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!
301

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 99,299 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
302

by
4.17 avg rating — 56,634 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
303

by
3.93 avg rating — 123,220 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
304

by
3.82 avg rating — 348,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
305

by
3.60 avg rating — 96,699 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
306

by
4.03 avg rating — 130,987 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
307

by
4.01 avg rating — 116,235 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
308

by
4.05 avg rating — 594,635 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
309

by
4.27 avg rating — 69,421 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
310

by
4.45 avg rating — 164,148 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
311

by
3.55 avg rating — 81,648 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
312

by
4.06 avg rating — 151,635 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
313

by
3.82 avg rating — 31,744 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
314

by
4.23 avg rating — 12,798 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
315

by
3.83 avg rating — 58,522 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
315

by
4.08 avg rating — 681,372 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
317

by
4.26 avg rating — 217,947 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
318

by
3.78 avg rating — 403,457 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
319

by
4.39 avg rating — 40,563 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
320

by
3.85 avg rating — 65,848 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
321

by
4.13 avg rating — 50,391 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
322

by
4.31 avg rating — 65,883 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
323

by
3.94 avg rating — 66,027 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
324

by
3.85 avg rating — 249,331 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
325

by
3.85 avg rating — 70,590 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
326

by
4.01 avg rating — 139,846 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
327

by
4.04 avg rating — 510,292 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
328

by
3.99 avg rating — 314,384 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
329

by
4.22 avg rating — 73,264 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
330

by
3.99 avg rating — 5,756 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
331

by
3.38 avg rating — 175,239 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
332

by
3.83 avg rating — 344,870 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
333

by
4.17 avg rating — 193,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
334

by
3.79 avg rating — 52,271 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
335

by
3.44 avg rating — 17,044 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
336

by
4.14 avg rating — 212,521 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
337

by
3.88 avg rating — 109,932 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
338

by
4.14 avg rating — 391,024 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
338

by
3.85 avg rating — 28,450 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
340

by
3.56 avg rating — 265,756 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
341

by
3.49 avg rating — 5,423 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
342

by
4.18 avg rating — 332,996 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
343

by
3.30 avg rating — 109,312 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
344

by
3.44 avg rating — 7,894 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
345

by
4.32 avg rating — 391,909 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
346

by
4.25 avg rating — 56,728 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
347

by
4.06 avg rating — 374,146 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
348

by
3.83 avg rating — 8,072 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
349

by
4.03 avg rating — 159,004 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
350

by
4.15 avg rating — 211,288 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
350

by
3.65 avg rating — 80,684 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
352

by
4.11 avg rating — 120,535 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
353

by
4.12 avg rating — 299,406 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
354

by
3.06 avg rating — 14,630 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
355

by
4.20 avg rating — 627,418 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
356

by
3.59 avg rating — 255,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
357

by
3.85 avg rating — 35,439 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
358

by
3.61 avg rating — 6,469 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
359

by
3.47 avg rating — 20,411 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
360

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,016,132 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
361

by
3.45 avg rating — 42,531 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
362

by
3.69 avg rating — 92,683 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
362

by
3.64 avg rating — 162,407 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
362

by
4.49 avg rating — 247 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
365

by
3.90 avg rating — 131,612 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
366

by
4.08 avg rating — 13,661 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
367

by
3.88 avg rating — 40,155 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
368

by
3.72 avg rating — 51,092 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
369

by
3.40 avg rating — 19,839 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
370

by
3.75 avg rating — 34,166 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
370

by
3.94 avg rating — 9,427 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
372

by
4.13 avg rating — 118,230 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
373

by
3.72 avg rating — 184,425 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
374

by
4.03 avg rating — 329,487 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
375

by
4.35 avg rating — 818,227 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
376

by
4.35 avg rating — 629,563 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
377

by
4.09 avg rating — 31,100 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
378

by
4.11 avg rating — 237,222 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
379

by
4.18 avg rating — 4,955 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
380

by
4.16 avg rating — 982,205 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
381

