Amazon Announces 100 BOOKS TO READ IN A LIFETIME List

By: Feb. 04, 2014
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Amazon.com, Inc. today announced 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, a new editorially-curated list of essential books. This list was hand-selected by the Amazon Books editorial team. The 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime are available at www.amazon.com/100books.

"With 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, we set out to build a roadmap of a literary life without making it feel like a homework assignment," said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Print and Kindle Books at Amazon.com. "Over many months, the team passionately debated and defended the books we wanted on this list. In other words, we applied plenty of the bookish equivalent of elbow-grease, and we can't wait to hear what customers have to say about our final picks."

The list of 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime encompasses a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction, including children's, teen, and young adult. It is intended to span decades. "We listed the books alphabetically by title," said Nelson, "because our assumption is that no book is more important than another." The Amazon Books editorial team will audit the list regularly to make sure it stays culturally relevant.

Some fun facts about the 100 Books:

  • Oldest book on the list: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
  • Most recently published book on the list: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (2013)
  • Book on the list that inspired the most internal debate: 1984 by George Orwell
  • A few books that were unanimous across the team: Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
  • Books on the list that were our #1 Amazon Best Books of the Year: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • The book each editor most wished had made the list (but didn't): Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner (Jon Foro); Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mari Malcolm); The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Robin Rothman); LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo (Neal Thompson); Moby Dick by Herman Melville (Chris Schluep); Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (Sara Nelson); Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver (Kevin Nguyen); Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Seira Wilson)

The Amazon Books editorial team is the team that brings you Best Books of the Month and the blog Omnivoracious. To see a complete list of the 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, visit www.amazon.com/100books. Cast your own votes for the 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime: Reader Picks at Goodreads: www.Goodreads.com/100books.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the world's best-selling and most advanced e-reader. It features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, features improved fonts and faster page turns. The new Kindle Fire HDX features a stunning exclusive 7" or 8.9" HDX display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 2x more memory, and 11 hours of battery life, as well as exclusive new features of Fire OS 3.0 including X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, Prime Instant Video downloads, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. The all-new Kindle Fire HD includes an HD display, high-performance processor and dual speakers at a breakthrough price.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, www.amazon.es, www.amazon.com.br, www.amazon.in, www.amazon.com.mx, and www.amazon.com.au. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.


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