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36 Best Classic Books

The best classic books, ranked by how many expert sources recommend each one, with notes to help new readers and returning readers choose a book that suits them.

Our take

Classic books keep finding new readers because their questions remain open: how to live with other people, how power works, and what to do when desire clashes with duty. They include comic romances, unsettling experiments, family stories, and political warnings. You do not need to begin with the longest or most difficult one.

For a shorter starting point, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, and Animal Farm offer very different tones. Pride and Prejudice rewards attention to conversation and social judgment, while Frankenstein combines Gothic atmosphere with questions about responsibility. Readers who enjoy larger worlds can settle into Anna Karenina or Middlemarch.

The reading experience also depends on form. The Color Purple uses letters, Dracula assembles documents, and Beloved asks you to piece together memory across shifting voices. Start with a subject you already enjoy, then choose the length and style you have room for now.

36 books · 9 sources · Last updated

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How to choose from this list

Skip to the full ranking

If you want a short starting point: Of Mice and Men → The Great Gatsby
If you enjoy social comedy: Pride and Prejudice → Persuasion
If you want Gothic suspense: Frankenstein → The Picture of Dorian Gray → Dracula
If you want political fiction: Animal Farm → 1984 → Brave New World
If you are ready for a long social novel: Middlemarch → Anna Karenina
If you want to explore voice and memory: Their Eyes Were Watching God → Beloved

The 36 books, ranked

Ranked by how many expert sources name each book. Ties go to the book more people recommend.

1
Book cover for "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane AustenView on Amazon

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen1813

For readers who enjoy sharp dialogue, social observation, and changing first impressions. Its comedy makes class and marriage feel immediate, though the restrained action asks you to notice what characters imply as well as what they say.

What it's about

Elizabeth Bennet thinks she has Mr. Darcy figured out, until pride, gossip, and a disastrous first impression force her to look again. It's a love story powered by wit, family chaos, and painful self-correction.

Also recommended by

2 people
  • Hillary Clinton recommended this book
  • Tim O’Reilly recommended this book
2
Book cover for "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte BronteView on Amazon

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte1847

For readers who want a strong personal voice, moral independence, and Gothic atmosphere. Jane’s perspective makes the emotional conflict vivid, though the treatment of race, colonialism, and mental illness needs critical reading.

What it's about

Orphaned and mistreated, plain but fiercely self-respecting Jane Eyre grows up in a harsh charity school before becoming governess at Thornfield Hall, where her deepening love for the enigmatic Mr Rochester collides with class, conscience, and a dangerous secret.

Also recommended by

3 people
3
Book cover for "Wuthering Heights" by Emily BronteView on Amazon

Wuthering Heights

by Emily Bronte1847

For readers who want obsession, hostility, and a powerful sense of place. Its interlocking family histories give emotional conflicts lasting consequences, though the cruel characters and nested narration make it a difficult choice for comforting romance.

What it's about

On the Yorkshire moors, the bond between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw hardens into obsession, cruelty, and revenge. Bronte's only novel follows the damage across two generations, with a stormy atmosphere that still feels raw.

Also recommended by

2 people
4
Book cover for "1984" by George OrwellView on Amazon

1984

by George Orwell1949

For readers who want a concentrated exploration of political control and manipulated truth. Its clear central ideas make it accessible, though the bleak atmosphere and scenes of coercion offer little emotional relief.

What it's about

In a future dictatorship where Big Brother watches everyone, Winston Smith rewrites history for the Party but quietly begins to doubt the system. His search for truth and love becomes a struggle against torture, surveillance, and the erasure of reality.

