This is somewhat disturbing. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of these books, but nine of the top ten have nothing to do with life as people actually live it.
The Bible (disclaimer: I’ve read it many, many times, cover to cover, and I’m reading it again right now) documents life in ancient Israel and (to a degree) the Hellenistic age and the Roman period. It challenges us with ideals, but it’s not a reflection of how we live our day-to-day lives. Mao’s quotations (disclaimer: I carried a ‘Little Red Book’ around for part of my college career) are equally aspirational. There is a difference between the Bible and Chairman Mao’s quotations, though: Jesus, if not his followers, lived his values, but it’s not clear that Mao tried to live up to his after he became the ruler of China.
The next six books are fantasies. They’re good reads, but escapist. With Think and Grow Rich we’re back to aspirational literature, but it’s peddling a version of upward mobility that is mostly fantasy in contemporary America. Only The Diary of Anne Frank reflects life as it is still lived (sadly) by many, many people in the 21st century – and coming, perhaps, to a Tiki torch-lit parade near you.
There’s nothing wrong with fantasy, of course, but if that’s all people are reading…
The other books on the list:
The Harry Potter series: https://www.pottermore.com/explore-the-story/harry-potter, but also https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-everyone-should-read-harry-potter/
The Lord of the Rings series: http://www.lordoftherings.net/
The Alchemist: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2015/12/15/10-powerful-life-lessons-from-the-alchemist/
The Da Vinci Code: http://danbrown.com/the-davinci-code/
The Twilight Saga: https://stepheniemeyer.com/the-twilight-saga/
Gone With The Wind: https://slate.com/arts/2017/10/how-to-show-gone-with-the-wind-post-charlottesville.html
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