# Books I Read Before 1996
[[About the List]] | [[reading-list|What I've read since 1996]] |[[Reading Stats]]
I have been keeping a list of [[reading-list|books that I have read since 1996]]. I was 24 years old when I started the list, and I have frequently lamented the fact that I never started keeping the list sooner. (Recently, [my youngest daughter started her own list](https://jamierubin.net/2023/02/26/passing-down-the-reading-list-tradition/).) I have been trying to recall books I read before 1996, and scribbling them down as I remember them. The list below represents and incomplete list of books I read, broken into rough timeframes. There is probably not as much missing as is there, but it's the best I can do with my aging memory.
## Grade School (1977-1984)
- The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
- The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss
- Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
- Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss
- There's a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss
- Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
- McElligot's Pool by Dr. Seuss
- Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss
- If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss
- Scrambled Eggs Super! by Dr. Seuss
- Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
- On Beyond Zebra by Dr. Seuss
- If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
- Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
- Happy Birthday to You by Dr. Seuss
- The Sneeches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
- Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book by Dr. Seuss
- Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
- The Lorax
- The Nine Planets by Franklyn M. Branley
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
- Super Fudge by Judy Blume
- The Tower Treasure by Franklin W. Dixon
- The Missing Chums by Franklin W. Dixon
- David and the Phoenix by Edward Ormondroyd
- Pillars of Pentegarn by Rose Estes
- How Baseball Began In Brooklyn by Le Grand
- Richard Scary's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scary
- Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Mystery of the Green Ghost by Robert Arthur
- Call of the Wild by Jack London
- White Fang by Jack London
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
- A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
- Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
- The Student Pilot's Flight Manual by William Kershner
## Junior High (1984-87)
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Flowers for Alergnon by Daniel Keyes
- Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
- Race Against Time by Piers Anthony
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
- The Source of Magic by Piers Anthony
- Castle Roogna by Piers Anthony
- Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony
- Oger, Ogre by Piers Anthony
- Night Mare by Piers Anthony
- Dragon on a Pedestal by Piers Anthony
- Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn
## High School (1987-1990)
- Black Boy by Richard Wright
- House of Stairs by William Sleator
- The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosińsk
- Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Equus by Peter Shaffer
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
- On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
- Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony
- With a Tangles Skein by Piers Anthony
- Wielding a Red Sword by Piers Anthony
- Being a Green Mother by Piers Anthony
- Bio of a Space Tyrant: Refugee by Piers Anthony
- Bio of a Space Tyrant: Mercenary by Piers Anthony
- Bio of a Space Tyrant: Politician by Piers Anthony
- Bio of a Space Tyrant: Executive by Piers Anthony
- Bio of a Space Tyrant: Statesman by Piers Anthony
- Siddartha by Herman Hesse
- Bio of an Ogre by Piers Anthony
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
- Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams
- Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
- The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
- Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
- No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre
- A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
- A Separate Peace by John Knowles
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Being There by Jerzy Kosiński
## College (1990-94)
- The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
- Tatham Mound by Piers Anthony
- For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony
- And Eternity by Piers Anthony
- Tarot by Piers Anthony
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
- How to Study by Harry Maddox
- Virtual Mode by Piers Anthony
- Fractal Mode by Piers Anthony
- Chaos Mode by Piers Anthony
- Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
- Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
- Split Infinity by Piers Anthony
- Blue Adept by Piers Anthony
- Juxtaposition by Piers Anthony
- Killobyte by Piers Anthony
## 1995-1996
- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
- Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- Cosmos by Carl Sagan
- Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
- Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
- The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
- The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
- Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin