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The Best Classic Books and Novels

​​What is a classic book? In our opinion, it’s any work that proves a good story will endure. Classic books tend to populate high school reading lists, lists of books everyone should read, and more. 

There are books that are considered classics within specific genres, such as classic science fiction booksclassic gothic horror novels and classic romance novels. There are classics that distill the voices of certain times and places, such as books from Lost Generation writers or from the Harlem Renaissance

Classic books also have the tendency to become cultural touchstones—everyone knows what it means to tilt at windmills; to chase a white whale; to ask “to be or not to be” (and if you don’t; it’s high time you cross these classic books off your TBR). They’ve also been turned into iconic films, sparked some of the most hated characters known to man, and invented fantastic places we can only dream of visiting

While many books that we consider classics were written long ago, the best ones are truly timeless, telling tales that resonate with people around the world and across generations. If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, it's time to see for yourself.

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The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
Les Miserables
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo
Little Women
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
Amelia Bedelia Makes a Splash
Amelia Bedelia Makes a Splash
by Herman Parish, Lynne Avril
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess
Brave New World
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
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The Custom of the Country
The Custom of the Country
by Edith Wharton
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The Innocence of Father Brown
The Innocence of Father Brown
by G. K. Chesterton, Otto Penzler
Cup of Gold
Cup of Gold
by John Steinbeck
Plum Bun
Plum Bun
by Jessie Redmon Fauset
Ulysses
Ulysses
by James Joyce
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Men Without Women
Men Without Women
by Ernest Hemingway
Persuasion
Persuasion
by Jane Austen
How Green Was My Valley
How Green Was My Valley
by Richard Llewellyn
Rainbow Valley
Rainbow Valley
by L. M. Montgomery
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather
The Dalkey Archive
The Dalkey Archive
by Flann O'Brien
The Loving Spirit
The Loving Spirit
by Daphne Du Maurier
O Pioneers!
O Pioneers!
by Willa Cather
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Knew Too Much
by G. K. Chesterton
The Witch Family
The Witch Family
by Eleanor Estes
The Member of the Wedding
The Member of the Wedding
by Carson McCullers
The Last of the Mohicans
The Last of the Mohicans
by James Fenimore Cooper
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Our Man in Havana
Our Man in Havana
by Graham Greene
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann David Wyss
We
We
by Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata
by R. K. Narayan, Wendy Doniger
The Professor's House
The Professor's House
by Willa Cather
The Beauty and the Beast
The Beauty and the Beast
by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, Minalima
The Beautiful and Damned
The Beautiful and Damned
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Curse of the Arctic Star
Curse of the Arctic Star
by Carolyn Keene
The Young Lions
The Young Lions
by Irwin Shaw
My Antonia
My Antonia
by Willa Cather, Kathleen Norris
The Master and Margarita
The Master and Margarita
by Mikhail Bulgakov, Mirra Ginsburg
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment
by Larry McMurtry
The Vampyre
The Vampyre
by John William Polidori
Cane
Cane
by Jean Toomer
So Big
So Big
by Edna Ferber
The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and the Goblin
by George MacDonald
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Stig of the Dump
Stig of the Dump
by Clive King, Edward Ardizzone
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Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano
by Malcolm Lowry
The Woman in White
The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins, Otto Penzler
Notes from Underground
Notes from Underground
by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
by James Joyce
Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
by A. A. Milne
The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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There are so many classic books covering so many different social issues that there is no one best classic book of all time. However, if you’re looking for a good place to start, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is still heavily discussed and recommended today for its knack for tackling social issues that weren’t openly discussed at the time of its publishing, and for its period-defining gothic qualities. 

While the most well-known and well-read book of all time is the Bible, after religious texts, several sources cite Don Quixote as the most famous book of all time, as it was the most widely distributed book after the Bible. After Don Quixote, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, specifically books one and four, are some of the most famous books of all time

There are many classic books that are easier to read than we think, but Catcher in the Rye may be the easiest classic to start with. It’s short in length, uses contemporary language, and as it’s a character-driven novel, it’s easy to understand the author’s goals for the story. Additionally, it’s still a widely-discussed novel in the literary world, making the whole literary scene more accessible for new classic readers.