22 Best Classic Books According to Our Readers
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Over the years, we’ve had a few requests for us to publish a list of must-read classic books. As the classic literature genre isn’t our specialty, we turned to our most valuable resource – our readers!
How We Picked Books for This List
We invited our email subscribers to share up to three classic book recommendations each, along with notes about why each book is one of their favorites. When the submission form closed, we were thrilled to compile votes from 200 different readers! It was so fun to see which books came up repeatedly.
Every book with at least five submissions is listed below, along with a short synopsis. We also included a selection of quotes in our reader’s own words. We couldn’t include all the books or all the comments about each book, but we read and value each one!
As we reviewed the results, reading the quotes was a beautiful reminder of the power of books. Whether they were impacted by their first reading, or sharing how impressions changed during a re-read, there was a definite theme of learning to be more accepting of, or empathic towards, others. We even found ourselves adding some books to our personal TBR lists that we previously had no interest in reading.
Must-Read Classic Novels
Keep in mind that the language and themes in these classic novels reflect the time period in which they were written. We also have a list of contemporary retellings of classics.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
You probably read this classic back in high school (or at least you were supposed to), but we recommend you give this famous book another read. Chances are you’ll get even more out of it this time around!
If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s set in Alabama in 1933 and told from the perspective of a 6-year-old girl called Scout. Her widowed father, Atticus Finch, is a crusading local lawyer who risks everything to defend a black man accused of a terrible crime.
In Our Readers’ Words
This is the first “adult” book that I ever read. My mother gave it to me when I was 11. I read it again in school when I was a sophomore or junior, and then again in college for my English degree. I have taught it a number of times. Every time I read it, something new comes out. I think the characters and thematic elements are amazing, and it should be a must-read. -Kathleen W.
It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story about doing the right thing when it’s not popular. -Mitzi K.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this book. The characters are everyday, common people struggling with issues relevant to our own times….racism, bullying, single parenting, and scandal. I especially love Scout, the 6-year-old narrator of this story. Her wisdom and insight is amazing and beyond her years. This story has so many layers…..one reading of it just won’t begin to absorb them all! -Kim I.
It is a beautiful story, with beautiful characters–but it is also a very ugly story, with ugly characters. It shows us the absolute best and worst of our nation. At its heart, it is about love, and caring for others, and taking a stand for what is right rather than what is easy or popular. Those concepts and themes are timeless!
Love the emotions it evokes and the honest dialogue one must have with oneself when reading. I love that it is written from the viewpoint of Scout, the youngest of the Finch family, who is the most innocent and purest, any other viewpoint would be tainted. I love the fight one man had for the other…the fight for what was right. There are ugly things that are shown in this book. Things that should be talked about and confronted. Things we need to be aware of so we do not spread racism, prejudice, and hate. We need to be reminded what these things look like and how they evolve. They do evolve, because today they can be seen everywhere in microaggressions, and we don’t see them until someone shows us. Atticus showed them their prejudices, biases, and racism. -Stacey K.
Related Novel
Fifty-five years after the publication of this classic, Harper Lee published Go Set a Watchman. Harper Lee actually penned this novel in the late 50s (the decade in which the story was set), but her early publisher had reservations and recommended she take a different approach – resulting in To Kill A Mockingbird. People either love or hate Go Set a Watchman. If you adore Atticus Finch, you might be happier not reading this book, but it does tackle the important reality of the racial tensions brewing in the South in the 1950s.
Book Summary
This novel follows the lives of the four March sisters – beautiful Meg, tomboy Jo, frail Beth, and romantic and spoiled Amy. Living in New England during the Civil War, these sisters are devoted to one another while each struggles to survive.
Exploring themes such as love and death, war and peace, and the conflict between ambition and responsibility, as well as addressing the clash of cultures between Europe and America, Alcott based this famous work on her own early life. She initially supported her sisters by doing “woman’s work,” like sewing and laundry, while her father ran in the same circle as male authors like Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne. Eventually, Alcott discovered that she could make more money writing books, even if Little Women was far from the “girl’s book” her publishers had requested from her.
In Our Readers’ Words
I think the sisters in this story make us feel that their times were simpler, and in many ways they were. Underneath, there is the struggle with illness, class, war, gender roles, and struggles with money. It shows one that all these things affect your life, but you have to find the love and the joy. -Leslie C.