by
4.01 avg rating — 41,490 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
382

by
4.60 avg rating — 42 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
383

by
4.12 avg rating — 129 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
384

by
4.61 avg rating — 28 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
385

by
4.73 avg rating — 109 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
385

by
4.69 avg rating — 118 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
387

by
3.66 avg rating — 18,425 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
388

by
4.27 avg rating — 139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
389

by
3.92 avg rating — 18,737 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
390

by
3.93 avg rating — 2,495,529 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
391

by
3.74 avg rating — 72,415 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
392

by
4.09 avg rating — 501,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
393

by
4.19 avg rating — 613,239 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
394

by
4.62 avg rating — 4,050,733 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
394

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,174 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
396

by
4.48 avg rating — 57,630 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
397

by
3.84 avg rating — 26,593 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
398

by
3.98 avg rating — 43,067 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
398

by
3.54 avg rating — 7,149 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
400

by
4.20 avg rating — 42,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
1,853 books · 4,621 voters · list created July 29th, 2008 by Jenny (votes) .
1741 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jenny 1707 books
75 friends
Kathryn 576 books
128 friends
Brooke 130 books
20 friends
Antoine 949 books
177 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3385 books
853 friends
Erin 563 books
65 friends
Mary 1153 books
28 friends
Jill 1716 books
98 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 73 (73 new)


message 1: by Silvana (new)

Silvana there are two "to kill a mockingbird". how to delete one?


message 2: by Taylor (new)

Taylor Existing the Moments/Taylor DiVico


message 3: by Bettie (new)

Bettie Silvana wrote: "there are two "to kill a mockingbird". how to delete one?"

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


message 4: by Jordan (new)

Jordan You've a bit of Russian lit on here. If you enjoy it, and you've not read these already, you might try:

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.


message 5: by Conrad (new)

Conrad I give it a week before the Bible or Book of Mormon supplants Camus as number one.


message 6: by Julie (new)

Julie This is a great list! Eventually I'll work my way through it...lol


message 7: by Emily (new)

Emily It's nice to know someone else is enjoying these books besides me! If only I could find someone in High School who enjoys them this much! Love your list and will hopefully be able to make it through all 456 books!!!


message 8: by [deleted user] (new)

Emily, I love these books. Some strange ones slipped in this list but I really like them on the whole.


message 9: by [deleted user] (new)

Some of these are not classics yet.


message 10: by Anne (new)

Anne L 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 some really great books that have been much neglected by readers. These two stories are similar but not alike.


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

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.


message 12: by Candycloud (new)

Candycloud Harry Potter isn't a classic!


message 13: by Candycloud (last edited Nov 05, 2011 03:22AM) (new)

Candycloud And diary of a wimpy kid dog days! What on earth?


message 14: by Candycloud (new)

Candycloud Charlotte's web should be on that list. Its a true classic.


message 15: by Tara (new)

Tara There are several repeats, I noticed The Bible, "To Kill a Mockingbird," "I capture the Castle," and "Metamorphosis."
They are the different formats of the same book on here twice.... Can it be fixed?


message 16: by Candycloud (new)

Candycloud Librarians' can change it, I think.


message 17: by Danielle (new)

Danielle I removed diary of a wimpy kid from the list, but I am not sure if I should remove Harry Potter or not since I don't know how old a book can be before it is deemed a "classic."


message 18: by Danielle (new)

Danielle I tried to do a check for duplicates but some of the books are wierd. For example, there is a 7 in one book for the Chronicles of Narnia, but there is also the first two in separate places on the list. Unfortunately, those can't be combined and if I delete one than votes will be lost, also being on the delete book page scares me, because if I delete something I shouldn't than my librarian privileges could be revoked. I value my librarian status too much to risk that.


message 19: by Candycloud (new)

Candycloud Hmm... hard.


message 20: by Lobsang (new)

Lobsang Yeshi Great books!


message 21: by Victoria (new)

Victoria Danielle wrote: "I removed diary of a wimpy kid from the list, but I am not sure if I should remove Harry Potter or not since I don't know how old a book can be before it is deemed a "classic.""

