It’s a New Year with many people finalising their resolutions for 2020, and what better goal than to read some of the world’s greatest books? The popularity of creating a personal book bucket list is on the rise, making it easier to prioritise the books one would like to read before they die without becoming overwhelmed by the lists available online - some of which containing thousands of books!

These long lists can feel prescriptive, discouraging, and unhelpful. That’s why we suggest sitting down and creating your own. This is an especially meaningful activity to do with your older loved ones who have the luxury of more reading time on their hands. So before the year runs away from you, take the time to sit down with your elderly parent or grandparent and write a list of the books they haven’t read yet that they would love to read this year. Hopefully their eyes are still strong enough so that this isn’t a frustrating goal for them, however, a lovely gift idea is a Kindle or similar tablet that has the option to increase the size of the words for easier reading. Alternatively, there are also a number of audiobooks available for those who are unable to read, meaning they have a relaxing way to pass the time and are able to get through their booklist a bit faster.

The following list contains Le Domaine Care’s top five books that should be on everyone’s book reading bucket list:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee uses the character of Scout (who is six when the novel begins) to tell the story of how her lawyer father defends Tom Robison, and how she explores the existence of her reclusive neighbour in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Throughout the novel, Scout learns valuable lessons from her father, which include how to view a situation from other people’s points of view; the existence of prejudice and injustice in the world; what “real” courage is; and the importance of being true to oneself.

The Harry Potter Series

This series of books doesn’t require an introduction, but for the purposes of this blog: J.K. Rowling’s popular children’s novels tell a story about Harry Potter, a boy who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own. Harry is summoned from his life as an unwanted child to become a student at Hogwarts, an English boarding school for wizards. There, he meets several friends who become his closest allies in helping him discover the truth about his parents’ mysterious deaths and defeating his archenemy - Lord Voldemort. Other than being highly entertaining, Harry Potter covers inspiring lessons on life including how we might not be able to change our past, but we can change our future, and friends will get you out of trouble, but best friends will get into trouble with you!

The Alchemist

The Alchemist is an easy story with a deep message. The book is about a young man named Santiago who lives in Spain and works as a shepherd. Santiago starts to have strange dreams and so goes to a Gypsy to find out what they mean. As a result, Santiago gives up his life as a shepherd and goes on an epic adventure to find his treasure, encountering a number of obstacles along the way. The Alchemist ultimately shares a strong message to follow your heart in search of your dreams.

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini follows the maturation of Amir, a boy from Afghanistan who needs to find his way in the world as he realises that his own belief system is not that of his dominant culture. Set in Afghanistan and the United States, The Kite Runner illustrates the similarities as well as the differences between the two countries and two vastly different cultures. This is a story of family and friends, right and wrong, and the nature of evil.

The Help

Based in the 1960s in Mississippi, a Southern society girl Eugenia Skeeter returns from college with big dreams of becoming a writer. Skeeter turns her small town upside down by choosing to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. Only Aibileen, the housekeeper of Skeeter’s best friend, will talk at first. But as the pair continue to collaborate, more women come forward, and they have a lot to say. 

We hope that you are as excited to get stuck into this list as we are. Good luck with your book goals for 2020 and happy reading!