Also recommended by

14 people
  • Tristan Harris recommended this book
  • Jordan Peterson recommended this book
  • J. Cole recommended this book
  • Emma Watson recommended this book
  • Noam Chomsky recommended this book
  • Richard Branson recommended this book
  • +8

    More recommendations

    • Matt Mullenweg
      Matt Mullenweg mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
    • Christopher Hitchens
      "We were all expected to read Animal Farm and [this book], which had been placed on the syllabus as part of the curriculum of the Cold War." - Christopher Hitchens
    • Sahil Lavingia
      Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.
    • Jenn Im
      "Highly recommend." - Jenn Im
    • Winston Churchill
      One of Winston Churchill's favorite books.
    • Diane Rehm
      "Examines the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and government repression." - Diane Rehm
    • Anna Akana
      Anna Akana recommended this book on Twitter.
    • Brad Delong
      Brad Delong recommended this book in his website.
5
Book cover for "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott FitzgeraldView on Amazon

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald1926

For readers who want a short novel with rich imagery and social unease. Its compressed treatment of wealth and longing rewards close attention, though the distant narrator and disillusioned characters can make emotional connection less immediate.

What it's about

Nick Carraway becomes drawn into the world of his wealthy Long Island neighbor Jay Gatsby, who hopes to reclaim a past romance with Daisy Buchanan. Lavish parties conceal obsession and unease as money, desire and loyalty bring their social circle into conflict.

Also recommended by

9 people
  • Taylor Swift recommended this book
  • Bill Gates recommended this book
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson recommended this book
  • Daniel Pink recommended this book
  • Ev Williams recommended this book
  • Ta-Nehisi Coates recommended this book
  • +3

    More recommendations

    • Christopher Hitchens
      "[The author] found he'd taken on all the great American themes, from the original 'dream' itself to the corresponding loss of innocence." - Christopher Hitchens
    • Jim Carrey
      "I've already lived out [this book] and still I beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." - Jim Carrey
    • Ryan Holiday
      "I’ve read and re-read many times." - Ryan Holiday
6
Book cover for "Little Women" by Louisa May AlcottView on Amazon

Little Women

Little Women, Book 1

by Louisa May Alcott1868

For readers who enjoy family relationships and characters growing into different ambitions. Its warmth and attention to everyday choices make it approachable, though the moral lessons and expectations of womanhood reflect its nineteenth century setting.

What it's about

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March grow up in New England while their father serves in the Civil War. Financial hardship, conflicting ambitions, friendship, and family responsibilities test the sisters' affection and shape their passage toward adulthood.

Also recommended by

5 people
7
Book cover for "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar WildeView on Amazon

The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde1891

For readers who want Gothic unease with sharp social dialogue. Its compressed exploration of beauty and moral evasion makes it a manageable starting point, though the epigrams and decorative passages sometimes take precedence over action.

What it's about

Handsome Dorian Gray wishes he could stay forever young while his portrait bears the marks of age and sin. As the wish comes true, Wilde spins a dark, glittering novel about vanity, pleasure, and moral collapse.

Also recommended by

4 people
8
Book cover for "Frankenstein" by Mary ShelleyView on Amazon

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley1818

For readers who want Gothic suspense with questions about responsibility and exclusion. The competing voices complicate easy judgments about monsters, though the framed storytelling and reflective speeches are slower than modern adaptations suggest.

What it's about

Victor Frankenstein creates life, recoils from what he has made, and sets disaster in motion. The novel is both Gothic nightmare and sharp study of ambition, responsibility, and the damage caused by abandonment.

Also recommended by

2 people
9
Book cover for "Great Expectations" by Charles DickensView on Amazon

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens1861

For readers who enjoy secrets, social ambition, and memorable supporting characters. Its close attention to shame and loyalty gives the plot emotional depth, though the long sentences and serial storytelling can slow the pace.

What it's about

When orphan Pip receives mysterious money, he imagines he can become a gentleman and win Estella. Dickens turns his rise into a searching story about class, shame, ambition, and what real loyalty looks like.

Also recommended by

2 people
10
Book cover for "Middlemarch" by George EliotView on Amazon

Middlemarch

by George Eliot1871

For readers who want an entire community rather than a single hero. Its interwoven lives make private choices and social constraints unusually visible, though the length and reflective narration ask for a sustained reading rhythm.

What it's about

In a provincial town before the Reform Bill, Dorothea Brooke and Dr. Tertius Lydgate both chase useful lives and make painful marriages. Eliot turns local gossip, politics, money, and ambition into a broad human drama.

