I was surprised by how much I loved Rebecca! It definitely has slow moments, but when everything culminates and you’re wondering if some people’s secrets are about to be found out, it was SO intense I was on the edge of my seat. Definitely one I’ll be reading again in the future!
Fantastic list! I agree with all of these (even the ones I haven't read). A few others that I would probably put on a list like this would be Fahrenheit 451, The Crucible (which is a play), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and either The Iliad or The Odyssey (because they're both referenced so much in modern culture). I don't have a lot of books in any one edition, but I really like the Oxford World Classics and the Penguin Deluxe editions.
I love your thumbnail!! I am so happy that I have read some of these classics myself as I wanted to read more of them this year (I never read them as a kid in school or anything)! Thank you for your recommendations!! 😊
I think my favorite editions are Oxford World Classics, but I also love Penguin. I like having the notes in the back to help me understand cultural/historical things I might not know. But I’m not picky! I have multiple editions of my favorites 😁
I have quite a few Trollope books, I'd like to start next year. I've also picked up a couple Charlotte M Yonge - would like to try as well. I love so many editions of Jane Austen - I have all of hers in the vintage classics - like the size. I have a couple from Alma Classics - don't see these too often but like the couple I have, Agnes Grey and The Mill on the Floss. I Loveeee the Harper Muse Classics too! The Winnie the Pooh one is special to me -- and I have the Sherlock Holmes one,,, think you'd love it too. 😊🎄
To me, Frankenstein is the real monster. He despises what he created and yet what he created is much more human in his capacity to feel. Such a good book for discussion.
This is a fabulous list! I read Les Mis last year and am so happy I did. I would say it's incredibly tedious in parts, but after I was done with it, I finally understood why it's such an enduring classic. It's definitely brilliant. The Count of Monte Cristo is long but actually quite easy to read. It's a wonderful page-turner. I also read Gone with the Wind and East of Eden last year; I would say I was disappointed by both of them but am glad to have read them. Like you say, not all classics are good, but they're worth reading for the cultural references. For me next year I'm going to finally tackle Don Quixote.
I have moral issues with Jane Eyre as well but I'm going to say after I finish reading it I felt like I understood. Now there are people who could take it a lot of different directions but I am a Christian and I read it as there is the life of a saint there is the life of a sinner there is the wrestle with vice there is a consequence of that wrestle and you see different consequences based on the choices made. There is so much grace so much grace. And you see so many side points that you could dive into and discuss concerning the human condition. It just moves me and I kept myself in a pretty aggravated State through the entire book. I love the writing. I was very angry with characters through the entire book. But at the end of it I said okay now I could go back and read this book and I could take so many dives into my faith that I don't think I would ever exhaust them. And now this book is on one of my favorites list and this is why. Now Wuthering heights as a kid like a teenager I thought I really liked it as an adult I realize I missed a lot of the nuances and so now I want to read it as an adult to see how I feel.
This list 🙌🏼 I’m collecting the Everyman’s Library editions of classics. Pilgrim’s Progress, Anna Karenina, The Hobbit and North and South are all on my immediate TBR. But I’d love to get to all of these eventually! Classics just hit differently 🤎
What a great list! I love when classic literary references are made and I know what they are talking about 😁 My favorite Dickens so far is Great Expectations. I am hoping to tackle Les Mis next year and maybe War and Peace the year after that 😬
Yes! One of my college professors said that his Shakespeare professor, who wasn't a believer, told them that they needed to understand the Bible to understand Shakespeare at all. Which is totally accurate.
Great list. Secret Garden and Little women were two I really loved as a kid. I read Dracula a year or two ago and really enjoyed it. Don Quixote is one I am really looking forward to finishing. Need to finish The count of Monte Cristo as well. I read the first half as a teen and loved it but didn’t know there was a second part at the time 😂
Thank you for this list! I appreciate the effort it took to create this and I’ll be adding some to my list and introduce a few to my precocious 6 year old (Narnia etc)
I'm glad I'm not alone in not being crazy about The Moonstone. I have put The Woman in White on my TBR for 2025, and hoping for a better read! Enjoyed your video!
