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Must Read Classics
My favorite books are the classics. I'm always searching for "new" classics to read, ones I've not heard of or have overlooked. Let me know which ones you love!
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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.
1797 |
Bartleby the Scrivener
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3.93 avg rating — 72,892 ratings
score: 16,
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1 person voted
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1802 |
God is Speaking are you Listening?
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 15,
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1 person voted
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1802 |
The Wolves of Paris
by
4.07 avg rating — 157 ratings
score: 15,
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1 person voted
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1802 |
The Boarded Window
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3.34 avg rating — 494 ratings
score: 15,
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1 person voted
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1805 |
Taiko
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4.28 avg rating — 5,060 ratings
score: 14,
and
1 person voted
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1805 |
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
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4.17 avg rating — 57,097 ratings
score: 14,
and
1 person voted
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1805 |
Open Boat
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3.65 avg rating — 4,900 ratings
score: 14,
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1 person voted
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1808 |
The White Castle
by
3.48 avg rating — 16,512 ratings
score: 13,
and
1 person voted
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1808 |
Louise de La Vallière (Trilogie des Mousquetaires #3.2)
by
3.90 avg rating — 4,559 ratings
score: 13,
and
1 person voted
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1808 |
The Song of Bernadette
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4.22 avg rating — 1,273 ratings
score: 13,
and
1 person voted
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1808 |
A Village Singer
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3.42 avg rating — 19 ratings
score: 13,
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1 person voted
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1812 |
Emil i Lönneberga
by
4.30 avg rating — 9,165 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1812 |
21 Days To Improve Your Sleep Hygiene & Lose Weight: Is Sleep a Necessity or a Luxury?
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1812 |
El lazarillo de Tormes y El buscón
by
3.62 avg rating — 1,193 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1812 |
The Queen of Spades
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3.92 avg rating — 15,658 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1812 |
The Widow of Ratchets
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4.18 avg rating — 55 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1812 |
Belles Demoiselles Plantation
by
3.25 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 12,
and
1 person voted
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1818 |
Gracias y desgracias del ojo del culo
by
3.76 avg rating — 506 ratings
score: 11,
and
1 person voted
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1818 |
The Girl in a Swing
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3.53 avg rating — 2,118 ratings
score: 11,
and
1 person voted
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1820 |
Ragged Dick and Struggling Upward
by
3.38 avg rating — 275 ratings
score: 10,
and
1 person voted
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1820 |
Desperadoes
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3.88 avg rating — 563 ratings
score: 10,
and
1 person voted
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1820 |
The Oracle's Journal (Of Gods and Guardians, #1)
by
Dimitri Liountris (Goodreads Author)
4.57 avg rating — 42 ratings
score: 10,
and
1 person voted
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1820 |
Traveller
by
3.91 avg rating — 1,256 ratings
score: 10,
and
1 person voted
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1824 |
Kargaroth: A Tale of the Great Onion Knighthood
by
Mark B. Frost (Goodreads Author)
4.54 avg rating — 54 ratings
score: 9,
and
1 person voted
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1824 |
Beautiful Joe
by
4.19 avg rating — 2,470 ratings
score: 9,
and
1 person voted
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1826 |
Gold Coast
by
4.12 avg rating — 31,705 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
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1826 |
Misfit Toymakers: Misfits Made
by
Keith T. Jenkins (Goodreads Author)
4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
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1826 |
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
by
4.01 avg rating — 22,099 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
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1826 |
Pompeii
by
Robert Harris (Goodreads Author)
3.88 avg rating — 52,156 ratings
score: 8,
and
1 person voted
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1830 |
Planet of Adventure (Planet of Adventure, #1-4)
by
4.25 avg rating — 2,199 ratings
score: 7,
and
1 person voted
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1830 |
Rise at Twilight (Rituals of the Night #4)
by
Kayla Krantz (Goodreads Author)
4.52 avg rating — 23 ratings
score: 7,
and
1 person voted
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1830 |
Blood Red, Sister Rose
by
3.47 avg rating — 124 ratings
score: 7,
and
1 person voted
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1833 |
The Demon Princes
by
4.30 avg rating — 771 ratings
score: 6,
and
1 person voted
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1833 |
How To Get A Job Easily - Insider Secrets: And Get 3 - 6 Job Interviews In A Month Or Less
by
4.43 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 6,
and
1 person voted
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1833 |
The Courage of Sarah Noble
by
3.92 avg rating — 7,924 ratings
score: 6,
and
1 person voted
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1833 |
Snow Falling on Cedars
by
3.86 avg rating — 192,939 ratings
score: 6,
and
1 person voted
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1837 |
The Man Who Planted Trees
by
4.19 avg rating — 19,040 ratings
score: 5,
and
1 person voted
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1837 |
Catching A Miracle
by
3.60 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 5,
and
1 person voted
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1837 |
Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)
by
Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)
4.23 avg rating — 266,887 ratings
score: 5,
and
1 person voted
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1837 |
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
by
4.14 avg rating — 81,162 ratings
score: 5,
and
2 people voted
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1841 |
The Naiyro and the Beckoning Eroded Stone
by
Nada Almarri (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 4,
and
1 person voted
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1841 |
Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres
by
3.94 avg rating — 445 ratings
score: 4,
and
1 person voted
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1843 |
The Front Runner (Harlan's Story, #1)
by
4.12 avg rating — 6,110 ratings
score: 3,
and
1 person voted
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1843 |
A. Lincoln: A Biography
by
4.30 avg rating — 20,205 ratings
score: 3,
and
1 person voted
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1843 |
Wandering Star
by
3.65 avg rating — 1,052 ratings
score: 3,
and
1 person voted
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1843 |
The Book about IT Leadership that is not really about IT: Managing the SMEs
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 3,
and
1 person voted
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1847 |
Rites of Passage (To the Ends of the Earth, #1)
by
3.58 avg rating — 4,396 ratings
score: 2,
and
1 person voted
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1847 |
A Tale of the Eternal Stones: Firestone
by
Ryan Carriere (Goodreads Author)
4.77 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 2,
and
1 person voted
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1847 |
Nop's Trials
by
4.10 avg rating — 803 ratings
score: 2,
and
1 person voted
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1850 |
The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)
by
4.19 avg rating — 45,852 ratings
score: 1,
and
1 person voted
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1850 |
The Night of the Hunter
by
4.18 avg rating — 2,871 ratings
score: 1,
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1 person voted
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Tags:
classic, literary-fiction
1729 likes · Like
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.
Jenny
1694 books
75 friends
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575 books
128 friends
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127 books
20 friends
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949 books
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3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Erin
563 books
65 friends
65 friends
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1150 books
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1716 books
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 73 (73 new)
message 1:
by
Silvana
(new)
Sep 04, 2008 07:03PM