Also recommended by

1 person
11
Book cover for "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace ThackerayView on Amazon

Vanity Fair

by William Makepeace Thackeray1847

For readers who enjoy social satire with a crowded cast and few easy heroes. Its wide view exposes ambition across classes, though the narrator’s interruptions and long serial structure demand a larger commitment than shorter classics.

What it's about

Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley move through war, marriage, debt, and drawing rooms in a novel that strips the polish off polite society. It is funny, sharp, and crowded with people chasing rank, money, and security.

12
Book cover for "Anna Karenina" by Leo TolstoyView on Amazon

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy1877

For readers who enjoy relationships examined within a broad social world. Its parallel lives give love, work, and moral judgment unusual scope, though the length and shifts into agriculture and social debate require patience.

What it's about

Anna Karenina intertwines the doomed affair between Anna and Count Vronsky with the quieter courtship and marriage of Levin and Kitty. Tolstoy sets passion, family duty, and social judgment against vivid scenes of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Russian countryside.

Also recommended by

11 people
  • Oprah Winfrey recommended this book
  • Jordan Peterson recommended this book
  • Chelsea Handler recommended this book
  • Jennifer Lawrence recommended this book
  • Sam Altman recommended this book
  • Laura R Walker recommended this book
  • +5

    More recommendations

    • Austen Allred
      Austen Allred recommended this book on Twitter.
    • Jen Wilkin
      "Such good writing, so many pages." - Jen Wilkin
    • Ernest Hemingway
      Ernest Hemingway recommended this book in the "Ernest Hemingway on Writing" book.
    • Bret Easton Ellis
      "If you've never read a novel pick up [this book] and you will have the most intensely jolting and cinematic experience ever." - Bret Easton Ellis
    • Peter Thiel
      "All happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own special way." - Peter Thiel
13
Book cover for "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor DostoevskyView on Amazon

Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoevsky1866

For readers who want sustained psychological and moral pressure. Its close attention to rationalization makes crime an inward struggle as well as an investigation, though the intense dialogue and long digressions can feel exhausting.

What it's about

An impoverished former student in St Petersburg convinces himself he has the right to kill a cruel pawnbroker for a greater good. After the murder, the novel follows his feverish attempts to outwit the police and his own conscience in a story of guilt, suffering, and moral rebirth.

Also recommended by

10 people
  • Jordan Peterson recommended this book
  • Esther Perel recommended this book
  • Larry King recommended this book
  • Christopher Hitchens recommended this book
  • PewDiePie recommended this book
  • Jim Cramer recommended this book
  • +4

    More recommendations

    • Ernest Hemingway
      Ernest Hemingway recommended this book in the "Ernest Hemingway on Writing" book.
    • Jim Carrey
      Jim Carrey mentioned this book in an Amazon Book Review interview.
    • Brian Dean
      "Classic for a reason: great story, great characters, great writing." - Brian Dean
    • Jack Edwards
      "Great." - Jack Edwards
14
Book cover for "The Catcher in the Rye" by JD SalingerView on Amazon

The Catcher in the Rye

by JD Salinger1951

For readers drawn to a strong, troubled narrative voice. Its intimate treatment of grief and alienation offers a different entry into classic fiction, though the repetitive complaints can frustrate readers who need an engaging external plot.

What it's about

After being expelled from prep school, Holden Caulfield drifts through New York for a few raw, lonely days. His voice is funny and defensive, but the novel's real pull is the grief, confusion, and longing underneath it.

Also recommended by

8 people
  • Bill Gates recommended this book
  • Jennifer Lawrence recommended this book
  • Gretchen Rubin recommended this book
  • Ev Williams recommended this book
  • Larry King recommended this book
  • Tim Draper recommended this book
  • +2

    More recommendations

    • Kathie Lee Gifford
      "It was the first 'anti-hero' I had ever encountered and I thoroughly fell for Holden Caulfield." - Kathie Lee Gifford
    • Sarah Jessica Parker
      "Things to do to pass the time before Friday night’s event at Ulta in New Jersey? Re-read [this book]." - Sarah Jessica Parker
15
Book cover for "Of Mice and Men" by John SteinbeckView on Amazon

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck1937

For readers seeking a brief, direct story about companionship and precarious work. Its concentrated scenes give the central relationship force, though violence, disability stereotypes, and period slurs make it a challenging emotional read.

