List of Classic Books to Read Before You Die

My daughter came home from school with a list of books considered to be “classics”. Her teacher said everyone should read these books before they die.

I found this list fascinating and have had much fun crossing off books I have already read and hitting the library, my favorite local bookstore or Amazon.com to pick up those I have not. Some on the list surprised me. For example, I love “Cold Sassy Tree”, but had never heard it referred to as a classic. And three books by Virginia Hamilton? I have never read her before.

I am sure you will find some of your favorites missing although it is a fairly complete list. See what you think and let me know.  

Many thanks to my daughter's Reading teacher, Mrs. Kayser, for providing the list. What would the world be without fabulous, caring, inspiring teachers?

Happy reading!

• A Death in the Family James Agee
• Little Women Louisa May Alcott
• Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
• The Fantastic Voyage Isaac Asimov
• Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
• Light a Single Candle B. Balter
• Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Barnes
• When the Legends Die Hal Borland
• Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
• Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
• To Sir with Love E.R. Braithwaite
• Home Before Dark Sue Ellen Bridger
• Notes for Another Life Sue Ellen Bridger
• Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
• The Big Wave Pearl Buck
• The Good Earth Pearl Buck
• The Stranger Albert Camus
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
• My Antonia Willa Cather
• The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov
• Ten Little Indians Agatha Christie
• Where the Lilies Bloom Vera and Bill Cleaver
• Molly’s Pilgrim Barbara Cohen
• War Comes to Willie Freeman J.H. Collier
• The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
• Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
• I Heard the Owl Call my Name Margaret Craven
• David Copperfield Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations Charles Dickens
• A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
• Ragtime E.L. Doctorow
• Adventures of Sherlock Homes Arthur Conan Doyle
• Silas Marner George Eliot
• Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
• April Morning Howard Fast
• The Portable Faulkner William Faulkner
• The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
• Johnny Tremaine Esther Forbes
• The Slave Dancer Paula Fox
• Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank
• The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Ernest J. Gaines
• Julie of the Wolves Jean C. George
• Old Yeller Fred Gipson
• Lord of the Flies William Golding
• Summer of my German Soldier Bette Greene
• Death be not Proud John Gunther
• The House of Dies Drear Virginia Hamilton
• Zeely Virginia Hamilton
• M.C. Higgins the Great Virginia Hamilton
• A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry
• The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy
• The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
• The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
• All Creatures Great and Small James Herriot
• Outsiders S.E. Hinton
• Tex S. E. Hinton
• Brave New World Aldous Huxley
• A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce
• The Story of my Life Helen Keller
• Gentlehands M.E. Kerr
• Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes
• Stride toward Freedom Martin Luther King Jr.
• A Separate Peace John Knowles
• To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
• Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis
• Main Street Sinclair Lewis
• Call of the Wild Jack London

• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
• The Member of the Wedding Carson McCullers
• Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet to Remember P. McKissack
• Moby Dick Herman Melville
• The Crucible Arthur Miller
• Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller
• Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
• Scorpions Walter Dean Myers
• Island of the Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell
• Animal Farm George Orwell
• Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
• Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
• Jacob Have I Loved Katherine Paterson
• Summer of the Swans Katherine Paterson
• Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton
• Hatchet Gary Paulsen
• A Day No Pigs Would Die Richard Peck
• The Chosen Chaim Potok
• The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
• Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls
• All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque
• The King Must Die Mary Renault
• A Light in the Forest Conrad Richter
• Cyrano de Bergerac Edmond Rosmond
• The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
• Hamlet William Shakespeare
• Macbeth William Shakespeare
• A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare
• Pygmalion George Bernard Shaw
• The Rivals Richard B. Sheridan
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Alexander Solzhenitsyn
• Antigone Sophocles
• Sign of the Beaver Elizabeth George Speare
• The Witch of Black Bird Pond Elizabeth George Speare
• East of Eden John Steinbeck
• The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
• Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
• The Pearl John Steinbeck
• The Red Pony John Steinbeck
• Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
• The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkein
• The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkein
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
• Rabbit, Run John Updyke
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
• Dicey's Song Cynthia Volght
• Ethan Frome Edith Wharton
• Once and Future King T.H. White
• The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
• Little House in the Big Woods (series) Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
• The Matchmaker Thornton Wilder
• Our Town Thornton Wilder
• The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams
• Native Son Richard Wright