My favorite classics edition is The Penguin English Library (particularly the out of print ones that have a buttery feeling cover and illustrations😂) they are pretty basic and don't have much extra information, but I love how readable they are. The font size & page quality is great!
I like the Dover Publications paperbacks for classics. Some classics I'd like to read that seem to be referenced a lot are Silas Marner, Wuthering Heights, Room with a View, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Their Eyes were Watching God.
Yup, the bible should be added to everyone's list. It's constantly being referenced in popular culture and misquoted by people who have never read it, so it just makes sense to be armed with the actual text. I never got through Crime and Punishment but I'm going to keep trying. Grapes of Wrath is a worthy Steinbeck in my opinion. Far From a Maddening Crowd by Tomas Hardy is on my TBR as is something by Edith Warton. Oh sooo many books! It's difficult because mysteries are my No. 1 go to read and the list of classic mysteries I haven't read is also sooo long. Oh my. Great list Chantel!
I have tried and tried to read Pride and Prejudice. I tried listening to it. I tried to read it. My daughter loves it.. but I could not get into it!!! 😢❤Eileen
Great list! I like Oxford World Classics and Penguun Black classics, as well as Barnes & Noble editions. If I were rich I would own all my favorites in Everyman's Library editions. The Count of Monte Cristo is fantastic!! Much different than the movie. Another author I would add to the list is George Eliot.
Great list! I have read MOST of them, there are a few I haven't got to yet. My favourite classic is Count of Monte Cristo , even though I feel bad saying that since it's a revenge story 🙈 Ugh! Anna and Tess! Two Classics that I really didn't like, yet I remember so much about them... but I also didn't like Jane Eyre and that is a favourite to many so maybe I just have weird taste. Little women is on my TBR for Dec, I can't believe I have not read that yet! The editions that I collect are the Penguin English Library. They aren't the best to read out of though ( I prefer a more "floppy" book) but they are pretty to look at!😆
I read Frost Light by Danielle Bullen, you said that the description made it sound possibly too dark for you , but it's not! It's mostly cozy and not too serious.
I prefer the Penguins (the black latest print ones.... but sometimes I take what I can find when it's used and cheap. I'll replace the older edition if i love the book). Also i like the print size of current edition Penguin.
The Wordsworth are also my favorites. Pretty and they feel good to read as well. I'm all for the Russian guys now. Gimme all the 19th century Russians!!! Not enough people read Daddy Long Legs. #BecauseNarnia I totally HATE Romeo & Juliet. GAG. Teenaged tantrum. GAH! LOL I LOVE The Warden, but I think the most accessible of that series is Dr. Thorne. You can read it out of order without being confused or too spoilery. Can't stand Hawthorne's writing. BLECH. But Scarlet Letter is better than The House of Seven Gables. Bible in 90 Days is BRILLIANT. It makes so much more sense. EXACTLY. The things I got the most doing it that way were 1. Genealogies made so much more sense and weren't boring and 2. The LAW... the HUGE HUGE LAW... man. It showed me how we weren't just saved from our sin but from TRYING TO KEEP THAT LAW! Jealousy still sticks in mind. "Oops, I was jealous. Better go make my offering. WAit, can't afford it. Okay, then I'll pay the cheaper one... WHO CAN KEEP TRACK?????
Yeah i think The Warden and Barchester Towers need to be read closer together but Dr Thorn would be a great start for Trollope (and/or Belton Estate which has a different feel to The Warden etc).
I have read 15 plus of these books. The plus is I am half way through some and read two in high school, which was almost 40 years ago, and I have read all of the Bible but not straight through.
I have quite a few of the Barnes & Noble editions, but nowadays I tend to look for Penguin because even though the print is small, they're nice & "floppy" 😆
I'm all comment-y today. Lol. I'm trying to read all of Tolstoy and some of Dostovesky. I'm dipping my toe into other Russian authors. I want to read more Dumas since i really enjoyed The Count. I'll be reading Les Mis starting in January with Prose and Paperbacks patreon. I think you'd like her channel. She focuses on French lit. I want to read all of Gaskell too and more of Charlotte B. I've also discovered Charlotte Mary Yonge because of Kate Howe and I'm LOVING The Heir of Redclyffe by her.
