What does it mean to be well-read?

We’re building a community syllabus. Reply with 3 books and 1 line why.

Sep 14, 2025

It's September and we like a challenge.

I am fascinated by what it means to be ‘well-read’ - just the term feels both snobby and essential. Let’s skip the snobbery (because, after all, the best books are the ones you want to read), and instead explore the foundations. Books that sharpen your thinking, broaden your understanding and help you make sense of the world.

I wrote a list of what I considered the essentials (some I’ve read, some I haven’t, some I might have pretended to) and I researched what others considered. I spoke to friends, big readers, and community members, and fell down a few forums. Most forums skew very American. Now, sure, I like a Steinbeck but I’m not sure Whitman would make mine.

September is a reset month. A great time to reach for the books you always meant to read. New releases are seductive (believe me, I know), but picking up something long-intended is the opposite of the quick hits and dopamine culture we are used to. It asks more of you and gives more back. It’s not easy, it’s often quite hard, but it’s meaningful and worth it.

So let’s build something, together.

What do we mean by ‘well-read’?

From the Verse community:

“Understanding the tropes that make up our cultural cornerstones”
“Books that are essential to understanding writing and society today”
“Books that are emblematic of their category, have filtered down, and are referred to”
“Being open to reading outside of your norm and across genres”
“A fundamental grounding that allows you to understand references, nuance, structure”

What we’re making

The Well-Versed list: a community built syllabus of essential books. The ones that help a modern reader feel culturally fluent, curious and grounded.

The titles that get referenced in essays, films, politics, group chats. Fiction and non-fiction. Global. Short works too.

How to get involved (quick and easy)

Reply with

Up to 3 books you consider essential
One line on why each matters
Optional: a pairing (essay, podcast, film) that deepens it

We’ll compile the inaugural list and share a curriculum you can actually follow.

A seed list to react to

Here to provoke, not prescribe. What would you add or swap?

The Odyssey by Homer
The Bible
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon
1984 by George Orwell
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Simply reply to this email or leave a comment to let us know your essentials.

Where this goes next

If the response is strong, we may consider a live reading series. Monthly picks, light structure, real discussion. This is your chance to shape it.

Your move. What would make your essentials list and why? Hit reply or leave a comment with three picks.

Quick extras:

For mood, revisit our September Reading Matrix and Off the Grid issue
Building a reading habit? Our current club, Six Weeks to an Open Heart, is in week 2.
There’s 40-odd books on the store right now. New hardcovers for £4? Don’t let these pass you by 😉

Browse the shop

Decision fatigue is real. Need some help choosing? Join or gift our book subscriptions today. You can also become a founding member.

What our readers say

I devoured the first book in under a week and cannot wait for the next to arrive!

So great being introduced to new recommendations that I would not have otherwise found

The subscription has been fantastic. It’s helped me rediscover the joy in reading, as I’m picky and tend not to like bestseller lists. I would really recommend to anyone!