65 of the books were pretty straightforward as they were mentioned at least 3 times (with The Great Gatsby and Catch-22 being the only 2 making it on all 8 lists). From the opening line of the book, “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow…” Lee hooks the reader with a deceptively simple story of a Southern family and a Southern town caught up in a cataclysmic moral crisis, and keeps us enthralled till the very last word. Melville’s novel wasn’t received well upon publication (it took decades before people really started to "get" how great it is), and the negative sentiment is echoed every year when groaning students are forced to read it. Whether it’s romance novels or timey-wimey sci-fi books about people becoming their own grandparents, readers often have a channel they return to over and over again. Why You Must Read It: Enjoy it for the hilarious, rambling epic it is. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. There are a lot of reasons books becomes “must reads,” and it’s not necessarily just their literary quality. Surprisingly enough, there were 520 books from the 8 lists, which meant there was less overlap than I expected. And, yes, there is a lot of talk about 19th-century whaling that leaves even the most thoughtful reader sometimes wondering when, exactly, Melville plans to get to the fireworks and make something happen. There’s something for everyone in this book: Windswept castles, difficult and neurotic family members, dark secrets about tragic former lovers, good triumphing over evil, all that good juicy stuff that makes a great romantic story. and a great sacrifice. The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky. Here are the 8 lists I started with, amalgamated, and culled. Gone with the Wind is an American War & Peace. Megan Willett. [UPDATED August 27, 2020] One of my aims is to begin catching up on all the reading I’ve neglected for, well, the majority of my life. You should probably read any number of classic novels that will expand your literary palate or teach you a thing or two. Steinbeck’s style flows so smoothly and is accessible as well as being challenging. (As featured in 10 Books That Will Make You Fall In Love With Reading). 25 American Classics Everyone Should Read At Least Once . The plot is also famously complex, even for a mystery, and actually has several loose ends that never get resolved. Tweet; They've withstood the passage of time to bewitch countless readers all over the world. The books on this list are considered some of the greatest books ever written, and having stood the test of time, they are still essential reading for any lover of books. You can see all 100 book covers here. Here are some of the greatest classic books of all time. I actually retain more information by hearing than seeing and therefore have loved Audible and have been using it for the better part of seven years. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . Posted by Why Read | Jun 9, 2015 | Classic Books. Harper Lee’s fluid, clear prose manages to be thoroughly entertaining while subtly examining the attitudes and beliefs under the surface that allow prejudice and injustice to persist to this day. The story, the characters, the settings and the emotions will enthrall you for days. What elevates Jane Eyre is Bronte’s remarkable style & skill and her sharp and complex characterizations. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 3. (As featured in 10 Great Books That Will Make You Change Your Life). From Heathcliff to Bovary to Becky Sharp, meet some of the greatest literary creations of all time in our list of 20 essential classic novels to read before you die. It indicates the ability to send an email. Its length is 5 times the average book and it still was not long enough! One of the great things about "Pride and Prejudice" is that Jane Austen was such a natural writer that you don’t see any of the techniques and innovations she used—you just get a great story about marriage, social class, manners, and personal growth and evolution. Nice, but it still leaves me at a loss for what to do next. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Essential Reading: 10 Good Books to Read for Teens, Entrepreneurship: 10 Books Every Budding Entrepreneur Must Read. Why You Must Read It: Despite these surface difficulties, you should make "Moby-Dick" one of the classics you read for several reasons: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Everyone has a reading lane. In fact, it’s such a well-constructed story that it’s still stolen (and left practically intact) by modern authors, with the most obvious example being the "Bridget Jones" books where author Helen Fielding seemed to make no effort to disguise her inspiration. This is both a great philosophical book and a great work of fiction. score: 32 of 100 (32%) required scores: 1, 18, 25, 34, 45 list stats leaders vote Vote print comments. . Sadly, the issues of racism and an unfair legal system are as applicable today as they were in 1960, and that alone makes "To Kill a Mockingbird" a must-read. That left me with the right number of books and, voila, the greatest list ever created now lives. Slaughterhouse Five follows a young man, Billy Pilgrim through his life. Chances are if you’ve enjoyed a book about two people who seem to hate each other at first and then discover they’re in love, you can thank Jane Austen. If you don’t have time to sit and read -I don’t- then you can ‘read’ on the go with Audible. So, I decided to further cull those 91 by focusing on the books that were mentioned at least twice by The Guardian, Amazon, Harvard, Time and The Telegraph. How many have you read? Of course, every now and then we all have an "Eat Your Vegetables" moment when we think that maybe we ought to read a classic—one of those novels we skimmed unenthusiastically in school, gleaning just enough information from the back cover and online sources to write a book report on a text we’ve been hearing is absolutely genius for our entire lives. 1. Page 1 of 3 1 2 3. Start Waking Up Early. A classic book is defined as: “A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, for example through an imprimatur such as being listed in a list of great books” – Source. The spreadsheet with all 500+ books listed on it with their rankings and what list they appear on is here. Lee shows us, to our horror, that there are still plenty of people out there who secretly (or not so secretly) harbor racist beliefs. I’ve made it through countless books this way and swear by it. As classics, these books have laid the foundations for many books, movies and art, as well as entertaining millions of people around the world. After carefully reading through what was on offer I decided to take the collective wisdom from the various sources by painstakingly comparing (well, I hired ‘Vi’ from Vietnam via Elance to painstakingly compare) all of the lists to determine how much overlap existed between them. "Pride and Prejudice" is a kind of literary Rosetta Stone; it's the inspiration, basis, and model for so many modern novels that you’re probably more familiar with its plot and characters than you think. B.A., English, Rutgers University; Jeff Somers is an award-winning writer who has … Not everyone learns the same way. Audible allows you to do something about that.