# 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