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For the past few years, I've been making an effort to read more classics. I end up hating most of them. That's okay because I do it for the sake of pretentiousness. I didn't enjoy reading War And Peace, but I love telling the whole world that I have read War And Peace.
Here are 10 classics I'm hoping to read soon. I want to read all of them for the exact same reason. They may not be my preferred type of book, but they're so popular that I need to know what the hype is about.
Classics I Want To Read
The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck
First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.
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The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Set in the deep American South between the wars, The Color Purple is the tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped in an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery—and magic-maker—a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually, Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.
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Anne Of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
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A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
A poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years.
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Memoirs Of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion.
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Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.
Until something goes wrong . . .
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The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, meet weekly to play mahjong and tell stories of what they left behind in China. United in loss and new hope for their daughters' futures, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Their daughters, who have never heard these stories, think their mothers' advice is irrelevant to their modern American lives—until their own inner crises reveal how much they've unknowingly inherited of their mothers' pasts.
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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart tells two intertwining stories, both centering on Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first, a powerful fable of the immemorial conflict between the individual and society, traces Okonkwo’s fall from grace with the tribal world. The second, as modern as the first is ancient, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world with the arrival of aggressive European missionaries.
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The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates.
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The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Almost fifty years ago, a classic was born. A searing portrayal of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and their powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor. The seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and the allegiance to family—these are the themes that have resonated with millions of readers around the world.
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Have you read any of these? What did you think of them?
Anne of Green Gables is so charming! I read it a few years ago and loved it. I read Jurassic Park as a teenager - it's really good, but very science-y!
ReplyDeleteI have read 6 of them. My favorite here is A Tree Grow sin Bokklyn. Fabulous!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite by Steinbeck is East of Eden.
There are tons of dfferent genres in classics, I'm sure you will find some to enjoy.
Here is my latest list:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/12/06/my-5th-list-for-the-classics-club-december-2024-november-2029/
And for TTT today: https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/03/18/top-ten-books-on-my-spring-2025-tbr/
Haha, I read classics for the same reason! I usually end up enjoying them, though. I actually loved War and Peace, especially after I watched the BBC miniseries! I've only read Anne of Green Gables from your list.
ReplyDeleteI really liked The Joy Luck Club.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
I feel the same way about a lot of classics, but I have really liked some of them like The Grapes of Wrath!
ReplyDeleteI am the same with classics, I rarely find ones I like. I did enjoy Anne of Green Gables and Jurassic Park.
ReplyDeleteI rarely read classics either, Aj. It a fear of being disappointed that keeps me from them. Maybe high school reading ruined classics for me. Anne of Green Gables is wonderful, and the series only improved as Anne aged. L.M. Montgomery is heavy on descriptions, though. Hope you read some of these soon.
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/03/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-books-on-my.html
Haha so true. I'm the same way with classics. omg some are so boring or take forever. Jurassic Park though- that was fun.
ReplyDeleteI read The Sun Also Rises in high school, so sadly don't remember a lot about it. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is one I read over 10 years ago, and don't remember a lot about it other than it's long. Anne of Green Gables is a great read, with a wonderful cast of characters. I hope you enjoy reading all of these in the coming months.
ReplyDeletePam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/spring-2025-tbr-ten-books-i-hope-to-read/
Anne of Green Gables is absolutely delightful. I haven't read most of the others, but I'm sure Jurassic Park would be fun. (I'm not sure I would have thought of it as a classic, but I guess it's getting there?)
ReplyDeleteI am so not a classics person either, but I've most of your list and liked them. I think of them as modern classics (i.e., not Jane Austen or the Greeks). Ha!
ReplyDeleteI read The Grapes of Wrath a few years ago and thought it was well written but completely depressing. What a sad novel! And I ended up DNFing The Color Purple. Jurassic Park was comletely fun though. I really enjoyed that one. :D Good luck reading all of these!
ReplyDeleteI'm not much into classics classics, but I tend to like modern classics more. I've read seven of the books you list, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES being my favorite of them. JURASSIC PARK is entertaining. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA is interesting. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN is a little dull at times, but it's a good read. I'm about to reread THE JOY LUCK CLUB. I really enjoyed it when I read it years ago. I hope you enjoy at least some of these!
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
I've read seven of them and all of them fantastic. Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI read The Color Purple in the 80s in my youth. It was excellent (as was the film and play).
ReplyDeleteI've read "Grapes of Wrath" and "Things Fall Apart" and both are excellent. I don't know why, but I have never read "The Sun Also Rises." And I've read a lot of Hemingway, and have spent time studying his Nick Adams stories written right after WW1.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I love Anne of Green Gables! It's one of my all-time favorite classics. I hope you'll love all these books when you read them :)
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to visit, here's my TTT: https://thebooklorefairyreads.wordpress.com/2025/03/18/top-ten-tuesday-books-on-my-spring-2025-to-read-list/
I rarely read classics. I haven't read any of these although I've seen a few movies of them. Not quite the same, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI love Anne of Green Gables. I hope you enjoy all these.
ReplyDeleteI only saw the movie “The Godfather” but I have read the other books on this list. Liked them all. I agree with Helen, that they are modern classics — as she says, not Jane Austen, not the Greeks, and to add a few, not Shakespeare, Dickens, or Melville. And I’m glad your list has several books by women!
ReplyDeletebest… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Memoirs of a Geisha is one of favourite books and the film was almost as good. I’ve read a couple of others on your list and enjoyed them too.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the reason you want to read the classics! I'm usually not interested in them. The only reason I'd want to read one is to find out, like you, what all the fuss was and if it lived up to its "classic" status. I was going to say I read Jurassic Park, but it wasn't that one it was Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. That's probably the only one on this list that I'd read.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your honesty about why you read classics. As much as I’d love people thinking I’m classy and refined because I read classics, I still can’t do it.
ReplyDeleteI have only read four. I am not as great at reading them as I once was!
ReplyDeleteI have read 4 of them .. I love Anne of Green Gables, and have a hazy memory of Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and tearing up over it).. The others are on my TBR as well (for a while now)..
ReplyDeleteMy post is here
I've been wanting to read Jurassic Park to my son. I think he'd really enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI think I've read almost all of these and they're good. Memoirs of a Geisha! That's a powerful one.
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of these! I honestly don't think I feel compelled to read many of them either, except maybe The Color Purple. Maaaybe Things Fall Apart. But other than that, probably not.
ReplyDeleteI had to read The Grapes of Wrath a couple times in school...I prefer Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.
ReplyDeleteLauren @ www.shootingstarsmag.net
I've read 5 of these, a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
I too read Classics. I'm often underwhelmed but have to ask myself what is it that has made this book have staying power? I just finished The Brothers Karamazov and enjoyed it so much. It truly deserves the delineation "Classic novel." I've linked a list of 29 Novels to Read Before You Die created by someone else but I reacted to the list. https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2025/03/sunday-salon-spring.html
ReplyDeleteOf the books on your list I highly recommend everyone read Things Fall Apart!
I loved Anne of Green Gables and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I've been meaning to read The Joy Luck Club for years...if it's half as good as The Kitchen God's Wife, I know I'd like it. I also read Memoirs of a Geisha but didn't love it; maybe it was the writing style?
ReplyDelete