What it's about

Of Mice and Men follows migrant ranch hands George and Lennie, close friends chasing a simple dream of their own small farm, as one impulsive act on a California ranch threatens both their livelihood and their fragile hope.

Also recommended by

2 people
16
Book cover for "Persuasion" by Jane AustenView on Amazon

Persuasion

by Jane Austen1818

For readers who prefer quiet emotion and second chances to sparkling social combat. Its mature central perspective gives regret unusual weight, though the understated action and subtle social judgments reward slower, attentive reading.

What it's about

Eight years after being persuaded to reject Captain Wentworth, Anne Elliot meets him again and gets one last chance to read her own heart honestly. This is Austen's most quietly emotional novel, full of regret and renewal.

Also recommended by

1 person
  • Christopher Hitchens recommended this book
17
Book cover for "Animal Farm" by George OrwellView on Amazon

Animal Farm

by George Orwell1945

For readers who want a brief political fable with a clear surface story. Its simplicity makes changes in power easy to track, though the historical allegory and bleak outlook benefit from discussion beyond a first reading.

What it's about

On a small farm, the animals overthrow their human master and promise equality, only to see new rulers rise in their place. This short, biting fable exposes how revolutions can be twisted into tyranny through fear, slogans, and lies.

Also recommended by

8 people
18
Book cover for "Moby Dick" by Herman MelvilleView on Amazon

Moby Dick

by Herman Melville1851

For readers who enjoy a novel that moves between adventure, symbolism, and encyclopedic curiosity. Its language and scale make obsession feel immense, though chapters about whaling repeatedly interrupt the voyage’s forward motion.

What it's about

Sailor Ishmael ships aboard the whaling vessel Pequod and watches Captain Ahab drive his crew on a relentless hunt for the white whale that maimed him. Part sea adventure, part meditation on fate and obsession, this novel rewards slow, immersive reading.

Also recommended by

6 people
19
Book cover for "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper LeeView on Amazon

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, Book 1

by Harper Lee1960

For readers who want a childhood perspective on injustice and moral courage. Its conversational storytelling makes difficult questions approachable, though the racial politics are filtered through a white family’s viewpoint and require critical attention.

What it's about

A young girl grows up in a Southern town shaped by racial prejudice while her lawyer father defends a Black man accused of a serious crime. His case brings questions of justice, courage and compassion into her childhood.

Also recommended by

5 people
20
Book cover for "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua AchebeView on Amazon

Things Fall Apart

African Trilogy, Book 1

by Chinua Achebe

For readers who want colonial change examined from within an African community. Its attention to customs and internal disagreements gives the setting depth, though unfamiliar terms and a restrained narrative voice reward patient attention.

What it's about

Okonkwo seeks status and strength within his Igbo community, struggling with family obligations and his fear of weakness. The arrival of Christian missionaries and British colonial authority intensifies conflicts between personal ambition, communal traditions, and a changing social order.

Also recommended by

4 people
21
Book cover for "Beloved" by Toni MorrisonView on Amazon

Beloved

by Toni Morrison1987

For readers ready for a demanding novel about slavery’s continuing presence in memory and family life. Its layered voices give trauma unusual formal depth, though shifting timelines and extreme violence require concentration and emotional space.

What it's about

Sethe, once enslaved and now living in post–Civil War Ohio, is haunted by the child she lost and the past she cannot outrun. When a mysterious young woman called Beloved appears, memory, grief, and haunting take on devastating new forms.

Also recommended by

2 people
22
Book cover for "The Time Machine" by HG WellsView on Amazon

The Time Machine

by HG Wells1895

For readers who want a short route into early science fiction and social speculation. Its future worlds connect adventure with class questions, though the compact characters and Victorian assumptions leave some ideas only briefly developed.

What it's about

A Victorian inventor travels far into the future and encounters the gentle Eloi and the underground Morlocks. What first seems a peaceful world conceals a disturbing relationship, forcing him to question humanity's progress and his own safety.

