31 Best Classic Books

"My favorite literary heroine is Jo March." - J.K. Rowling

"Was written more than a century ago, but its message resonates today." - Hillary Clinton

"I felt like I was almost there with them in their living room and their kitchen." - Maya Angelou

"I read [this book], I'm not gonna lie, every year at Christmas. Because it makes me happy." - Shonda Rhimes

"My favorite book." - Kathie Lee Gifford

One of Hillary Clinton's 3 answers to "Is there one book you wish all students would read?"

"In terms of classics, you can’t do better than [this author] for understanding the human soul." - Tim O’Reilly

"[The author]'s dark vision." - Tristan Harris

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

J. Cole mentioned reading this book on The Fayetteville Observer.

On the "books read" section of Emma Watson's GoodReads profile.

On the "Top 100 Books Referenced by Noam Chomsky" list.

Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.

"Taylor Swift's 'Delicate' video is full of parallels to [this book]." - Korey Lane

"Melinda and I really like [this book]. When we were first dating, she had a green light that she would turn on when her office was empty and it made sense for me to come over." - Bill Gates

"I can’t do that. I’m sorry. I’ll never be a novelist." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

"I’ve read [this book] at different points in my life." - Daniel Pink

On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.

"I'm a sucker for efficiency. This book gets so much out of what is, ultimately, a rather slim story. I adore it." - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"[The storytelling] makes your mind wander." - Taylor Swift

"I remember starting it and just devouring it, not being able to get enough of it, because I fell in love with Scout." - Oprah Winfrey

"This story of tragic injustice resonated in my young mind and still does. It should be required reading for everyone." - Kathie Lee Gifford

"[One of] the 10 best fiction books." - James Clear

"My favorite book." - Bill Gates

"I'm so drawn to [the author]'s view of society back then, and to his sarcasm." - Jennifer Lawrence

"Was not written to be a young adult book. It’s an adult book. But it sort of drifted there because the protagonist is a teenager." - Gretchen Rubin

On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.

"I love [this book]. I read it at four different times in my life. Teenager and later." - Larry King

"My [mother] recommended [this book]." - Tim Draper

"A brutally honest assessment of human nature at its best and worst." - Hillary Clinton

"I've heard amazing things about this book from a person that I trust." - Emma Watson

"I admired the fierce honesty in the single-mindedly feminist world-view of this book." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"Brilliant." - Shonda Rhimes

"The God of all writing." - Shonda Rhimes

"[I recommend this book] because everything." - Tavi Gevinson

"It's pretty clear from [this book] that [the author] was in sympathy with [her father's] educational philosophy." - David Deutsch

"Great book." - Glenn Beck

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"I have read it at least 10 times since I was 14. In my opinion, the romance in it is scarcely found in books today." - Chloë Grace Moretz

"[The author] weaves an extravagant web." - Oprah Winfrey

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"I don't know if I have to expound on why I love this book, but everyone should read [this author], and this was the first one of his works I read. So, it's like a first boyfriend. Or my first Cabbage Patch Kid." - Chelsea Handler

"I thought I wouldn't want to finish an 800-page book, but then I started slowing down and reading the same chapters over and over." - Jennifer Lawrence

This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.

"A great novel that I have read three times." - Laura R Walker

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"The best science fiction book ever, definitely the most prescient." - Yuval Noah Harari

"Slightly older and less well known [than 1984] but equally chilling vision." - Tristan Harris

Matt Mullenweg mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

Stewart Brand recommended this book on his "Selected Books for the Manual for Civilization" blog post.

This book was on Sam Altman's bookshelf.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recommended this book on Twitter.

"A good book to appreciate." - Neil Strauss

Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.

"As steamy, dense and sensual as the jungle that surrounds the surreal town of Macondo!" - Oprah Winfrey

"If you’ve never written a book and you’re going to tell somebody you want to write a great book, [...] read this and know what a great book is." - Cal Fussman

"Epic." - Christopher Hitchens

Naval Ravikant's answer to "first book which started your lifelong journey of reading?"

"I was greatly influenced by [this book] in my formative years." - Richa Chadha

"Has so much to teach us. It’s an archetypal tale about recognising that there are different layers of reality." - Russell Brand

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

"The books we love change the way we see the world. For me it all began with [this book]." - Salman Rushdie

"I am re reading now." - Shah Rukh Khan

"I think [Bill Gates] must be some kind of reincarnation of Milo Minderbinder from [this book]." - Larry Ellison

"I used to buy [this book] for a lot of people because I just thought if you hadn’t read it, you had to but maybe that era is over." - Mark Bittman

"A good one!" - Fred Wilson

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

Scott Belsky mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.

On the "books read" section of Ev Williams' GoodReads profile.

"The first book that absolutely threw me." - Douglas Murray

Barack Obama's favorite books of 2018 list.

"The first book I read by an African author. Achebe is unflinching in his portrayal of the challenges of change, the relationships of colonialism, and power/powerlessness." - Jacqueline Novogratz

"[The author's] classic." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Sarah Jessica Parker shared this book on Instagram.

"Truman Capote's best book. It's a really, really good book." - Ben Shapiro

"If you just want to forget about the future and lose yourself in the book that forever changed how narrative nonfiction is written, read [this book]." - Sam Harris

"My [mother] recommended [this book]." - Tim Draper

"Has started drifting into YA." - Gretchen Rubin

"My feeling of kinship with [this book] has never waned." - Alice Walker

"One of those that when you read it, kinda changes you." - Shonda Rhimes

On the "books read" section of Emma Watson's GoodReads profile.

"I loved [this book]." - Daniel Pink

"I'll like you five times more if you have read this book." - Jenn Im

Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.

"You get something new every time." - Oprah Winfrey

Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.

"I felt very adult reading this book. I loved the dueling simplicity and complexity." - Kathie Lee Gifford

"Can be really interesting [as a movie] — if it's done the right way" - Chloë Grace Moretz

"When I myself first read [this book], the phrase of hers that most arrested me was the one with which she described her father's hometown." - Christopher Hitchens

Sahil Lavingia recommended this book on Notion.

"A wonderful book." - Winston Churchill

Jennifer Lopez recommended this book on Twitter.

"Gotta be read." - Shonda Rhimes

Patrick Collison labeled this book "substantially above average."

"Captain Frederick Wentworth in [this book], is partly of interest to the female sex because of the 'prize' loot he has extracted from his encounters with Bonaparte's navy." - Christopher Hitchens