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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.
201 |
Shakespeare's Sonnets
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4.25 avg rating — 111,033 ratings
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202 |
To the Lighthouse
by
3.81 avg rating — 209,249 ratings
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203 |
The Tale of Peter Rabbit (World of Beatrix Potter, #1)
by
4.22 avg rating — 256,071 ratings
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204 |
The Tempest
by
3.78 avg rating — 223,557 ratings
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205 |
Peter Pan
by
4.03 avg rating — 369,925 ratings
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206 |
Faust, First Part
by
3.83 avg rating — 84,575 ratings
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207 |
Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1)
by
4.31 avg rating — 1,455,961 ratings
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208 |
The House of Mirth
by
3.97 avg rating — 104,155 ratings
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209 |
The Phantom Tollbooth
by
4.20 avg rating — 303,125 ratings
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210 |
The Things They Carried
by
4.14 avg rating — 339,249 ratings
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211 |
Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan, #1)
by
3.90 avg rating — 47,392 ratings
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212 |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1)
by
4.17 avg rating — 916,855 ratings
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213 |
Where the Red Fern Grows
by
4.12 avg rating — 435,047 ratings
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214 |
Dubliners
by
3.84 avg rating — 171,515 ratings
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215 |
Blindness
by
4.18 avg rating — 328,385 ratings
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216 |
Angle of Repose
by
4.24 avg rating — 61,499 ratings
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217 |
White Fang
by
4.05 avg rating — 281,765 ratings
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218 |
The Screwtape Letters
by
4.27 avg rating — 504,295 ratings
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219 |
Native Son
by
4.04 avg rating — 103,665 ratings
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220 |
Cat’s Cradle
by
4.15 avg rating — 430,613 ratings
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221 |
The Stand
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 819,298 ratings
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222 |
On the Road
by
3.61 avg rating — 441,273 ratings
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223 |
The Maltese Falcon
by
3.87 avg rating — 113,769 ratings
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224 |
The Prince and the Pauper
by
3.87 avg rating — 124,396 ratings
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225 |
Worm Holes (Quantum Roots, #2)
by
Kyle Keyes (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 2,105 ratings
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226 |
The Merchant of Venice
by
3.78 avg rating — 200,070 ratings
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227 |
Richard III
by
3.91 avg rating — 57,522 ratings
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228 |
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by
3.97 avg rating — 62,025 ratings
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229 |
The Scopas Factor
by
Vincent Panettiere (Goodreads Author)
4.34 avg rating — 543 ratings
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230 |
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
by
4.28 avg rating — 105,961 ratings
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231 |
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
by
4.03 avg rating — 127,441 ratings
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232 |
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by
4.11 avg rating — 529,915 ratings
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233 |
The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
by
3.94 avg rating — 166,200 ratings
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234 |
The Blue Castle
by
4.31 avg rating — 53,474 ratings
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235 |
Ethan Frome
by
3.45 avg rating — 135,601 ratings
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236 |
Crossing to Safety
by
4.16 avg rating — 49,968 ratings
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237 |
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by
4.37 avg rating — 286,739 ratings
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238 |
The Little Mermaid
by
3.98 avg rating — 29,879 ratings
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239 |
Little Dorrit
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 49,483 ratings
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240 |
The Sorrows of Young Werther
by
3.69 avg rating — 150,561 ratings
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241 |
The Remains of the Day
by
Kazuo Ishiguro (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 348,075 ratings
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242 |
The Complete Fairy Tales
by
4.29 avg rating — 108,279 ratings
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243 |
Anthem
by
3.61 avg rating — 164,898 ratings
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244 |
Hunger
by
4.04 avg rating — 63,088 ratings
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244 |
The Shadow Girl
by
Misty Mount (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 2,403 ratings
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246 |
The Wind in the Willows
by
4.02 avg rating — 236,601 ratings
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247 |
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by
3.88 avg rating — 346,845 ratings
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248 |
How Green Was My Valley
by
4.21 avg rating — 18,558 ratings
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249 |
The Candidate and other stories
by
4.43 avg rating — 187 ratings
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250 |
Notes from Underground
by
4.17 avg rating — 214,076 ratings
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251 |
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
by
3.99 avg rating — 117,512 ratings
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252 |
The Red and the Black
by
3.86 avg rating — 81,757 ratings
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253 |
My Name Is Asher Lev
by