Also recommended by

2 people
23
Book cover for "Dracula" by Bram StokerView on Amazon

Dracula

by Bram Stoker1897

For readers who enjoy slow building horror assembled from multiple accounts. Its documents make discovery feel collaborative and uncertain, though the lengthy pursuit and Victorian assumptions about gender and foreignness can feel dated.

What it's about

Told through diaries, letters, and news clippings, *Dracula* follows Jonathan Harker, his fiancée Mina, and their friends as they confront a Transylvanian count who brings vampirism to Victorian England, pitting modern science and faith against a very old evil.

Also recommended by

1 person
24
Book cover for "Brave New World" by Aldous HuxleyView on Amazon

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley1932

For readers interested in control through comfort, consumption, and social conditioning. Its satirical world provides a useful counterpart to 1984, though some characters function more as arguments than as fully rounded people.

What it's about

In the World State, people are engineered, conditioned, and kept docile by pleasure. Huxley's classic dystopia follows a few uneasy outsiders as they discover the human cost of a perfectly managed society.

Also recommended by

10 people
25
Book cover for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis CarrollView on Amazon

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland, Book 2

by Lewis Carroll1865

For readers who like wordplay, absurd situations, and playful challenges to logic. Its short episodes make it easy to sample, though anyone seeking conventional character development or a steadily advancing plot may find it disorienting.

What it's about

When young Alice chases a White Rabbit down a hole, she lands in a surreal world of changing sizes and nonsensical creatures. She must navigate tea parties, croquet games, and a trial, all while trying to keep her head.

Also recommended by

5 people
  • Naval Ravikant recommended this book
  • Richa Chadha recommended this book
  • Russell Brand recommended this book
  • Sahil Lavingia recommended this book
  • Salman Rushdie recommended this book
26
Book cover for "Catch-22" by Joseph HellerView on Amazon

Catch-22

Catch 22, Book 1

by Joseph Heller1961

For readers who appreciate dark comedy about institutions and the absurdity of war. Its recurring contradictions gather force as the structure unfolds, though the nonlinear sequence and large cast can feel deliberately confusing at first.

What it's about

On a small island off Italy during World War II, bombardier Yossarian tries to stay alive while military bureaucracy keeps inventing new reasons he has to keep flying. Funny, furious, and unsettling, it's a war novel about absurd rules and ordinary fear.

Also recommended by

4 people
27
Book cover for "Lord of the Flies" by William GoldingView on Amazon

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding1954

For readers who want a short, unsettling examination of group power and fear. Its confined setting gives the conflict clarity, though the symbolic characters and harsh violence make it more disturbing than a simple adventure.

What it's about

A group of schoolboys crash on a deserted island and try to govern themselves without adults. Fear, power struggles, and the fantasy of a beast slowly turn play into savagery.

Also recommended by

4 people
28
Book cover for "In Cold Blood" by Truman CapoteView on Amazon

In Cold Blood

by Truman Capote1965

For readers who prefer narrative nonfiction and want to explore a formative true crime book. Its close character portraits create sustained tension, though the intimate treatment of killers and questions about reconstructed scenes require a critical eye.

What it's about

Capote’s nonfiction novel reconstructs the 1959 murder of the Clutter family in rural Kansas, following the investigation and the lives of killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. Combining immersive reporting with novelistic detail, it helped define the modern true crime book.

Also recommended by

3 people
  • Ben Shapiro recommended this book
  • Sam Harris recommended this book
  • Tim Draper recommended this book
29
Book cover for "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret AtwoodView on Amazon

The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale, Book 1

by Margaret Atwood1986

For readers interested in power over women’s bodies and the private experience of oppression. Its restrained first person voice makes uncertainty central to the reading, though sexual coercion and deliberately incomplete information can be difficult.

What it's about

In the theocratic Republic of Gilead, Offred is forced into servitude as a Handmaid, valued only for her fertility. Under constant surveillance, she clings to memories of her old life and tests the limits of quiet resistance.

Also recommended by

3 people
30
Book cover for "Orlando" by Virginia WoolfView on Amazon

Orlando

A Biography

by Virginia Woolf1928

For readers who enjoy playful experiments with identity, time, and literary history. Its mock biography offers more formal freedom than a conventional life story, though the satire and shifting centuries can be slippery without historical context.

