40 Books to Read Before 40

What are the top books you need to read before you die? Here are the 40 books to read before 40 that will teach and inspire you.

In honor of my 40th birthday, I decided to compile a list of 40 books every one should read before 40. When I was a brand new blogger, one of my first book lists was a compilation of books to read before 30. I led the reader through children, young adult and then adult books that would impact you in your 20s.

This time around, I wanted to focus on deeper books that would help you as you approach the second half of your life. By 40, the life experiences really begin to stack up and you want deeper timeless books that will stick with you for years to come.

I am an avid reader, so I figured compiling this list of 40 books to read before 40 would be a breeze. It’s just 40 books, right? But I didn’t just pick any good books to read before 40. I wanted to choose books that you absolutely need to read. I’m not saying that these are the 40 best books ever written. But they are the ones that will teach you, inspire you, and touch you.

So take a peek and let me know what you think of my list of 40 books to read before 40.

During a Little League baseball game, Owen Meany hits a foul ball that kills his best friend’s mother. Believing himself to be God’s instrument, Owen seeks to fulfill his own prophecy. Narrated by Owen’s best friend John Wheelwright, A Prayer for Owen Meany isn’t just one of the best books to read before 40, it is one of the best book club books of all time.

Publication Date: March 1989
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In a modern-day version of David Copperfield set in the Appalachian Mountains, Demon Copperhead speaks of how institutional poverty and the opioid epidemic damaged an entire generation of children. A child of a single mother living in a single-wide trailer, young Demon must survive foster care, child labor, poor schools, addiction, success, and failure in this epic tale is a perfect five star read for those who love thought-provoking topics.

Publication Date: 18 October 2022
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At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl grieving her father is sent by boat to meet her 40-year-old husband. Eventually, she becomes known as Big Ammachi, the matriarch of a family particularly cursed to have one member of each generation die by drowning. From 1900-1977, Big Ammachi and her family see unimaginable changes to her Christian community on South India’s Malabar coast.

Publication Date: 2 May 2023
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NYPD cops Francis and Brian happen to move next door to each other in the suburbs. Though their children Kate and Peter become the best of friends, Francis and his wife have learned to keep their distance from Brian’s wife due to her precarious mental health. When tragedy strikes between the two families, Brian’s family moves away in shame. But when Kate and Peter fall in love, the two families must learn to confront the tragedy that ties them together. A story of love and forgiveness, Ask Again, Yes serves up the perfect blend of family drama and character study to win a place among the 40 books to read before 40.

Publication Date: 28 May 2019
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In the modern classic that cemented dark academia as a genre, Donna Tartt’s debut novel is a modern Greek tragedy that details the moral fall of a group of students at a private Vermont college. Classics professor Morrow only admits a handful of select students to study Ancient Greek. After determinedly breaking into this close-knit group, Richard Papen is surprised to find a world of highly flawed characters losing their grasp on morality. Secrets, lies, betrayal, and eventually murder become justifiable actions as they fall further and further in their descent into evil.

Publication Date: September 1992
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Centered around the Big Oakland Powwow, There There peeks into the lives of twelve urban Native Americans as each is drawn by their Native American heritage to visit the Powwow. Orange delivers a striking look at many of the issues that have plagued so many Native Americans – alcoholism, addiction, suicide, and abuse – as well as topics more specific to them. If you’ve never listened to a full-cast audiobook, you definitely should add There There to your list of books to listen to before 40.

Publication Date: 5 June 2018
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Born with red eyes, Sam Hill has been called the  “Devil Boy” all his life. Reflecting on his life, Sam realizes that his childhood friendship with two other misfits – Ernie Cantwell, the only African American boy at his school, and Mickie Kennedy, a firestorm in the form of a girl – has defined and shaped his extraordinary life. Dugoni’s touching coming-of-age tale was captivating from the first page with its story of friendship and acceptance of what life throws at us.

Publication Date: 24 April 2018
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Sometimes authors knock it out of the park with their debut novel and neuroscientist Lisa Genova certainly fits that description. Harvard professor Alice Howland is at the top of her career when she begins to have trouble with her memory. The story of her decline due to early-onset Alzheimer’s will leave you wracked with emotions. Just be sure to have a box of tissues handy because you will need them, Still Alice is a book that will make you cry.

