Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
I am on a mission to read and reread classic literature. I searched far and wide for a decent book list but all seem incomplete to me. Please add your favorite classic books to the list.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 401 |
The Bad Seed
by
4.01 avg rating — 19,806 ratings
score: 81,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 402 |
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Petites Classiques)
by
3.71 avg rating — 13,129 ratings
score: 80,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 402 |
The Bell
by
3.92 avg rating — 10,255 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 402 |
The Uninvited
by
3.96 avg rating — 1,671 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 405 |
The Call of the Wild and White Fang
by
4.06 avg rating — 282,735 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 405 |
Hangsaman
by
3.76 avg rating — 11,440 ratings
score: 79,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 407 |
Much Obliged, Jeeves (Jeeves, #14)
by
4.20 avg rating — 6,448 ratings
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 407 |
The Sundial
by
3.80 avg rating — 7,704 ratings
score: 78,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 409 |
Lentil (Picture Puffin Books)
by
4.13 avg rating — 4,461 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 409 |
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
by
4.07 avg rating — 66,604 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 409 |
The Bird's Nest
by
3.72 avg rating — 7,680 ratings
score: 77,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 412 |
The Bridge Over the River Kwai
by
3.94 avg rating — 10,542 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 412 |
The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
by
3.96 avg rating — 10,044 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 412 |
The Road Through the Wall
by
3.59 avg rating — 3,102 ratings
score: 76,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 415 |
Men of Iron
by
3.99 avg rating — 3,039 ratings
score: 75,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 415 |
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers
by
3.90 avg rating — 25,055 ratings
score: 75,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 417 |
Crictor (Reading Rainbow Books)
by
4.12 avg rating — 2,106 ratings
score: 74,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 417 |
Leonardo's Notebooks
by
3.99 avg rating — 52,810 ratings
score: 74,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 417 |
The Mysteries of Udolpho
by
3.42 avg rating — 16,862 ratings
score: 74,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 420 |
All the King's Men
by
4.09 avg rating — 66,204 ratings
score: 73,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 420 |
Les liaisons dangereuses
by
4.05 avg rating — 58,115 ratings
score: 73,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 420 |
Fathers and Sons
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 99,466 ratings
score: 73,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 420 |
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / Dubliners
by
3.93 avg rating — 7,014 ratings
score: 73,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 420 |
Benighted
by
3.74 avg rating — 731 ratings
score: 73,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 425 |
De stille kracht
by
3.58 avg rating — 3,375 ratings
score: 72,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 425 |
The Tell-Tale Heart
by
4.24 avg rating — 120,244 ratings
score: 72,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 425 |
The Day of the Triffids
by
4.01 avg rating — 116,314 ratings
score: 72,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 428 |
The Gettysburg Address and Other Writings
by
4.28 avg rating — 155 ratings
score: 71,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 428 |
The October Country
by
4.10 avg rating — 21,065 ratings
score: 71,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 430 |
Beauty and the Beast
by
3.97 avg rating — 15,654 ratings
score: 70,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 430 |
Maurice
by
4.08 avg rating — 56,778 ratings
score: 70,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 430 |
A Pair of Blue Eyes
by
3.79 avg rating — 8,980 ratings
score: 70,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 430 |
In a Glass Darkly
by
3.84 avg rating — 5,890 ratings
score: 70,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 434 |
The Idiot
by
4.21 avg rating — 212,239 ratings
score: 69,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 434 |
The Shrinking Man
by
3.77 avg rating — 9,132 ratings
score: 69,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 436 |
Breakfast at Tiffany's
by
3.85 avg rating — 249,483 ratings
score: 68,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 436 |
Meditations
by
4.28 avg rating — 332,595 ratings
score: 68,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 436 |
The Werewolf of Paris
by
3.62 avg rating — 1,412 ratings
score: 68,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 439 |
Eros ontwortelt mijn hart : gedichten en fragmenten
by
4.17 avg rating — 11,188 ratings
score: 67,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 439 |
Netochka Nezvanova
by
3.85 avg rating — 8,104 ratings
score: 67,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 439 |
The Arabian Nights
by
4.03 avg rating — 80,812 ratings