All very good solid choices! Might I also suggest War of the Worlds by H G Wells, and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. And I suppose I’d have to say also Moby Dick by Herman Melville (although it’s a chonker and I didn’t enjoy it much)
I always aim to read more Classics each year, but I rarely read a ton. I am trying to decide if I want to attempt a DIY Lit degree, just because I think it would make me a better writer...
In Dickens' defense, all Victorians are wordy. 😅 I mean look at the size of quite a few of their books. He just seems to be the one with the reputation.
I was surprised by how much I loved Rebecca! It definitely has slow moments, but when everything culminates and you’re wondering if some people’s secrets are about to be found out, it was SO intense I was on the edge of my seat. Definitely one I’ll be reading again in the future!
Fantastic list! I agree with all of these (even the ones I haven't read). A few others that I would probably put on a list like this would be Fahrenheit 451, The Crucible (which is a play), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and either The Iliad or The Odyssey (because they're both referenced so much in modern culture). I don't have a lot of books in any one edition, but I really like the Oxford World Classics and the Penguin Deluxe editions.
I love your thumbnail!! I am so happy that I have read some of these classics myself as I wanted to read more of them this year (I never read them as a kid in school or anything)! Thank you for your recommendations!! 😊
I think my favorite editions are Oxford World Classics, but I also love Penguin. I like having the notes in the back to help me understand cultural/historical things I might not know. But I’m not picky! I have multiple editions of my favorites 😁
Great list! When I picked my 40 before 40 earlier this year, I also picked classics that I haven’t read that are commonly referenced in culture.
I have quite a few Trollope books, I'd like to start next year. I've also picked up a couple Charlotte M Yonge - would like to try as well. I love so many editions of Jane Austen - I have all of hers in the vintage classics - like the size. I have a couple from Alma Classics - don't see these too often but like the couple I have, Agnes Grey and The Mill on the Floss. I Loveeee the Harper Muse Classics too! The Winnie the Pooh one is special to me -- and I have the Sherlock Holmes one,,, think you'd love it too. 😊🎄
To me, Frankenstein is the real monster. He despises what he created and yet what he created is much more human in his capacity to feel. Such a good book for discussion.
Such a helpful list to go off of! Definitely going to refer to this for the future.
I liked Rebecca!! Reread it a couple years ago!! ❤Eileen
This is a fabulous list! I read Les Mis last year and am so happy I did. I would say it's incredibly tedious in parts, but after I was done with it, I finally understood why it's such an enduring classic. It's definitely brilliant. The Count of Monte Cristo is long but actually quite easy to read. It's a wonderful page-turner. I also read Gone with the Wind and East of Eden last year; I would say I was disappointed by both of them but am glad to have read them. Like you say, not all classics are good, but they're worth reading for the cultural references. For me next year I'm going to finally tackle Don Quixote.
I have moral issues with Jane Eyre as well but I'm going to say after I finish reading it I felt like I understood. Now there are people who could take it a lot of different directions but I am a Christian and I read it as there is the life of a saint there is the life of a sinner there is the wrestle with vice there is a consequence of that wrestle and you see different consequences based on the choices made. There is so much grace so much grace. And you see so many side points that you could dive into and discuss concerning the human condition. It just moves me and I kept myself in a pretty aggravated State through the entire book. I love the writing. I was very angry with characters through the entire book. But at the end of it I said okay now I could go back and read this book and I could take so many dives into my faith that I don't think I would ever exhaust them. And now this book is on one of my favorites list and this is why. Now Wuthering heights as a kid like a teenager I thought I really liked it as an adult I realize I missed a lot of the nuances and so now I want to read it as an adult to see how I feel.