Publication Date: 6 July 2007
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Set in 1970s Ohio, Celeste Ng’s debut novel starts with the drowning of Lydia, the beloved daughter of James and Marilyn Lee. As the family struggles with her death, the author takes you deeper into the cracks and flaws of this mixed-race family. It is a poignant character study into the dynamics of a family where the parents’ unfulfilled hopes are pinned on one child, to the detriment of all. The story unfolds masterfully, and Celeste Ng’s writing is exquisite. By the end, I was in tears for these poor children and the damage that had been done by their parents’ selfishness.

Publication Date: 26 June 2014
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At first glance, newlyweds Celestial and Roy seem like the perfect American couple. He’s a young executive, and she’s an emerging artist. However, as life comes into play and Roy is unjustly imprisoned, their marriage begins to fall apart. Discussing love, marriage, and race, this thought-provoking read is one to add to your list of 40 books to read before 40.

Publication Date: 29 January 2018
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For years, Kya Clark has survived alone in the marshes of the North Carolina coast. Dubbed “The Marsh Girl” by the locals, she raises herself in nature after her family abandons her. Now, as she comes of age, she begins to yearn for something more than her loneliness – maybe even a connection with the locals. An exquisitely written tale, Where the Crawdads Sing is one of the best fiction books of the recent years that I think will stand the test of time.

Publication Date: 14 August 2018
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Ove, a cantankerous old Swede, just wants to be left in peace so he can commit suicide, but his pesky neighbors keep getting in the way. A heartwarming tale that I found downright hilarious will be a popular book among book clubs for years to come. Highlighting our need for connection in the modern world, A Man Called Ove typified how important it is to leave our digital worlds and make sure we check in on our neighbors.

Publication Date: 27 August 2012
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John Grisham’s debut novel didn’t receive much attention until after he published the bestsellers The Firm and The Pelican Brief, but it’s my favorite of his books. After the brutal rape of a 10-year-old girl, her father seeks his own justice and murders the rapists. With the Mississippi town aflame, young attorney Jake Brigance must decide how much he is willing to risk to defend the father. Just be warned, the beginning of the book is horribly graphic and extremely hard to read.

Publication Date: 1989
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If I had to pick a must-read WWII novel, Anthony Doer’s masterpiece would be my first choice. I’m not at all surprised it won a Pulitzer Prize; the writing is fabulous. Anthony Doerr masterfully interweaves the stories of Marie-Laurie, a blind French girl who flees from Paris to the coastal city of Saint-Malo with her uncle, and Werner, a German radio operator charged with rooting out the French resistance. While the plot is interesting in and of itself, the character development and storytelling will keep you glued to the page.

Publication Date: 6 May 2014
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Khaled Hosseini writes the best books for club books and so I couldn’t leave him off a list of books to read before 40. Since I chose The Kite Runner for my 30 Before 30 list, I decided to go with another of his masterful stories. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini covers thirty years in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion to the post-Taliban years. Illegitimate child Mariam is forced to marry Rasheed, a man thirty years her elder. Stuck in a horrible marriage, Mariam’s life changes when they take in a teenage girl. Discussing family, friendship, and the struggle to survive, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a thought-provoking read.

Publication Date: 22 May 2007
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In 1975, the Indian government declares a state of emergency that forces a widow to take in a student boarder and two tailors fleeing caste violence and seeking work. In a deep examination of human nature, Mistry presents a character-driven story that completely draws you in while explaining the larger political landscape that affects them on an individual basis. Bleak, yet beautiful, Mistry’s epic modern classic explores the fine balance between hope and despair.

Publication Date: 1 January 1995
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In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by the Bolsheviks and sentenced to spend the rest of his life on house arrest. Thus the wealthy count is forced to move from his suite at the Metropol, a grand hotel across from the Kremlin, to a servant’s room in the attic. Over the ensuing decades, he witnesses Russia’s tumultuous history from his window and must ponder what it means to be a man of purpose. This glorious novel is one you’ll want to read slowly, savoring every word.

Publication Date: 6 September 2016
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One summer day in 1934, 13-year-old Briony Tallis misunderstands a flirtation between her older sister and a neighborhood boy, with devastating consequences. Now, as World War II rages, an older Briony starts to realize the reality of what happened and the full repercussions she has caused. Can Briony find atonement or is it too late? No matter what you do, make sure to read until the very end, because the ending is what makes this one of those books that move you to rethink everything you just read.

Publication Date: 2001
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In a must-read dystopian novel, after the fall of the United States, the theocratic patriarchal society Gilead is now in power. Due to an epidemic of infertility, most of the elite women cannot have children. Instead, they use handmaids, women of the lower caste forced to submit to men to bear children. The Handmaid’s Tale is written as the diary of one such handmaiden, Offred, as she struggles to survive in this brutal society, hoping to one day escape.

