By the time he died at the age of 92 in July 2025, Dan Pelzer had read at least 3,599 books throughout his lifetime. That number may seem precise to the point of being hyperbolic—and yet it’s entirely accurate. In 1962, long before the advent of Goodreads, Pelzer began keeping track of his reading on his language class worksheets while stationed in Nepal with the Peace Corps. For over six decades, he diligently catalogued each and every book he consumed until 2023, when his eyesight began deteriorating. Now, anyone can explore Pelzer’s extensive reading list online, thanks to his daughter, Marci Pelzer, and her godson.
At first, Marci hoped to distribute her father’s list during his funeral in Columbus, Ohio, but, clocking in at more than 100 pages, she quickly realized that wouldn’t be feasible. She and her godson ultimately created a website, what-dan-read.com, for guests, which was accessible via a QR code found on the back of the funeral program.
“I just thought it’d be so cool to give people who cared, who he cared about—to send them away from the funeral with the list,” Marci told The New York Times.
But Pelzer’s list wouldn’t gain true traction until the Columbus Metropolitan Library shared it via their Facebook page on July 21. In the post, Marci highlighted the local library’s significance throughout Pelzer’s life, who was a regular at the Livingston and later Whitehall branches until he could no longer read.
“All of his books were Columbus Metropolitan Library books,” Marci explained. “Nobody loved the library more than Dan. When we were little, he took us to the downtown library every Saturday morning and enrolled us in every summer reading program.”
Pelzer’s reading list is remarkably eclectic, spanning everything from classics and bildungsromans to courtroom dramas and memoirs. Throughout the 1980s, he delved into the mental health of adolescents and teenagers, reading books like Juvenile Delinquency by Ralph A. Weisheit and Theoretical Criminology by George B. Vold. According to Marci, these titles most likely served as resources while Pelzer worked as a social worker at a juvenile correctional facility in Ohio.
“We know he was sometimes reading at work,” Marci said in an interview for CBC Radio’s As It Happens. “But he also read on the bus and everywhere he went. He always had a book open, a book in his hand. And it stimulated great conversations with all kinds of people.”
His reading list extends beyond nonfiction, including such literary sensations as George Orwell’s Animal Farm, William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying, and Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Contemporary memoirs like Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022) and Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House (2019) were interspersed between titles with a political scope, like Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein and Naming Neoliberalism by Rodney Clapp. Some years, he would read nearly 100 books.
Another enduring theme throughout Pelzer’s list is religion. He was a devout Catholic and, though not included in his list, had read the Bible about a dozen times, according to his son, John Pelzer.
“He would always be reading in our basement, typically the Bible, and he would be drinking a 40-ounce malt liquor—typically, Olde English,” John recalls.
Even the books Pelzer hated would end up being read and on his list. In fact, he revealed that James Joyce’s modernist novel Ulysses was “pure torture” in a 2006 interview with the Columbus Dispatch—still, he managed to finish it. “Even the books that were dogs,” the article reads, “he would slog through to the final page.”
Pelzer’s final book on his list was, like Ulysses, a classic, but perhaps more bearable: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. His penultimate book, on the other hand, was more recent: Gabrielle Zevin’s 2022 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which focuses on a pair of video game designers.
To discover Dan Pelzer’s reading list for yourself, visit what-dan-read.com.
Throughout his lifetime, Dan Pelzer read at least 3,599 books. From 1962 to 2023, Pelzer meticulously tracked each and every book he read.
Pelzer’s taste was eclectic, spanning everything from classics and bildungsromans to courtroom dramas and memoirs.
“Ulysses” by James Joyce, included on Pelzer’s reading list.
“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin, included on Pelzer’s reading list.
“I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy, included on Pelzer’s reading list.
“Why We’re Polarized” by Ezra Klein, included on Pelzer’s reading list.
Pelzer’s reading list is currently available to explore online via what-dan-read.com.
What Dan Read: Website
Sources: This Man Kept a Meticulous List of All 3,599 Books He’d Read Since 1962. When He Died, His Family Published It Online; ‘What Dan Read’: Columbus man goes viral after his death with extensive library list; He Read (at Least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now Anyone Can See His List.
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