This list 🙌🏼 I’m collecting the Everyman’s Library editions of classics. Pilgrim’s Progress, Anna Karenina, The Hobbit and North and South are all on my immediate TBR. But I’d love to get to all of these eventually! Classics just hit differently 🤎
What a great list! I love when classic literary references are made and I know what they are talking about 😁
My favorite Dickens so far is Great Expectations.
I am hoping to tackle Les Mis next year and maybe War and Peace the year after that 😬
Yes! One of my college professors said that his Shakespeare professor, who wasn't a believer, told them that they needed to understand the Bible to understand Shakespeare at all. Which is totally accurate.
I love that cover of North and South 😍
Great list. Secret Garden and Little women were two I really loved as a kid. I read Dracula a year or two ago and really enjoyed it. Don Quixote is one I am really looking forward to finishing. Need to finish The count of Monte Cristo as well. I read the first half as a teen and loved it but didn’t know there was a second part at the time 😂
Love this! Made my list & want to read the ones I haven’t read. I read the Bible with a chronological reading plan which was super cool to me.
Thank you for this list! I appreciate the effort it took to create this and I’ll be adding some to my list and introduce a few to my precocious 6 year old (Narnia etc)
I'm glad I'm not alone in not being crazy about The Moonstone. I have put The Woman in White on my TBR for 2025, and hoping for a better read! Enjoyed your video!
My favorite classics edition is The Penguin English Library (particularly the out of print ones that have a buttery feeling cover and illustrations😂) they are pretty basic and don't have much extra information, but I love how readable they are. The font size & page quality is great!
I like the Dover Publications paperbacks for classics.
Some classics I'd like to read that seem to be referenced a lot are Silas Marner, Wuthering Heights, Room with a View, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Their Eyes were Watching God.
This is a great list. I’ve read most of these, but I still have some I need to get to.
There are a lot of classics I haven’t read on this list! Les Miserables is one I want to tackle sometime. And Pilgrim’s Progress!
Yeah, Jane Eyre is pretty important.
Yup, the bible should be added to everyone's list. It's constantly being referenced in popular culture and misquoted by people who have never read it, so it just makes sense to be armed with the actual text.
I never got through Crime and Punishment but I'm going to keep trying. Grapes of Wrath is a worthy Steinbeck in my opinion. Far From a Maddening Crowd by Tomas Hardy is on my TBR as is something by Edith Warton. Oh sooo many books!
It's difficult because mysteries are my No. 1 go to read and the list of classic mysteries I haven't read is also sooo long. Oh my.
Great list Chantel!
I have tried and tried to read Pride and Prejudice. I tried listening to it. I tried to read it. My daughter loves it.. but I could not get into it!!! 😢❤Eileen
Great list!
I like Oxford World Classics and Penguun Black classics, as well as Barnes & Noble editions. If I were rich I would own all my favorites in Everyman's Library editions.
The Count of Monte Cristo is fantastic!! Much different than the movie. Another author I would add to the list is George Eliot.
The best editions of classics are by far Everyman’s library for hardback and penguin for paperback.
Another I think you would enjoy is Ben Hur. I remember being so surprised how strong the theme of Christ was in the book.
North and South is so good!
Great list! I have read MOST of them, there are a few I haven't got to yet.
My favourite classic is Count of Monte Cristo , even though I feel bad saying that since it's a revenge story 🙈
Ugh! Anna and Tess! Two Classics that I really didn't like, yet I remember so much about them... but I also didn't like Jane Eyre and that is a favourite to many so maybe I just have weird taste.
Little women is on my TBR for Dec, I can't believe I have not read that yet!
The editions that I collect are the Penguin English Library. They aren't the best to read out of though ( I prefer a more "floppy" book) but they are pretty to look at!😆
I would have included Black Beauty. That book started slow but by the end, it was one of my top 10 classics.
I read Frost Light by Danielle Bullen, you said that the description made it sound possibly too dark for you , but it's not! It's mostly cozy and not too serious.
Definitely agree with P&P!
Yes, everyone should read Lion!!!
Great suggestions!
Pilgrim's Progress! Definitely!
I prefer the Penguins (the black latest print ones.... but sometimes I take what I can find when it's used and cheap. I'll replace the older edition if i love the book). Also i like the print size of current edition Penguin.
