Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Classics

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:

Top Ten Favorite Classic Books (however you define classic) or Top Ten Classics I Want To Read <or spin it some other way…”classics” in a specific genre?>

I’ve decided to write up a list of my favorite “classics” I was –forced– to read in school (middle school, high school, and college). I’ve always been a big book nerd, so I actually enjoyed a lot of the books we were assigned in school (I know, shocking!). Make sure you tell me if you’ve read any of these and which you loved (or didn’t) in the comments!

To Kill a Mockingbird1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This book is pretty much perfect, in my opinion. It deals so well with racism in the South. I honestly can’t put into words how beautiful I think this book is.

2. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

I don’t just love this book because the author is Scottish (and you guys know how much I love that country) nor because I could tell you about Stevenson’s inspiration, the correct way to pronounce Jekyll, when it was written, or a multitude of other information you probably don’t care about. I love this book because of its gothic eloquence, its quiet strength, its inclusion of many literary devices, and its ability to perfectly cram the HUGE story of Jekyll and Hyde into its short page count.

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Dystopian is my favorite genre, and this book is the definition of dystopian. I’ve read it several times.

4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyFahrenheit 451

I’m a bibliophile. Of course I loved this book. My heart belongs to books, and this book is all about loving and protecting the written word.

5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

This book is about one of the strongest woman I’ve ever heard of and Maya Angelou is a woman to strive to be like. I hope I can be even a fraction of the woman she is: strong, kind, and full of a passion and spirit that is beautiful.

6. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

I don’t really know if this book is considered a classic, but I adored it. In essence, this book tells you that while the big things can be really horrible and screwed up, it’s the little things that can make up for it. Never take advantage of the small things in your life. Rule 32: Enjoy the little things. 🙂

The Color Purple7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

“The more I wonder, the more I love.”

“We all have to start somewhere if us want to do better.”

8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A lot of people don’t like this book, but it is a testament to Fitzgerald’s writing that the theme of the book can still be applied to our society even now.

And two plays:

9. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare seems to be one of those dudes you either love or hate. I happen to be one of the people who love his work. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is my favorite of his plays; it feels magical whether you’re reading it or being enchanted during a live performance.

10. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

This play is so unbelievably powerful. I would highly recommend seeing a live version if you can, as well as watching the movie version with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. WOW!

So those are my favorite classics that were assigned to me in school. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What are your favorite classics?

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65 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Classics”

    • I have! But I didn’t read that one because of school; I read it because I wanted to. I could have a REALLY LONG list if I included all of the classics I’ve read just because I wanted to. I narrowed it down by choosing books I’d been assigned in school. I love Dracula. 🙂

      Reply

  3. I’m going to have to re-read The Great Gatsby now! Also, I need to read A Streetcar Named Desire for more reasons than one. First of all, it’s sad that as much as I love books I haven’t read it, and second of all, they have a Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in the French Quarter every year that I’ve been needing an excuse to go to since I live like 40 minutes away from there. Now…TO READ! Great list by the way 😀

    Reply

  5. My favorite that I had to read was actually Great Expectations! 🙂 I didn’t mind most of the books, but I remember that I absolutely hated Silas Marner. Hated it. Ugh. I’d still pick up and read Lord of the Flies today though!

    Reply

    • Great Expectations is actually one of the classics I haven’t read. It’s on my list though! I’ll definitely have to check it out if it’s your favorite!
      Oh, man. I love Lord of the Flies!! Such a great book.
      Thanks for stopping by, Allison! 🙂

      Reply

  6. We were required to read To Kill a Mockingbird back in freshman year, and although I wasn’t that enthusiastic in reading it, I was surprised by how much I loved it at the end. Though I did flop big time in my oral report ha. 😛
    I’m also really interested in reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream! 🙂

    Reply

    • I love To Kill a Mockingbird. 🙂 I’m glad you loved it in the end!
      Ahhh. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is amazing. I’ve read it so many times and seen it performed live three times. 🙂
      Thanks for stopping by and for the follow!

      Reply

  7. Jeckyll and Hyde also made my list; I decided to make a list of monster classics. 🙂

    I love everything here—-especially To Kill a Mockingbird, God of Small Things, and Lord of the Flies. Oh, and Gatsby. Yes, everything. lol

    Reply

  9. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is on my list to read. I didn’t care for Lord of the Flies, though. It’s probably the least favorite book I read in high school.

    Thanks for visiting The Book Connection.

    Reply

  14. To Kill A Mockingbird!!! Man, I loved that book 😀 I was forced to read it and didn’t think I’d enjoy it, but it was amazing. I read The Great Gatsby but didn’t like it much… in fact it took me a lot of time to finish it, lol. And I may or may not have read A Midsummer Night’s Dream… I can’t remember, haha!

    Great list 😀

    Reply

  16. Very good list! I didn’t expect to see so similarities between you and me!
    In fact you’ve mentioned 4 of my favourite books: God of Small Things,Lord of the Flies,To Kill a Mockingbird,and The Great Gatsby.It was a very pleasant surprise to see Roy’s book on your list!

    Streetcar Named Desire is also unforgettable to me,because I studied it in high school.It was a delight to read about Williams’ life and the little details he included in his play!

    As for the Colour Purple,Farenheit 451,they are both on my wish list!

    Reply

    • Yay! It’s awesome to find other people who love that book. You don’t see it around very much, but it was my favorite book I read in that class. 🙂
      I actually went to university where Tennessee Williams was born (Columbus, MS), so we were big on his plays, which worked for me because I LOVE him. 🙂

      Reply

  19. Great list! I love The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – in fact I’m a big fan of Robert Louis Stevenson as a whole. Have you read his short story The Body Snatcher? 🙂 It’s another really fun, gothic read.

    Reply

  21. Not liking Shakespeare is like not liking chocolate – I just don’t get it! One of my favorite college courses was just Shakespeare. With the exception of 2 theater majors, who were starring in The Tempest that semester, I was the only non-English major in the class. I just wanted to read Shakespeare!
    I’ve already started reading Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb to my kids. 🙂

    Reply

  23. Oh, I really enjoyed reading A Streetcar Named Desire and Fahrenheit 451, too! These were one of the few books that I actually really liked although they were assigned to us in school. Fahrenheit 451 was in fact one of the first dystopias I ever read. Anyways, my favorite classics are all books and plays written by Oscar Wilde!
    That being said, it still gives me headaches when I think of Shakespeare’s works we had to read in school, especially his comedies such as AMND. I always felt like the most idiotic person when it came to analyzing them. Ugh. 😀

    Reply

    • Fahrenheit 451 was one of my first dystopians too, along with Lord of the Flies. They are probably the reason I fell in love with the genre!
      Haha. Shakespeare isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. 🙂

      Reply

  24. There’s a reason these books are high school staples — they’re excellent books which have influenced generations of writers. I wasn’t a Lord of the Flies fan (not so into the dystopian novels) so I’d swap that for Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon or Of Mice of Men, both of which I read my sophomore year.

    Reply

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