It is a book that grows and changes with you as you age. I had a much more romantic view of the story and relationships in my teens and twenties. Now in my fifties, I see a more realistic view of what is happening in the story and where some of what I romanticized earlier in life, is actually not very healthy. -Christa
All the tender follies of being young and all the bittersweet heartbreaks of growing older are in this book. I think everyone wants to be in the March family. I still cry when I read it. -Nicole S.
This was one of my favorites as a kid and I still love it. Like most young women/girls, I wanted to be Jo. I love how she refuses to let society dictate what kind of woman she will be and chases her dreams. The struggle to figure out your identity while trying to balance familial obligations is one that so many people can relate to while growing up. -Heather W.
I read it with my mother as a child. I read it at least once a year, and read it with my girls. The story is from a time when the United States was at war, and to me, the story shows the hardships families, and especially the women faced. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. When you read it you are warmed by the relationship between the sisters, their neighbors and especially young Master Lawrence. It is a story about life, death, hope, and most of all love. -Lori M.
Book Summary
Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Many of our readers dubbed this classic love story the original rom-com and Mr. Darcy the original grumpy male love interest who was dark and broody in all the right ways.
Elizabeth is one of five daughters living on a country estate, and her mother is aggressively trying to matchmake for her and her sisters. When Darcy, a wealthy, aristocratic landowner, arrives in the village along with a group of other wealthy bachelors, the Bennet family is immediately put off by his cold and arrogant manner. Ultimately, Elizabeth and Darcy must overcome first impressions and prejudices if either of them is to find love.
In Our Readers’ Words
Austen’s characters are flawed and realistic–which makes them interesting. Elizabeth Bennet, in particular, is a character so ahead of her time. I related to her. As a young, headstrong girl who was misunderstood by many people and didn’t always do what she was supposed to do, I found a character who was very much like myself.
I can read it again and again and still enjoy it. The language, the characters, the angst. -Kathy Y.
No one does subtle satire the way Austen does, and Elizabeth Bennett is a heroine who stands the test of time. -Rachel
I love Austen’s characters, her clever way of stating things, of weaving a story, and bringing characters together. I read one Austen novel every year, rotating through them, but P & P remains my favorite. -Linda G.
Book Summary
Filled with mystery and suspense, Jane Eyre is considered one of the most popular works of Gothic romance.
Jane was orphaned as a child and spent her early life always feeling like an outcast. Around the age of twenty, she is hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward, Adèle. Jane finds herself drawn to Edward, but there is a secret hiding inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall that may leave Jane heartbroken.
In Our Readers’ Words
Unlike so many classics, you don’t have to understand the time period to understand the story and the themes. Its themes of being orphaned, struggling with childhood, and trying to find a place in the world are still relatable today. And then you add a gothic mystery on top! And while the book looks long, the story is easy to read. -Kim V.
This book was one of the first classics I read. At the time, I was not aware of the ending, which took me by surprise. The romantic tension that was gradually building between Jane and Mr. Rochester revealed many issues from the era they lived in. -Kathy W.
I love how Jane retains her integrity, even after undergoing such mistreatment, betrayal and disappointment, she never compromises her values or what she believes to be right. -Linda G.
It’s romantic, and Rochester is swoon-worthy, but it’s really about Jane being her own person and standing up for herself. She is independent, fierce, and shows remarkable wisdom for her age. I think it’s especially powerful given it was written in a time when women weren’t viewed as fully realized people. -Nicole S.
Anne of Green Gables
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
97% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Written in 1908, Anne of Green Gables has been a charming classic for over a century. The book starts a series of 8 novels, following Anne from childhood to having her own children. In the first book, you’ll meet Anne as an 11-year-old orphan being adopted by the Cuthberts – an older man and his stern sister who live on a farm on Prince Edward Island called Green Gables.
The only problem is that the Cuthberts intended to adopt a boy to help run the farm, not a feisty red-headed girl. However, her wild imagination and beautiful yet precocious spirit quickly win them over.
In Our Readers’ Words
What’s not to love?! Anne’s character is delightful and the shenanigans keep you laughing. –Teresa F.
This is a book I remember reading with my mom when I was young and it is a book I will share with my children in the future. It is a book I can cozy up with at any point now as an adult and think fondly of and feel comfortable recommending to almost anyone looking for something to read and enjoy. -Lindsay
The characters, the writing, the setting all have a place in my heart and on my favorites shelf.