Publication Date: August 1985
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Astronaut Mark Watney wakes up to find himself marooned on the planet Mars, left for dead by the crew of the Ares 3 mission. Now, he must use all his ingenuity to overcome insurmountable odds for the chance to return home to Earth. I love how Weir uses real science and technology in this captivating book. One of the best science fiction books out there, The Martian is one of the best page turners I’ve read in recent years – which is saying a lot considering how much I read.

Publication Date: 27 September 2012
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What list of books to read before you die would be complete without Dune, the novel that took sci fi to a whole new level? Meet Paul Atreides, the heir apparent to the House of Atreides. At the beginning of the novel, his family takes control of the desert planet Arrakis, the source of the most sought after commodity in the galaxy. But power like that breeds many enemies who will stop at nothing to take over Arrakis. Combining politics, religion, and mysticism with a whole lot of adventure, Herbert sends you on an epic journey worthy of any science fiction reader.

Publication Date: June 1965
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In 1976, Dana, a young African-American writer, finds herself inexplicably sent back through time to a pre-Civil War plantation in Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy, she finds herself back in Los Angeles. Over and over, Dana finds herself returning to the plantation, which she realizes is where her ancestors lived. As her stays in the past become longer, Dana becomes entangled in the plantation and is forced to make harder and harder choices to survive. Octavia Butler’s genre-bending time travel novel is a must-read among modern classics.

Publication Date: June 1979
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George R. R. Martin kicks off his epic mastery of political machinations with the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. With winter creeping into the land of summer and the king’s advisors mysteriously dying, Lord Eddard Stark is called to serve as the king’s new Hand, but Stark’s position places his family at risk from the ambitions of the rival houses.

Publication Date: 6 August 1996
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For a thousand years, the Lord Ruler has enslaved the Skaa with no hope that his despotic rule will ever end. From a hellish prison, Kelsier snaps and develops the powers of a Mistborn. As a brilliant thief, Kelsier instigates the ultimate heist to overthrow the Lord Ruler with a crew of the underworld’s elite. But adding in Vin, a ragged orphan girl, might just be what they need to succeed, if they can teach her to use her powers and to learn to trust others.

Publication Date: 16 July 2006
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Normally I wouldn’t recommend a celebrity memoir in a 40 Books to Read Before 40 list because they usually have such a limited shelf life, but Trevor Noah’s life story is the exception to the rule. Telling of his formative years in South Africa during the last days of apartheid, Noah shows you a fascinating slice of history. With his ability to change accents and mimic his mother, Trevor Noah’s audio narration of the book wins it the award for the best audiobook of its decade.

Publication Date: 15 November 2016
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As a therapist, Lori Gottlieb spent all day helping others with their problems. Yet, when her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly broke up with her, she found herself on the receiving end of therapy. Gottlieb’s memoir is top-notch with exceptional pacing, slyly weaving in explanations of therapy within the fascinating story of Gottlieb’s therapy sessions. You’ll quickly become attached to finding out what happens to her patients – a narcissistic tv producer, a dying newlywed, and a depressed senior citizen.

Publication Date: 2 April 2019
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There is no excuse to not read Tara Westover’s spectacular memoir. Westover grew up in the rural mountains of Idaho with no formal education. Despite her extremist survivalist parents and violent older brother, Westover managed to make her way into college, eventually earning a PhD. Her amazing determination is inspiring while the circumstances of her childhood are incredibly sad.

Publication Date: 20 February 2018
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In one of the most powerful memoirs of recent years, Jeannette Walls recounts the story of her tumultuous childhood. She opens the book with the account of how at 3 years old, she ends up hospitalized with severe burns after pouring scalding water on herself when cooking hot dogs for lunch. You meet her charming father Rex, equal measures brilliant and paranoid; her mother Rose, selfish and depressed; and her three siblings, trying their best just to survive.

Publication Date: March 2005
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Poet Maya Angelou’s memoir of the early years of her life is touching and heartbreaking all at the same time. Growing up with her grandmother in a small Southern town, she details how affecting the segregation was as a young black girl, as well as the feeling of abandonment by her mother. Covering many hard topics – including her sexual assault at a young age – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings easily makes my list of the best modern classics.

