Hey bookworm friends. I’ve long been wanting to take stock of all the classic books I’ve read so far. When I saw Bemused & Bookish‘s post about her First Fifty Classics, it inspired me to go through my own list! I recently made a timeline post for “One Book Per Every Year I’ve Been Alive” so I’m now going to make the complete opposite: a timeline of books I read from wayyy before my time 😝! I thought it would be fun to see which centuries I’ve read more from and which I haven’t (spoiler alert, I’m missing a lot😂). My relationship with classics is a bit rocky for a couple of reasons. Mostly, because a ton of them were assigned readings for school which can sometimes ruin the fun of it. Additionally, the older I get the less I care about books written by old cis white straight men, and I’m not even sorry about that. That being said, there are some classics that I absolutely loved and some that I still think are really worth reading.
The Complete List of Classic Books I’ve Read
Quick note: in order to keep this list manageable, I’m making a distinction between classics and modern classics. Modern classics are generally considered to be books published after WWII that have had a big cultural impact. And that will be a topic for a separate post. Today I’m only concerned about those older classics, printed up to 1945.
1500s – 1700s
Every book in this category was assigned for school. Out of the Shakespeare plays, my fantasy-loving heart preferred A Midsummer Night’s Dream but I also loved Macbeth & Hamlet. Otherwise I barely remember anything about the rest of these. I’d actually be curious to read more Shakespeare, especially some of his history plays of which I’ve read none.
- 1590: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- 1595: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
- 1598: Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
- 1601: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- 1623: Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- 1759: Candide by Voltaire
1800s
In this category, my favourites are easily Emma and Persuasion (the only Austens I’ve read so far). I enjoyed most of the books I read from this century though I wouldn’t put any others amongst my favourites. The only ones I actively disliked are King Solomon’s Mines and Carmilla. The only memory I have of Le Père Goriot is the assignment that made us draw his yellow house based on the very detailed description in the book.
- 1815: Emma by Jane Austen
- 1817: Persuasion by Jane Austen
- 1818: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
- 1835: Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
- 1862: Goblin Market: A Tale of Two Sisters by Christina Rossetti
- 1865: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- 1868: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- 1871: Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
- 1872: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
- 1885: King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
- 1886: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- 1887: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
- 1890: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- 1895: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
- 1897: Dracula by Bram Stoker
Early 1900s
I think I had better luck with the books from the 1800s because I disliked a lot from this batch. The Wind in the Willows was disappointing and The Big Sleep did nothing for me because I don’t like detective noir stories. I’ve also always been a Petit Prince hater. I just can’t seem to grasp its charm, it instead leaves me annoyed and unimpressed. On the other hand, I have a huge soft spot for Winnie-The-Pooh and I enjoyed The Enchanted April when I read it last year.
- 1900: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- 1908: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- 1910: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
- 1922: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
- 1922: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
- 1925: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fizgerald
- 1926: Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
- 1932: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- 1937: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- 1939: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
- 1943: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Agatha Christie
Aha, I bet you thought we were done with the early 1900’s😛! But there’s actually a bonus sub-category because I’ve read enough Agatha Christie books that I felt she needed her own section. There was a time I was trying to read all of the Poirot books back to back in order-ish, only skipping the short stories. I managed to get to #17 before I got tired of Poirot and stopped.
My favourite cases were The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and Murder on the Orient Express. I also remember greatly disliking The Big Four, as well as Lord Edgwere Dies and Cards on the Table. Next time I’m in a Christie mood, I would like to try some Miss Marple mysteries.
- 1920: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (#1)
- 1923: The Murder on the Links (#2)
- 1926: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (#4)
- 1927: The Big Four (#5)
- 1928: The Mystery of the Blue Train (#6)
- 1932: Peril at End House (#8)
- 1933: Lord Edgware Dies (#9)
- 1934: Murder on the Orient Express (#10)
- 1935: Three Act Tragedy (#11)
- 1935: Death in the Clouds (#12)
- 1936: The A.B.C. Murders (#13)
- 1936: Murder in Mesopotamia (#14)
- 1936: Cards on the Table (#15)
- 1937: Dumb Witness (#17)
Final Thoughts
I thought I hadn’t read a lot of classics but it turns out I’ve read 46, which is a decent amount! 18 of those were assigned for school and the other 28 I read for myself. 7 of the books on my list are aimed at children or young adults. It had been a long time since I’d read a classic but strangely enough I recently reread Dracula. And I’m planning on rereading Brave New World this month as well. There are also still plenty of classics out there that I’m potentially interested in trying out so I hope to find more gems! I especially need to delve more into earlier centuries and there are several from antiquity on my TBR that I haven’t tackled yet. I would actually be super interested in recommendations on that front. What are some classic books you’ve enjoyed from any time periods I’m missing here?
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read any of these classics? Or, please tell me about your favourite and least favourite classics you’ve read! 🖤.
It feels good to meet another Petit Prince hater! 😂