The descriptive writing style lets you feel the joy and awe of Anne and how her spirit gentles the starkness and rigidity of the other characters. This book helped me notice that I love characters with no filter. -Tamara
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
96% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
This novel captures a unique time and place in Brooklyn after the turn of the century. It provides a poignant and, at times, meandering look at life in the 1910s that still deeply resonates with many readers as reflecting a universal experience.
Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff from her earliest days. Growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York, demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit – and Francie has each of these in spades. Neighbors often scorn her for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior, including her father’s taste for alcohol and her Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce. No one, least of all Francie, would say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama.
In Our Readers’ Words
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has been my favorite book since I first read it at 12. The story is beautiful and heartbreaking. The characters come alive off the page and even though it takes place over 100 years ago it remains relatable and poignant today. I read it every year and the story touches me every time. -Mary Kate Q.
I first read this book when I was in elementary school in the 60s. I’ve read it many times since then. Francie and Nealy are every kid you know, no matter the time period or place. -Cheryl M.
The coming-of-age story is timeless and so well-written. The characters and emotions are both real and realistic.
I first read this as a 12-year-old and since then I have read it numerous times and at each stage of my life I get something different from it. I love the characters and all of their flaws and optimism. -Kim
Book Summary
This brooding gothic thriller has kept readers on the edge of their seats for the past 85 years! It’s a twisty, turny psychological thriller about a shy young woman who becomes obsessed with her husband’s first wife.
The new wife (who is unnamed in the novel) meets her husband while on holiday in Monte Carlo and accompanies him back to his mansion in Cornwall. It is only once she’s arrived at his beautiful mansion that she learns that the first Mrs. de Winter died the year prior and that the estate’s sinister housekeeper remains devoted to Rebecca. As does her husband. Might she share the same sinister fate?
In Our Readers’ Words
This is, in my opinion, the quintessential gothic novel. Dark, eerie, mysterious, and gripping. I can read it over and over again, burying myself in the story. -Christa
The big reveal! Oh boy does this novel keep you intrigued throughout. -Amy S.
I still remember the wonderfully eerie feeling I had watching this mystery unfold the first time I read it as a teenager! -Terry Jo S.
Gone with the Wind
Book Summary
Scarlett O’Hara is the beautiful, spoiled daughter of a well-to-do Georgia plantation owner. Before the Civil War, her life mainly revolved around parties and flirting. However, after the war, she sees her way of life collapse, and she uses every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty. Aside from the love story between Scarlett and Rhett, The Guardian sums it up well: “Gone With the Wind is a story about civil war, starvation, rape, murder, heartbreak, and slavery.”
Consider This Before Reading
Like many classic works, this controversial novel (which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937) reflects the views and language of a different era that can be very uncomfortable and upsetting to read through a modern lens. There is no escaping the racism portrayed in Gone With the Wind, and that should not be romanticized. However, erasing this book would not erase the historical realities that it portrays. If you choose to read this novel, we hope its brutal honesty about the views held by many at the time deepens your understanding of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.
In Our Readers’ Words
Wow. This book somehow portrays an unlikeable main character that you root for. Rhett Butler is a wonderfully attractive character who lights up the page. The setting is the Civil War, giving great insight into the South’s point of view. The ending – unforgettable!
As dated as it is, it was one of my first classics and I was swept away!
Margaret Mitchell has the ability to not just tell a story, but transport you to another time and place. Her characters are real people with real flaws, but we love them anyway.
The character development – Scarlett O’Hara is one of the most resilient characters in literature. The setting – the first book to be written about the Civil War from the perspective of the South. It’s captivating.
Book Summary
This was initially not the most popular of the books written in the 1920s, but a century later, The Great Gatsby is considered a classic of 1920s literature and a quintessential novel of the Jazz Age.
The mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby, who is obsessed with the beautiful and unattainable debutante, Daisy Buchanan, plays host to lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted: “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession.” The book paints a portrait of the Roaring Twenties, with all of its excess, idealism, and social upheaval.
In Our Readers’ Words
I love all of the opulence of the parties and the setting in the 20s. For some reason, I tend to love tragic love stories that don’t have happy endings. This book is heartbreaking in all the right ways. -Jordan L.