score: 67,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 439 |
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
by
4.09 avg rating — 4,116 ratings
score: 67,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 443 |
De Heptamerone : of de vertellingen van de koningin van Navarre
by
3.58 avg rating — 1,441 ratings
score: 66,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 444 |
Jubilee
by
4.37 avg rating — 6,913 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 444 |
The Glass Bead Game
by
4.10 avg rating — 41,858 ratings
score: 65,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 446 |
The King Without a Kingdom (The Accursed Kings, #7)
by
Maurice Druon (Artist)
3.41 avg rating — 4,902 ratings
score: 64,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 447 |
Where Love Is, There God Is Also
by
4.11 avg rating — 2,023 ratings
score: 62,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 447 |
The Last of the Mohicans (The Leatherstocking Tales, #2)
by
3.70 avg rating — 101,678 ratings
score: 62,
and
4 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 447 |
Zes dagen. Gesprekken over het hoerenbestaan
by
3.59 avg rating — 101 ratings
score: 62,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 447 |
The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)
by
3.89 avg rating — 175,018 ratings
score: 62,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 447 |
Medea
by
3.95 avg rating — 85,769 ratings
score: 62,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 452 |
Oidipous & Antigone
by
3.75 avg rating — 2,826 ratings
score: 61,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 452 |
De dame met de camelia's
by
4.05 avg rating — 60,304 ratings
score: 61,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 454 |
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia
by
3.46 avg rating — 6,783 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 454 |
The Art of War
by
3.95 avg rating — 559,962 ratings
score: 60,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 456 |
Purgatory: Manuscript Materials Including the Author's Final Text
by
3.59 avg rating — 68 ratings
score: 59,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 456 |
The Awakening
by
3.69 avg rating — 224,823 ratings
score: 59,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 456 |
Rubaiyat
by
4.17 avg rating — 22,981 ratings
score: 59,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 456 |
Doctor Zhivago
by
4.01 avg rating — 101,992 ratings
score: 59,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 460 |
De Rozentuin
by
4.50 avg rating — 3,426 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 460 |
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
by
4.51 avg rating — 215,543 ratings
score: 58,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 462 |
Het boek der koningen: de verhalen van Rostam
by
4.52 avg rating — 5,596 ratings
score: 57,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 463 |
Manchild in the Promised Land
by
4.28 avg rating — 9,142 ratings
score: 56,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 463 |
De ring van de duif : De Moorse verhandeling over minnaars en liefde
by
3.93 avg rating — 7,368 ratings
score: 56,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 463 |
Faust: Oerversie
by
3.65 avg rating — 730 ratings
score: 56,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 463 |
Horton Hears a Who!
by
4.22 avg rating — 113,438 ratings
score: 56,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 463 |
Captain Blood
by
4.18 avg rating — 17,525 ratings
score: 56,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 468 |
Death Comes for the Archbishop
by
3.97 avg rating — 42,574 ratings
score: 55,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 468 |
Het boek van Dede Korkoet
by
3.90 avg rating — 1,551 ratings
score: 55,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 468 |
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
by
4.34 avg rating — 542,564 ratings
score: 55,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 468 |
Scaramouche (Scaramouche, #1)
by
4.10 avg rating — 9,150 ratings
score: 55,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 472 |
All-of-a-Kind Family (All-of-a-Kind-Family, #1)
by
4.24 avg rating — 26,936 ratings
score: 54,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 472 |
Where the Sidewalk Ends
by
4.35 avg rating — 1,494,308 ratings
score: 54,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 472 |
The Sea-Hawk
by
4.08 avg rating — 3,756 ratings
score: 54,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 475 |
An Essay on Man
by
3.70 avg rating — 1,838 ratings
score: 53,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 475 |
The Chosen (Reuven Malter, #1)
by
4.07 avg rating — 96,744 ratings
score: 53,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 475 |
Wigs On the Green
by
3.41 avg rating — 1,832 ratings
score: 53,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 478 |
Black Boy
by
4.09 avg rating — 55,639 ratings
score: 52,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 478 |
De Fabels van La Fontaine
by
4.02 avg rating — 15,341 ratings
score: 52,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 478 |
The Borgias
by
3.58 avg rating — 2,249 ratings
score: 52,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 481 |
Gargantua en Pantagruel
by
3.65 avg rating — 16,123 ratings
score: 51,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 481 |
