It's basically a way to add an extremely thin layer of misdirection over what's fundamentally Amazon reminding you that you want to buy books on their site. (i.e. advertising). They're trying to catch as many different people in a carefully crafted "Hmmm, I always meant to read that, maybe I should buy it now to remind me" moment.
How is this is relevant to HN? It's probably not...
It's probably deliberately opaque, but my interpretation of "a bucket list of books to create a well-read life" is that they are all a.) good books and b.) books which will help the reader relate to other readers.
It's probably a bit too pithy to say that reading them all will give you something to talk about at cocktail parties, but I think that's kinda where they're going with it. Any list that has both David Sedaris and Charles Dickens on it is not meant to be taken literally as THE LIST.
I've only read 33* of them, so I've still got a ways to go.
