-to-read-before-you-die\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/03\\\/493.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-25T20:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-06T14:10:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/84a51044fb965564cde35d18f7e0a832\"},\"description\":\"There are millions of books in existence. 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