Bookies, You've Only Got 55 Years Left

Or something like that, figures a New York Times critic, to read the rest of the 1001 books a British author says are musts before you die.
The story is wittier than I am today, so just read it, it's short.

Let’s have a look at some of these mandatory titles. Not only is it not necessary to read “Interview With the Vampire” by Anne Rice before you die, it is also probably not necessary to read it even if, like Lestat, you are never going to die. If I were mortally ill, and a well-meaning friend pressed Anaïs Nin’s “Delta of Venus” into my trembling hands, I would probably leave this world with a curse on my lips.

N.B. It's really novels only. I'm not sure, but I don't think I've even read that many novels so far, even if you count the multiple Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drews.