Recently on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we asked for you favorite classic books, and you flooded us with responses. Some of you even suggested books we weren’t familiar with. We collected all the responses and tallied them up to give us the 10 ten favorite classics according to Better World Books customers:
10. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The ultimate big fish story received several mentions. This classic recently saw some cinematic attention from the film, In the Heart of the Sea, which recounted a giant whale sinking of a New England whaling ship. This event later inspired Melville when he wrote Moby Dick. Get a copy.
9. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
This epic tale is currently unfolding on the small screen through the BBC miniseries, which is sure to spark interest in one of history’s great works of literature. Get a copy.
8. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Not to be confused with the candy bar, this classic was originally released in serial form in the newspaper Le Siècle between March and July 1844. Get a copy.
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë originally published this work under the pseudonym “Ellis Bell.” after her death, her sister Charlotte, author of Jane Eyre, published a new edition revealing Emily as the author. Get a copy.
6. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A 2010 article in The Telegraph states that A Tale of Two Cities had sold over 200 million copies up to that time making it the bestselling novel of all time. Get a copy.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The novel, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, has been adapted many times. Mostly recently, a web series called The March Family Letters, brought the story of these sisters to a new generation on YouTube. You can read more about that series and other classics adapted for YouTube in a previous post. Get a copy.
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Dumas is the only writer to show up twice in the top ten. This classic tale of vengeance and justice was strangely adapted into a phone app in 2014. Get a copy.
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Like most of the classics on this list, P&P has been adapted many times. This year it will be showing theaters with slightly more zombies than fans of the original may recall in the movie version of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was also adapted for YouTube as the Emmy-winning Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Get a copy.
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To Kill A Mockingbird was Lee’s only published novel until last year’s release of the controversial Go Set A Watchman. Regardless of the controversy surrounding the new book, Mockingbird remains a widely loved story. Get a copy.
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre was mentioned more than any other book on our social media sites. When it was published in 1874, it was well received by the public but was criticized for its disruptive take on gender and class roles. In the December 1848 issue of the Quarterly Review, Elizabeth Rigby called Jane a “personification of an unregenerate and undisciplined spirit” and the novel as a whole, “anti-Christian.” Get a copy.
What other classics do you love? Tell us in the comments.