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.


message 22: by Dorothy (new)

Dorothy Michiels Can anyone recommend a publisher of hard cover classics? Or a book club where I can purchase them? I'd like to begin a library to pass on to my family's future generations. Thank you.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads There's the Library of America. http://www.loa.org/


message 24: by [deleted user] (new)

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


message 25: by Greg (new)

Greg Kensington I discuss many classics, authors and writing. An open discussion for all.
www.descriptivephrases.com


message 26: by Minnie (new)

Minnie chung 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 ..."

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


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads It's pretty easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 28: by Misfit (new)

Misfit Susanna wrote: "It's pretty easy to add books to lists; at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes.""

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


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Because those same 12 people have spammed it on 27 pages of Listopias! (Was 28, but I removed it from a few, like "Time's Top 10 Novels of 2012," which it wasn't.)


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Removed, because a book published in 2012 is not a classic in the terms of this list:

Isn't It Pretty To Think So?


message 31: by Moses (new)

Moses Abubakar some books are not classics and so should be removed


Theresa~OctoberLace Thanks for this list!


message 33: by Bekka (new)

Bekka Dorothy wrote: "Can anyone recommend a publisher of hard cover classics? Or a book club where I can purchase them? I'd like to begin a library to pass on to my family's future generations. Thank you."

Great idea - building a library to pass on to future generations. Thanks for the idea!


message 34: by [deleted user] (new)

The Godfather is a classic? I liked it but a classic?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads The movie is a classic. Haven't read the book.


message 36: by [deleted user] (new)

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


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads There are several for movies, don't know if there's a list for that or not, though. (There's at least one of all of these, though: book and movie both good, book better than movie, movie better than book.)


message 38: by Kate (new)

Kate My definition of "classic" is about as liberal as you're going to find. In going through this list, I found and removed some titles published within the last ten-fifteen years:

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.


message 39: by Romi (last edited Jun 08, 2014 06:33AM) (new)

Romi Elnagar Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia-Marques is the greatest novel of the twentieth century IMHO.
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


message 40: by Bruce (new)

Bruce Chelberg i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to draw on to get where they got with the knowledge they saw before them


message 41: by GA (new)

GA I am very surprised to see The Scarlet Pimpernel on the list.

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


message 42: by Carmen (new)

Carmen Sepulveda One of the best non-fiction short stories I ever read was Jack London's People of the Abyss. It is a harrowing sociological study of the East End of London around the time of Jack the Ripper. This is a great classic and one that most people should read if for no other reason than to put that time frame in context. You will be thanking God that you live in this time as opposed to that time after reading this book. It is available to download on gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1688


message 43: by Greg (new)

Greg Bruce wrote: "i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to draw on to get w..."
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!


message 44: by Shacoria (new)

Shacoria This list is way too long. A lot of these aren't classics, especially the books on the latter pages.


message 45: by Greg (new)

Greg Greg wrote: "Bruce wrote: "i have just retired an want a place to start reading,i have read a lot but want to read classics at this point, why? because i want to see what the great thinkers and writes had to dr..."
Bruce, I read Jane Eyre. Worst book I've ever read. IF you dare read it, don't say I didn't warn you.


message 46: by Sue (new)

Sue what definition is being used for "classic" ? i'd say some are too recent to be included.


message 47: by Karis (new)

Karis I checked for duplicates and removed 17.


message 48: by Victoria (new)

Victoria Knight Why is there no Hunter S Thompson?


message 49: by Victoria (new)

Victoria Knight I went and typed this out on a spreadsheet & removed duplicates.
The Harry Potter series is in there at least three times, still.
From the 1046 I have 956 non-duplicated books.


message 50: by Tyler (new)

Tyler Cameron I love the classics for sure, but I just don't get the fascination with Gatsby or Catcher in the Rye... just because it's old doesn't make it a classic.


« previous 1
back to top



Related News

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly...

Anyone can add books to this list.