The Wordsworth are also my favorites. Pretty and they feel good to read as well.
I'm all for the Russian guys now. Gimme all the 19th century Russians!!!
Not enough people read Daddy Long Legs.
#BecauseNarnia
I totally HATE Romeo & Juliet. GAG. Teenaged tantrum. GAH! LOL
I LOVE The Warden, but I think the most accessible of that series is Dr. Thorne. You can read it out of order without being confused or too spoilery.
Can't stand Hawthorne's writing. BLECH. But Scarlet Letter is better than The House of Seven Gables.
Bible in 90 Days is BRILLIANT. It makes so much more sense. EXACTLY. The things I got the most doing it that way were
1. Genealogies made so much more sense and weren't boring and
2. The LAW... the HUGE HUGE LAW... man. It showed me how we weren't just saved from our sin but from TRYING TO KEEP THAT LAW! Jealousy still sticks in mind. "Oops, I was jealous. Better go make my offering. WAit, can't afford it. Okay, then I'll pay the cheaper one... WHO CAN KEEP TRACK?????
Yeah i think The Warden and Barchester Towers need to be read closer together but Dr Thorn would be a great start for Trollope (and/or Belton Estate which has a different feel to The Warden etc).
I have read 15 plus of these books. The plus is I am half way through some and read two in high school, which was almost 40 years ago, and I have read all of the Bible but not straight through.
I would add Around the World in 80 Days and Parnassus on Wheels as classics to read.
Nice additions, I loved Parnassus!
I am going to read all of these amazing books as I know they will be great as I love ❤️ all of my classics ❤❤
Yeah, Frankenstein needs to be read, if only because no one really understands it, even though they reference it.
I have quite a few of the Barnes & Noble editions, but nowadays I tend to look for Penguin because even though the print is small, they're nice & "floppy" 😆
I adore Daddy Long Legs! It was such a funny find I stumbled on a few years ago
Secret Garden is so good!
I'm all comment-y today. Lol. I'm trying to read all of Tolstoy and some of Dostovesky. I'm dipping my toe into other Russian authors.
I want to read more Dumas since i really enjoyed The Count. I'll be reading Les Mis starting in January with Prose and Paperbacks patreon. I think you'd like her channel. She focuses on French lit.
I want to read all of Gaskell too and more of Charlotte B. I've also discovered Charlotte Mary Yonge because of Kate Howe and I'm LOVING The Heir of Redclyffe by her.
Yes, Little Women!
All very good solid choices! Might I also suggest War of the Worlds by H G Wells, and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. And I suppose I’d have to say also Moby Dick by Herman Melville (although it’s a chonker and I didn’t enjoy it much)
Animal Farm: all pigs are equal but some are more equal…hmmm…
It is actually all animals are equal etc
@ oh, really? It was over 20 years ago when I last read it. Well, you know what I mean. It was hilarious and sarcastic.
I always aim to read more Classics each year, but I rarely read a ton. I am trying to decide if I want to attempt a DIY Lit degree, just because I think it would make me a better writer...
I've read 10 of the listed, and also the Bible through multiple times.
The old Barnes and nobles hardback is my fav...but I have to search for those
Funny that I was made to read The Pilgrim's Progress by "The Little Women" :-)
Agree, start with Hobbit.
I think you'd really like Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Totally different feel from Tenant... abt a governess.
I did enjoy Agnes Grey!
I forget which you've read. Lol
@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD no worries!
I will begrudgingly agree about Romeo and Juliet. Don't love that one though.
I hit 6 out of the list, not including the last one which is really a life long reading.
In Dickens' defense, all Victorians are wordy. 😅 I mean look at the size of quite a few of their books. He just seems to be the one with the reputation.
🤣🤣🤣 fair enough
Dickens' stories appeared in serialisation form in newspapers and he was paid per word. No wonder he wrote a lot.
@lyramidsummer5508 that's a myth. He was paid by the installment. Yes and many many others were serialized also.
Anne!!!
Scarlet Letter is...meh. Not awful, not great.