Classics

A classic stands the test of time. The work is usually considered to be a representation of the period in which it was written; and the work merits lasting recognition. In other words, if the book was published in the recent past, the work is not a classic.

A classic has a certain universal appeal. Great works of literature touch us to our very core beings--partly because they integrate themes that are understood by readers from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of experience. Themes of love, hate, death, life, and faith touch upon some of our most basic emotional responses.

Although the
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Animal Farm
And Then There Were None
The Great Gatsby
Pride and Prejudice
Fahrenheit 451
Murder on the Orient Express
The Bell Jar
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Metamorphosis
The Old Man and the Sea
Of Mice and Men
The Yellow Wall-Paper
Dune
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Flowers for Algernon
  • Of One Blood by Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins
    Of One Blood
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    Release date: Aug 02, 2022
    We are excited to share galleys for Of One Blood (Radium Age series), considered one of the earliest articulations of Black internationalism.
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    Format: Print book

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    Availability: 5 copies available, 1727 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Jun 20 - Jul 03, 2022

    Countries available: U.S.

  • The Writing of Fiction by Edith Wharton
    The Writing of Fiction
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    Release date: Jun 07, 2022
    We're giving away 25 copies of Edith Wharton's classic guide, The Writing of Fiction, with a new look and a new introduction from Brandon Taylor! ...more
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    Format: Print book

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    Availability: 25 copies available, 2463 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Jun 09 - Jul 09, 2022

    Countries available: U.S.

  • The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
    The Custom of the Country
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    Release date: Jun 07, 2022
    We're giving away 25 copies of Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country (one word: Undine!)—with a new look and a new intro from Brandon Taylor! ...more
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    Format: Print book

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    Availability: 25 copies available, 4427 people requesting

    Giveaway dates: Jun 09 - Jul 09, 2022

    Countries available: U.S.

  • Pride and Prejudice
    The Great Gatsby
    Jane Eyre
    1984
    Wuthering Heights
    Animal Farm
    The Catcher in the Rye
    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    Little Women
    Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
    Lord of the Flies
    Romeo and Juliet
    Of Mice and Men
    Sense and Sensibility
    The Holy Bible by AnonymousThe Origin of Species by Charles Darwinالقرآن الكريم by AnonymousThe Complete Works by William ShakespeareThe Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
    The Most Influential Books
    1,285 books — 5,246 voters
    1984 by George OrwellThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerAnimal Farm by George OrwellFahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
    Cult Classics
    1,460 books — 1,834 voters

    To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeRomeo and Juliet by William ShakespeareThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldLord of the Flies by William GoldingAnimal Farm by George Orwell
    Required Reading in High School
    790 books — 1,205 voters
    The Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsCatching Fire by Suzanne CollinsHarry Potter Series Box Set by J.K. RowlingMockingjay by Suzanne CollinsHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
    Must Read Books- Different Genres
    6,496 books — 4,654 voters

    The Girl on the Train by Paula HawkinsThe Fault in Our Stars by John GreenGone Girl by Gillian FlynnThe Martian by Andy WeirWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
    What we've read so far in...2015
    9,923 books — 2,155 voters


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    Charlotte Brontë
    “ No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mould, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise. ”
    ― Charlotte Brontë, Villette

    Leo Tolstoy
    “ All the girls in the world were divided into two classes: one class included all the girls in the world except her, and they had all the usual human feelings and were very ordinary girls; while the other class -herself alone- had no weaknesses and was superior to all humanity. ”
    ― Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

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