I just loved it! The setting, the story, the characters were beautifully written and again, it makes you think about life and the consequences of choices.
The yearning, everyone wants someone or something they don’t or can’t have….the green light….the time period. Lightning in a bottle book. -Andrea
Frankenstein
Book Summary
Ship captain Robert Walton is headed to explore the North Pole when the trip is interrupted by impassible ice. He meets dogsledder Viktor Frankenstein, who has struggled in the cold. When Walton brings Frankenstein on board to restore his health, he hears the tale of his past, including the monster that Frankenstein created and the after-effects of his scientific feat.
Frankenstein is told in epistolary form, a series of letters between Walton and his sister back home.
In Our Readers’ Words
While this book has had so many permutations throughout the years, the original novel is truly a story about loneliness, bigotry, and the struggle to understand one’s place in the world, along with a side note of how easy it is for hate to rise out of a lack of empathy and understanding, something we are experiencing in big way in our current society.
Who’s my favorite character – the monster, of course. Anyone who has only experienced Frankenstein through movies, should definitely read the novel. Also, this is one of the first, if not the first, true science fiction novels and it’s written by a young woman! – Laura M.
It is the progenitor of the Gothic novel. It is written by a woman who actually published in her own name, and the backstory of why she wrote this story is incredible. Her stepfather actually thought he could reanimate human life, not quite like Frankenstein did, but in his own sense. But this book talks about betrayal, abandonment, identity, loss, hate and love. The settings are wonderfully interesting and it can be just a tad scary. -Kathy C.
It is not what you think it is! Forget those black-and-white movies that turned it into something it was not! Many consider Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to be the first science fiction book ever written. – Kathy R.
Book Summary
Most of us will be familiar with the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy and selfish man who is visited by the ghosts of his former business partner, as well as the spirits of Christmas past, present, and yet to come.
These magical and mysterious visits help him embrace a kinder approach to life and Christmas.
In Our Readers’ Words
This book greatly influenced the modern US celebration of Christmas and has been adapted hundreds of times in every manner and format. It is enjoyable to read the original. -Jen R.
The message is timeless. The characters are timeless. And the season of the year is timeless. Sure I have no clue what is in most of the food mentioned, but I don’t care because it teaches a lesson I want to hear every year. -Jessica F.
Firstly, this book is a great one to introduce someone to the “classics”, as it is short and interesting throughout. I am a big Dickens fan, which I know many are not, due the wordiness of most of the authors of his time, but I feel as if his writing really helps you enter into a time and setting that is unfamiliar and become immersed in that world. His characters are immediately engaging and you want to know what happens to them.
While “A Tale of Two Cities” is really my favorite Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” is one I read every year. I think most everyone can relate to this story of the good man oppressed by the evil overlord, but what makes this great is that it shows the redeeming qualities of a man that seems “bad” throughout, so in the end it gives you a feeling of hopefulness. Plus, looking back and forward in Scrooge’s life through the ghosts is amazing and helps deepen your understanding of his character. It’s through these glimpses into his life that you begin to see a ray of hope for redemption. -Laura M.
Book Summary
Life is good for 19-year-old Edmond Dantès, who is engaged to a kind, beautiful woman. He’s about to become the captain of a ship, and his great fortune in career and romance have left others envious.
Dangles is jealous of his fast promotion on the ship, Fernand Mongedo is in love with Edmond’s fiancée, and neighbor Caderousse is jealous of his overall luck in life. The trio bands together to accuse Edmond of treason, and he must stand trial. A real-life case of wrongful imprisonment inspired the book.
In Our Readers’ Words
It shows humankind at its best and worst. Written in 1844 and clearly about that timeframe, but still relatable today. – Linda H.
A great revenge novel filled with adventure and intrigue. It’s a page-turner!
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
91% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Set in a bleak, dystopian future, this novel transports us to an unspecified city near the middle of the US after two atomic wars. Guy Montag is a fireman, but rather than putting out fires, his job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities – books, as well as the houses in which they are hidden.
His life is the same day in and day out. He causes destruction and ruin in the name of censorship without ever questioning his actions. All the while, his wife spends her time staring at the television (which has become, for many, a replacement for friends and family).