4.24 avg rating — 43,055 ratings
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254 |
The Shining (The Shining, #1)
by
Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 1,661,747 ratings
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255 |
I Capture the Castle
by
3.99 avg rating — 113,719 ratings
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256 |
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
by
4.09 avg rating — 51,199 ratings
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257 |
Villette
by
3.78 avg rating — 78,984 ratings
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258 |
Doctor Zhivago
by
4.01 avg rating — 101,609 ratings
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259 |
Waiting for Godot
by
3.84 avg rating — 218,354 ratings
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259 |
A Scanner Darkly
by
4.03 avg rating — 108,727 ratings
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261 |
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
by
3.97 avg rating — 480,293 ratings
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262 |
Brideshead Revisited
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 124,496 ratings
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263 |
The Portrait of a Lady
by
3.80 avg rating — 84,339 ratings
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264 |
An American Tragedy
by
3.97 avg rating — 38,402 ratings
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265 |
The Pit and the Pendulum
by
4.14 avg rating — 71,548 ratings
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266 |
Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price
by
4.36 avg rating — 28,293 ratings
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267 |
Tender Is the Night
by
3.77 avg rating — 147,513 ratings
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268 |
The Goldfinch
by
3.96 avg rating — 1,018,313 ratings
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269 |
Foundation (Foundation, #1)
by
4.17 avg rating — 584,774 ratings
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270 |
The Prophet
by
4.23 avg rating — 323,059 ratings
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271 |
The Complete Stories and Poems
by
4.40 avg rating — 292,575 ratings
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272 |
Haunted
by
Chuck Palahniuk (Goodreads Author)
3.59 avg rating — 110,085 ratings
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273 |
The Sun Also Rises
by
3.79 avg rating — 485,146 ratings
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274 |
A Room of One’s Own
by
4.22 avg rating — 250,036 ratings
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275 |
The Princess Bride
by
4.27 avg rating — 939,632 ratings
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276 |
Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
by
3.46 avg rating — 97,324 ratings
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277 |
Cranford
by
3.83 avg rating — 47,139 ratings
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278 |
A Lesson Before Dying
by
3.98 avg rating — 63,318 ratings
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279 |
Metamorphoses
by
4.10 avg rating — 76,859 ratings
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280 |
The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes, #2)
by
3.89 avg rating — 173,782 ratings
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281 |
Cyrano de Bergerac
by
4.06 avg rating — 89,768 ratings
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282 |
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
by
Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 1,165,858 ratings
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283 |
I, the Sun
by
Janet E. Morris (Goodreads Author)
4.20 avg rating — 456 ratings
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284 |
Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1)
by
4.41 avg rating — 208,267 ratings
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285 |
Invisible Cities
by
4.10 avg rating — 94,566 ratings
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286 |
Stones (One True Child #5)
by
L.C. Conn (Goodreads Author)
4.45 avg rating — 135 ratings
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287 |
Harold and the Purple Crayon (Harold, #1)
by
4.28 avg rating — 146,588 ratings
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288 |
A Prayer for Owen Meany
by
John Irving (Goodreads Author)
4.24 avg rating — 333,577 ratings
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289 |
The Tell-Tale Heart
by
4.24 avg rating — 118,571 ratings
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290 |
Blood and Guts in High School
by
3.46 avg rating — 6,927 ratings
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291 |
The Gift of the Magi
by
4.11 avg rating — 99,922 ratings
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292 |
Brainwalker
by
Robyn Mundell (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 9,973 ratings
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293 |
Franny and Zooey
by
3.96 avg rating — 236,513 ratings
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294 |
Les Fleurs du Mal
by
4.20 avg rating — 78,440 ratings
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295 |
Of Human Bondage
by
4.15 avg rating — 60,688 ratings
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296 |
Sister Carrie
by
3.77 avg rating — 41,473 ratings
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297 |
Just So Stories
by
4.05 avg rating — 49,280 ratings
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298 |
Novel with Cocaine
by
3.84 avg rating — 3,547 ratings
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299 |
Heidi (Heidi, #1-2)
by
4.04 avg rating — 209,458 ratings
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300 |
Song of Solomon
by
4.15 avg rating — 124,826 ratings
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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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Kathryn
575 books
128 friends
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Brooke
127 books
20 friends
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Antoine
949 books
177 friends
177 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Erin
563 books
65 friends
65 friends
Mary
1150 books
28 friends
28 friends
Jill
1716 books
98 friends
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More voters…
Comments Showing 1-50 of 73 (73 new)
message 1:
by
Silvana
(new)
Sep 04, 2008 07:03PM

reply
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flag

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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