The Bacchae
by
3.94 avg rating — 24,880 ratings
score: 51,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 483 |
Caesar and Cleopatra
by
3.68 avg rating — 2,261 ratings
score: 50,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 483 |
De non: Een schokkende bekentenis
by
3.75 avg rating — 8,691 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 483 |
The Golden Ass
by
3.85 avg rating — 16,951 ratings
score: 50,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 486 |
On Old Age, On Friendship & On Divination
by
4.10 avg rating — 568 ratings
score: 49,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 486 |
The Communist Manifesto
by
3.68 avg rating — 193,227 ratings
score: 49,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 488 |
The Art of Love
by
3.71 avg rating — 7,391 ratings
score: 48,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 489 |
Het lijden van de jonge Werther
by
3.69 avg rating — 151,940 ratings
score: 47,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 489 |
On the Good Life
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,068 ratings
score: 47,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 491 |
Eight Cousins (Eight Cousins, #1)
by
4.01 avg rating — 39,515 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 491 |
L'Avare
by
3.56 avg rating — 36,903 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 491 |
Letters from a Stoic
by
4.33 avg rating — 54,450 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 491 |
The Secret Garden / A Little Princess
by
4.40 avg rating — 3,070 ratings
score: 46,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 495 |
The Consolation of Philosophy
by
4.05 avg rating — 17,532 ratings
score: 45,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 495 |
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
by
4.05 avg rating — 8,824 ratings
score: 45,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 497 |
Justine, of De tegenspoed der deugdzaamheid
by
3.42 avg rating — 16,669 ratings
score: 44,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 497 |
Jamaica Inn
by
3.90 avg rating — 58,597 ratings
score: 44,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 497 |
Henry V
by
3.85 avg rating — 52,714 ratings
score: 44,
and
2 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
|
| 497 |
City of God
by
3.94 avg rating — 13,584 ratings
score: 44,
and
1 person voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
634 books ·
523 voters ·
list created June 21st, 2008
by Crystal.
Tags:
classic, literature
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Tamora
(new)
Apr 04, 2009 11:38AM
I'm just clicking on what I've read, not on what I liked. When you're dealing with books like these, that generally drop into everyone's life before they're 20, what you like and what you don't like is highly individual. I don't think you can really go by the opinion of the next person, because you're all forming your opinions. I liked TARZAN, but had no interest in CHARLOTTE'S WEB. My classmates had spasms over CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, so much so that I never told them that I kinda liked it. They were okay with THE SCARLET LETTER, which made me crazy. You really have to try the books that our parents, teachers, and peers think are probably classic, and decide for yourself if they're good reads as far as you're concerned!
reply
|
flag
I would just like to say that I believe 'Les Miserables' by Victor Hugo is the best book on this list. And nooooo, I'm not basing it on the hit musical (even though I love that as well), because it did get a lot wrong. I'm currently reading A Tale of 2 Cities, nad let me say I've made a lot of connections to Les Miserables. It's just an amzing and epic Book!
I agree with Tamora, There are several books i've been told are must reads by people who don't read much themselves. I have been disappointed in many of them most books are classics because they've been around forever and a day. Much of the language is outdated and stale. occasionally you do stumble upon a book with a plot that holds up but it is a rare find. That being said, I loved Scarlett Letter and The hunchback of Notra Dame but found Pride and Prejudice tedious at best shallow and mindless at worst
i just discovered my interest in reading so i've read only a few. i just finished che's book on social revolution. so far from what i've read dracula is the best they describe the events as if one was there. my second best is lady chaterley's lover
This is a great list! I have this sort of mission too, although I gotta find a good library to hold all of these books. Too bad I don't have it in the area, or money to but some..
@CrystalI've tried adding other books than then ones originally written in English, apart from voting for the ones already on the list I mean, as there are so many great classics worth reading. All of which are available in English translations, by the way. Books I've added are, for instance, Alle fabels, Lustgebed, Avondgezichten, Het hoofdkussenboek, Het boek van Dede Korkoet, Nibelungenlied, De ring van de duif, Het boek der koningen, De rozentuin and Rubaiyat, to name just a few.
By the way, 'Classics' = 'Modern Classics' too? As there are plenty of those on your list.
Related News
Hollywood has been mining the world of books for a long time—since 1899, according to some reckonings. The practice has been ramping up in recent...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.