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there are three wuthering heights - i voted for 'em all

Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"
Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls"
The team of Pevear and Volokhonsky is my current favorite for Russian to English translation whenever I can find them. They do very well capturing the "flavor" and sensibilities of the original Russian.

Emily, I love these books. Some strange ones slipped in this list but I really like them on the whole.
Some of these are not classics yet.

Anne wrote: "Great list! I'm a lover of classics myself, and if you haven't read them already, I highly recommend "La dame aux camelias" by Alexandre Dumas fils and "Manon Lescaut" by L'Abbe Prevost. They are ..."
Anne, I just downloaded Manon Lescaut from Project Gutenberg. I could not find Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias. Thank you for the suggestions. I will find it somewhere else.
Anne, I just downloaded Manon Lescaut from Project Gutenberg. I could not find Dumas' La Dame aux Camelias. Thank you for the suggestions. I will find it somewhere else.

They are the different formats of the same book on here twice.... Can it be fixed?



I know that it has been a while but I agree with your decision to keep Harry Potter. It may not be a classic now, exactly, but I believe that one day it will be.

Classics are just phenomenal! They are basis of books today and a reason why I keep reading!

It is impossible I have finally got somenone who loves La dame aux camelias, this story is one of the best love stories EVER>

How does #181 Isn't It Pretty To Think So? qualify for this list?


Isn't It Pretty To Think So?

Great idea - building a library to pass on to future generations. Thanks for the idea!
The Godfather is a classic? I liked it but a classic?
I read the book and the part about the horse was much too graphic. I would not call it a classic yet but I am not sure how that is determined.
Is there a list for classic movies? (will search)
thanks
Is there a list for classic movies? (will search)
thanks


The Fault In Our Stars
The Book Thief
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Dear John
Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope (this is a YA modernization of the classic Austen novel)
Code Name Verity
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... And It's All Small Stuff
Looking For Alaska
I Know This Much Is True
Angela's Ashes
Many of these books are good, but it's too soon to say whether they'll become classics for future readers.

Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis is a great cycle of poetry.
The Illustrated Man by the late Ray Bradbury is excellent as are ANY OF HIS WRITINGS!
Other good reads:
The Devil's Storybook by Natalie Babbitt
Hawaii by James Mitchener
Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned by John A. Farrell
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul


Although Baroness Orczy should be credited for creating the disguised-hero-alter-ego oeuvre, I don't think that she had any talent!


Hi Bruce, I retired from "corporate America" recently but am doing lots of different things now. I too am catching up on my reading. I think this list is a pretty good place to start. I've read seven of the top ten and Jane Eyre is next!


Bruce, I read Jane Eyre. Worst book I've ever read. IF you dare read it, don't say I didn't warn you.

The Harry Potter series is in there at least three times, still.
From the 1046 I have 956 non-duplicated books.
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