Everything begins to change when Guy meets his seventeen-year-old neighbor, Clarisse, who loves nature, despises TV, and introduces him to the ideas of individualism and critical thought. She also causes him to question, for the first time, whether he is happy – and what happiness even means.
In Our Readers’ Words
How can any self-pronounced lover of books not be in shock reading about a world of total censorship? Such a thought-provoking book to reread among all the talk of book banning today. Kris I.
It’s always a good time to read Fahrenheit 451. The events, attitudes and circumstances are still here, 70 years later. The politics, social ideology, attitudes and focal points really haven’t shifted as much as we think they have. -Irene I.
It is simply the story of how very important it is for everyone to have shared knowledge and be always willing to educate themselves to make a successful society. -Lori D.
Book Summary
George and Lennie are an unlikely pair, and opposites by many measures. George is small and quick, while Lennie is physically giant and has the mind of a child. But both men are displaced migrant ranch workers, and they’ve formed a family of sorts as they move from place to place searching for work in California during the Great Depression. Together, they dream of owning an acre of land and a shack to call their own.
This novella is just over a hundred pages long, making it a great intro to older literature.
In Our Readers’ Words
This book just left me speechless. It is a read between the lines kind of book, it makes you think, ponder, question…Also, it made me cry like a baby. -Christine I.
Either the novel OR play version is great. A novel about an era that was tragic with a tragic ending might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the characters are richly developed, and it is a short novel for those who want to just “dip their toes” into classic literature. -Kathleen W.
The Secret Garden
Book Summary
The Secret Garden is often considered one of the best children’s books of the twentieth century, but it appeals to both young and old alike. Mary lives in India with her uncaring parents, who are both killed in a cholera epidemic. She is sent to live with an uncle at his house in Yorkshire, England, where she meets and helps her uncle’s sickly son, Colin, recover his health.
In Our Readers’ Words
A timeless story of strength, courage, friendship, family and adventure. -Lynn D.
Such a beautiful story of the power of nature, friendship, our beliefs about who we are and what we can/can’t do.
Book Summary
Set in the English moors of Yorkshire, this novel follows the life of Heathcliff from childhood through adulthood. Orphaned as a child, Heathcliff is a Black boy who is adopted and brought up in a wealthy white household. When he grows up, he falls in love with the daughter of the family, Catherine. She loves him back, but they fight all the time over the disparities in their positions.
E. Lockhart, the author of We Were Liars, references this classic book throughout her own, and she describes Wuthering Heights as “full of romance and ghosts and family feuds and a huge amount of anger.”
In Our Readers’ Words
This book I return to over and over again. I love the ghostly atmosphere and the tragic affairs of Catherine and Heathcliff. You sense from the beginning when it starts on a stormy night that no good can come from this story, and after reading it several times, I don’t really believe it’s their “love” story anymore. They were the most tortured souls tormenting each other, trying to possess one another. True love would never have treated each other so selfishly and so cruel. But I still remain fascinated with the story and the storytelling. – Nikki L.
Epic love story, full of craziness and family drama too. -Rebekah
Book Summary
This 600-page generational epic is a retelling of Cane and Abel. The book is set amid California’s rich farmland as it follows the intertwined destinies of the Trask and Hamilton families. Adam Trask has come to California from the East in hopes of a better life with his wife. But when they have twins, Cal and Aaron, the birth of the boys brings his wife to the brink of madness. He must raise them as a single father, and despite being twins, they have very different experiences.
In Our Readers’ Words
Family saga. Pretty easy to read. Demonstrates strength and endurance when life is hard. -Amy Lynn B.
I was late to this party, though I’d read most of the rest of his canon years ago. It’s an exquisite story of love – romantic, obsessive, filial, and Storge – beautifully and brutally told. -Weezie F.
Book Summary
After Jean Valjean spent 19 years in prison for stealing bread, he attempted to redeem his life by helping others who were living in poverty. However, he’s constantly followed by police inspector Javert, making it impossible to escape his past. This was one of the first novels to feature a working-class hero and was an instant success despite the book’s length of over 1300 pages.
In Our Readers’ Words
It is a book about second chances and redemption. Love the characters. I have re-read this so many times. Love it every time. -Lori D.
It is very well written, all the characters are deep and complex, it addresses a multitude of issues, albeit from a different time period. -Christine I.
