10 Classics that Are Must Reads - By: Aubrey Moulton

There are so many fantastic books to read. Classics are everywhere you look. But if you’re someone who reads sparingly, there can be too many books to read. Then it can be difficult to decide which ones to pick. These 10 books are great ones to read for the first or even a fifth time.

1. 1984 - George Orwell
This is a remarkable anti-utopian work for elderly and young alike. Orwell writes about the political future planned for the world by forces the characters aren’t supposed to know about. This society ultimately goes mad with power. And eventually, "Big Brother," the eye of the government, stops these characters from living normal lives.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
This takes a look at racial inequality. There are a plethora of moral heroes throughout the book and the author addresses many issues that were representative of American life in the deep South. It is a choice coming of age book.

3. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
With this novel you become a part of the French Revolution. You are shown what unfolded in France and England during this time and what motivated these citizens. The book contrasts the two cities and provides rich details of the kinds of characters concerned. Get to know these characters and empathize with the pathos of the period through Dickens' masterful writing.

4. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Set during the Great Depression, this work of fiction focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers who had to relocate from Oklahoma to California in order to search for land and work. Middle America was actually a dust bowl and this explores the economic hardship families faced, and what these struggles did to them emotionally as well.

5. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
In the English aristocratic society the main character faces the issues of good manners, moral rectitude, schooling and marriage. Will amity be able to bloom and overcome the prejudice and pride held by these opinionated characters and the society in which they exist?

6. Call of the Wild - Jack London
A previously domesticated sled dog is forcefully taken to the Yukon during the Gold Rush. You'll find cruelty and violence and an exploration of the primal nature of both man and beast.

7. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
The themes in the book take in anticipation, justice, retribution, compassion, exoneration, and death. The protagonist faces unfair incarceration but after a sly breakout he seeks a settling of scores against those who betrayed him. Will he find his revenge or let love expand in his heart?

8. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
This novel is about an ambulance driver in the Italian army during World War I. The character falls in love with Catherine Barkley and the novel looks closely at their relationship and the conflict. If you like conciseness and desolation, you are guaranteed to love this book, and all Hemingway ever wrote.

9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy saw Anna Karenina as his first real novel and it has been labeled in the Top Ten in 2007 as the “greatest novel ever written.” Russian critics have labeled it as a “middling romance of high life” but it is a great deal more. Tolstoy is a master of characterization. You will be deeply moved by his portrait of the agony of the main character.

10. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
This South African author centers the novel on apartheid. It covers the fight against inequality in South Africa and is one of the saddest and most bitter novels. You will learn a lot by reading this book.

Hopefully, this top 10 list can help you make your mind up which stories to read or reread. They are classics that are dearly loved throughout the world and they cover very different topics. These books will keep you interested with their various plot twists and deeply moving scenes. It is our hope that this list will help you determine the best classics to read.

There are so many fantastic books to read. Classics are everywhere you look. But if you’re not an avid reader, there are too many books to read. Then it can be hard to decide which ones to pick. These 10 books are superb choices to read for the first or even a fifth time.

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