Publication Date: 1969
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When you think of castes, India’s strict caste system likely comes to mind. In Caste, Wilkerson argues that America has its own hidden caste system, a hierarchy that has influenced the United States both historically and currently. Using fascinating stories, Wilkerson points out that on top of race and class, our understanding of caste systems must also change if we are to better ourselves as a nation.

Publication Date: 4 August 2020
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In an eye-opening book, Caroline Criado Perez shows that we live in a world designed for men that systemically discriminates against women. With overwhelming statistics, Perez exposes the prevalent gender-data gap in countless fields, including medicine, technology, and urban planning. The staggering evidence will blow your mind and make you rethink everything you thought you knew. If you have a chance, Perez’s audiobook narration is spectacular, catching every hint of sarcasm, disbelief, and anger in the author’s voice.

Publication Date: 7 March 2019
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If you want to find success in your career or your life, you need to establish solid habits. In Atomic Habits, Clear outlines in detail the steps you can take to build good habits and break bad ones. With excellent insights and workable tips, Clear’s methodology will allow you to design your habits to improve your life. Instead of trying to improve your self-discipline, learn how to build correct habits in this must-read book.

Publication Date: 16 October 2018
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It’s been six years since Malcolm Gladwell last published a book, and while he has interesting podcasts, you’ll want to dive into his take on a new topic. In Talking to Strangers, Gladwell focuses on what happens when we encounter new people and why those encounters so often turn out poorly. With his mix of statistics, scientific research, and interesting anecdotes, Gladwell is the ultimate storyteller. Be prepared for lots of debate as many of his viewpoints will probably be quite controversial with some people.

Publication Date: 10 September 2019
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Published in 1949, George Orwell’s terrifying vision of the future is just as important today as when it was written. Telling the story of Winston, a depressed Party worker who longs to join the Resistance, 1984 shows the horror of a totalitarian society continually at war. Commonly referenced in modern culture (i.e., Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime,), 1984 is one of the top classics to read in your lifetime.

Publication Date: 1949
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Among long classic books, Les Misérables is one of the most famous stories ever told. Victor Hugo’s tale of Jean Valjean – the peasant convicted for stealing a loaf of bread – will leave you breathless. From the example of forgiveness of the priest to the unrelenting determination of Inspector Javert, the story has so many outstanding themes to learn from. Yes, the musical is fantastic, but if you have a chance, be sure to pick up the original book. While it might drag in some spots, overall, the story is simply unforgettable.

Publication Date: 1862
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It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen the BBC miniseries or the Keira Knightley movie, you still need to read the book. Jane Austen’s witty novel is a fun reminder of the importance of marrying for love and not lust or security. Follow along as Elizabeth Bennett goes from loathing to loving Mr. Darcy in this classic British tale.

Publication Date: 1813
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If you haven’t read this amazing classic novel yet, you are truly missing out. Dumas’ epic tale of revenge will keep you entertained through all of its 1,000+ pages, making it a long classic worth your time. Wrongfully imprisoned for years, Edmond Dantes successfully escapes a brutal French prison and sets out to get the ultimate revenge on all those who have wronged him. The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the top classics to read in your lifetime.

Publication Date: 1844
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Orphaned as a child, Jane Eyre has always felt like an outcast. She gladly accepts a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall, caring for Adele, the young ward of the brooding Mr. Rochester. Soon Jane has fallen in love with Rochester’s troubled but kind soul, but a lurking secret at Thornfield Hall threatens to leave her heartbroken.

Publication Date: 16 October 1847
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Steinbeck’s epic on the Great Depression is a must-read classic book. After being released from prison, Tom Joad finds his family crippled by the Dust Bowl and ready to give the promise of California a try. Instead, the Joad family finds the harsh realities for migrants and begins to fall apart as they each handle the injustices of life in different ways.

Publication Date: 1939
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The story of the charming March sisters’ New England life during the Civil War is a timeless tale that steals your heart. As you fall in love with headstrong Jo, sweet Beth, kind Meg, and impetuous Amy, you’ll feel drawn into all the concerns of their life. If you haven’t had the chance to enjoy this wonderful classic, there is no better time than now. And if you have read it before, well there are no better classic books worth reading again.

Publication Date: 1869
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What Would You Say are the Top 40 Books to Read Before 40?

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my list? What books would you add and which do you think I should have left off? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Books to Read Before 40:

• Unforgettable Modern Classics
• Discussion Worthy Book Club Books
• Empowering Books for Women
• Sweeping Literary Books
• Remarkable Coming of Age Books

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