Book Summary
Originally written for Tolkien’s children, this story of adventure follows a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular fictional world of Middle-earth. Bilbo is a homebody but is convinced by Gandalf to go on a journey to win a share of the treasure guarded by Smaug, a dragon.
In Our Readers’ Words
I first read these in H.S. and have re-read them at least 5 times since then (I’m 60-ish now). They have everything – adventure, magic, love, war, friendship, family, and are timeless. -Pam T.
I typically do not re-read books as there are just too many great ones out there, but this is one I have read at least 5 times and can’t wait to read again. It has a little of everything and the descriptions are fantastic and exciting. -Emily P.
Book Summary
When a pilot crashes in the Sahara, he doesn’t have enough food or water to survive long. As he wonders how to get out of this predicament, a little blond-haired boy appears and asks the pilot to draw him a picture of a sheep. This leads to a friendship, and the pilot learns the endearing little boy is from an asteroid and is out exploring other planets. At its core, this short read is about teaching the secret of what is really important in life.
In Our Readers’ Words
I read it as a child and fell in love with the main character, the little Prince. I read it with some of my students, and they loved it. It has a great message that Carrie’s through time. I traveled to Brussels once, and so much in the city was about the Little Prince. -Wendy K.
I keep this book in my bedside table and is the only book I have actually written in, underlining my favorite quotes. It is full of such lovely imagery – I wish I could learn enough French to read it in its original form. This is the type of book that speaks to your soul! -Mary Ann G.
The Grapes of Wrath
Book Summary
With the Great Depression gripping the nation, this epic novel from the 1930s chronicles the Dust Bowl migration that transformed the nation.
The story follows a farm family – the Joads – who are driven from their homestead in Oklahoma and forced to travel west for the promise of a better life in California. But when they finally arrive at their destination, the worst rumors prove true.
Despite facing constant setbacks and hardships, the Joads and their fellow travelers refuse to give up, relying on their own resourcefulness and mutual support to survive. This message of hope in the face of overwhelming adversity is a fitting theme for readers looking to find inspiration and strength in difficult times.
In Our Readers’ Words
It tells of a significant period in American history in a way that is not taught in schools, from a human experience. The perspective of a family packing up their lives to escape the Dust Bowl and seek a new life, hopefully prosperous, including all their trials along the trip, is heartbreaking yet hopeful. -Lisa H.
I read it the first time when I was a frivolous 30-year-old. I didn’t get it. I read it again after another 30+ years in a book club. It changed my life. I began to see all types of people with a new perspective – that very often, people are disadvantaged through no fault of their own and that others often are more than willing to take further advantage of them.
The Joads carried on despite their circumstances. My favorite line is “It was her habit to build up laughter out of inadequate materials.” The book was banned in several states in 1939, calling it a “libel and a lie” by people who didn’t like the depiction of how the dust bowl migrants were treated by the farmers in California and its description of the dust bowl. It has been pulled from many school library shelves calling it “filth” due to profanity. -Pat S.
Book Summary
Anna Karenina shares a glimpse into late 1800s Russian life through a soap-operatic lens. The story centers on an affair between Anna and Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky. When their romance is discovered, they must flee to Italy in an attempt at happiness together. However, when they return to Russia, their lives continue to unravel.
In Our Readers’ Words
Some say it’s the greatest classic novel of all time. It’s a long, intricate read but so glad I reread it recently. Sweeping saga of tragic love and a fascinating look at all levels of Russian social life at the time. -Susan H.
I loved the setting and the story. And, of course, it was so well written. I read it at the same time PBS was doing the series on TV. This was 45 years ago, and I still remember enjoying this book so much! -Angela H.
A Note About Classics
When our readers think back to the classics they were introduced to in school, the books reflect the state of publishing at the time and a lack of diversity in books covered in coursework. There were unjust barriers to publication and distribution for minority authors. However, some writers beat the odds and their works were not only published, many are still available today. Consider reading books like Passing by Nella Larsen, first published in 1928 or The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du Bois, first published in 1903 to expand your knowledge of classic literature.
We Value Reader Input
Thank you so much to all of our readers who helped us compile this list of good classic books – those that they’d want to read again and would continue to recommend to friends and family.
If you’d like the opportunity to have your opinion heard on future Reader Favorite lists, be sure you’re on our email list and read each Friday’s newsletter. We’ll have several additional opportunities throughout the year!
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