What it's about

This mock biography follows Orlando across centuries of English history, and from life as a man into life as a woman. It is witty, quick, and full of questions about identity, time, and gender.

31
Book cover for "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia MarquezView on Amazon

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez1967

For readers who enjoy family sagas that mingle history with the marvelous. Its recurring patterns create a distinctive sense of time, though repeated names and a large family make attentive reading especially helpful.

What it's about

The rise and fall of the Buendia family unfolds alongside the equally strange history of Macondo. Love, war, invention, grief, and the marvelous crowd into a novel that feels both intimate and immense.

Also recommended by

9 people
32
Book cover for "The Color Purple" by Alice WalkerView on Amazon

The Color Purple

Color Purple, Book 1

by Alice Walker1982

For readers interested in women finding language, friendship, and independence under oppression. Its letters create unusual intimacy and emotional range, though sexual abuse and domestic violence make several passages difficult to read.

What it's about

Through letters written by Celie, Walker tells a story of abuse, separation, friendship, and hard-won selfhood in the rural South. The novel is painful, funny, and deeply humane, building toward voice, love, and a life reclaimed.

Also recommended by

4 people
33
Book cover for "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia PlathView on Amazon

The Bell Jar

A Novel

by Sylvia Plath

For readers who want an intimate account of psychological crisis and restrictive expectations. Its dry humor distinguishes it from a purely solemn treatment, though suicide and mental health themes make it emotionally demanding.

What it's about

Esther Greenwood wins a magazine internship in New York, yet finds herself increasingly alienated from the future expected of her. Sylvia Plath's novel follows her psychological crisis amid restrictive social conventions and strained personal relationships.

Also recommended by

2 people
  • Chloë Grace Moretz recommended this book
  • Christopher Hitchens recommended this book
34
Book cover for "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man" by James Weldon JohnsonView on Amazon

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

by James Weldon Johnson

For readers interested in racial identity and the pressures of passing. Its fictional memoir gives social choices a personal frame, though the detached narrator and period terminology require attention to the gap between narration and judgment.

What it's about

An unnamed biracial musician recounts his upbringing and travels in post-Reconstruction America, confronting racism and competing possibilities for his future. Written as a fictional autobiography, the novel examines racial identity, artistic ambition, and the pressures surrounding the decision to pass as white.

35
Book cover for "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale HurstonView on Amazon

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston1937

For readers interested in self determination, storytelling, and the richness of spoken language. Its combination of lyrical narration and dialogue gives personal experience a strong voice, though the dialect asks for an adjustment in reading rhythm.

What it's about

Janie Crawford looks back on three marriages and the long road to her own voice. Set in Florida, it is a love story, a coming-of-age story, and a hard-won search for freedom.

Also recommended by

2 people
36
Book cover for "No-No Boy" by John OkadaView on Amazon

No-No Boy

by John Okada

For readers who want the aftermath of Japanese American incarceration examined through conflict within a community. Its anger and moral uncertainty complicate simple ideas of loyalty, though the intense internal arguments can feel emotionally claustrophobic.

What it's about

Ichiro Yamada returns to Seattle after imprisonment for refusing to pledge military service and loyalty to the country that incarcerated his family. Facing rejection within his Japanese American community, he struggles with guilt, identity, and the aftermath of wartime confinement.

Sources

  1. 1

    100 must-read classics, as chosen by our readers

    penguin.co.uk

  2. 2

    Classic books to read at least once in your lifetime

    panmacmillan.com

  3. 3

    29 Best Classic Books actually worth reading for Adults and why read them

    mrusbooksnreviews.com

  4. 4

    50 Classic Books Everyone Should Read (Updated 2026)

    lovereading.co.uk

  5. 5

    Best classics

    goodreads.com

  6. 6

    Books To Read Before You Die

    penguinrandomhouse.com

  7. 7

    Classic English Literature

    fivebooks.com

  8. 8

    What is your top 10 classic books that you would recommend for someone who wants to get into reading classics for the first time without being intimidated?

    reddit.com

  9. 9

    Classic Reccomandations

    reddit.com

Other Lists

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

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Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shape MRB and its growth.

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