Top Ten Tuesday: Classics I Want to Read
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic. I’m a huge fan of lists, so this meme is right up my alley!
This week’s topic is 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 have to admit, I haven’t read many classics. But I do own several and there are tons more that I want to read. So here are my Top Ten Classics I Want to Read, in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. This list is all books I own but haven’t read, and keep in mind that some of these I consider to be “New Classics”.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This is one of those “New Classics” I guess. I love other books by Margaret Atwood, and I really want to read this one, as it’s her most celebrated work.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’ve started this one a couple of times, but then other things got in the way. I love all the P&P movies and shows and YouTube adaptations I’ve seen, so I know I’ll love the book!
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I LOVE the BBC show, Sherlock, so I MUST read these short stories. The book I own has 12 stories in it.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I don’t know why I didn’t read this in high school–it seems like everyone else did. But I will read it one day!
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
This is another “New Classic”, and another one I’m surprised I didn’t read in school. But I definitely want to read this soon!
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I feel like you just kind of have to read Frankenstein. It’s like a book nerd life requirement, right?
The Oedipus Cycle (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone) by Sophocles
I did read some of these (One? Maybe two? I don’t remember.) in school, and I remember loving them. So I really want to read them again as an adult, and finally read all three of them.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
This is another one of those book nerd life requirements, right?
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
This book is SO intimidating but I just feel like I need to read it, even though I kind of already know what’s going to happen.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The plot of this just sounds so cool! Another intimidating book, but I feel like it’ll be so worth it in the end.
Which classics do you want to read? Or what type of TTT list did you make about classics today? Let me know, or leave a link to your TTT in the comments, and I’ll try to stop by your blog!

My Thoughts.... Literally!
July 1, 2014 at 1:14 pmGreat list! You and me both being intimidated by Anna Karenina. It's one of my good friends' favorite books and she's been bugging me to read it for years! I read A Wrinkle in Time a few years ago and really liked it. I also read The Handmaid's Tale recently and like it a lot. I'm definitely into the "Modern Classics" idea.
Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally
Brandi Kosiner
July 1, 2014 at 1:52 pmThe only one I have read is Wrinkle in Time and I enjoyed it pretty well.
I have classics like Austen that I keep saying that I need to read but don't know if I will ever get around to it.
Jenny H
July 1, 2014 at 2:31 pmI had A Wrinkle in Time on my list as well! I'm not a huge fan of many of the classics, but am trying to re-read some of them as I go. I did a spin on it and did classics in the fantasy genre for my TTT. Great list!
Asheley (@BookwormAsheley)
July 1, 2014 at 4:28 pmI read Anna Karenina relatively recently and was surprised at how easy to read it actually is – yes, it is intimidating and it sort of drags in some parts, but I LOVED IT. I hope you get to it! I have The Handmaid's Tale and A Wrinkle In Time on my shelves too and have read neither! But I really, really want to!
My all-time favorite classics are John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (HUGE Steinbeck fan, always and forever) and The Great Gatsby. I just love those and could reread them a million times.
eveningreader
July 1, 2014 at 7:11 pmAnna Karenina is much easier to read than War and Peace, that's for sure.
It's strange, but some books, like The Handmaid's Tale, I think of as contemporary because of the way they are written/subject matter, but I suppose it has become a classic!
Krystianna
July 1, 2014 at 10:22 pmI haven't read many classics either. I'm hoping to read The Great Gatsby soon!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Mallory @ The Local Muse
July 1, 2014 at 10:45 pmPride and Prejudice is so funny once you get into the story! I plan on reading the Handmaid's Tale this month actually, and I love to see Oscar Wilde on your list because he is one of my favorite authors/personalities. Hope you enjoy them!
SarahO.
July 2, 2014 at 2:39 amGood list! I haven't read to many classics either (most for class that I didn't care for) but I have read all the Jane Austen books and they are all worth it and on my top ten favorites list (well, except for Mansfield Park.lol) I'm trying to go through the Sherlock Homes stories as well but haven't gotten to far yet. Good luck on this list!
Here's my TT
Stephanie
July 2, 2014 at 3:33 amI sadly haven't read any of these. After this TTT, I have decided I should try and read some more classic books. I haven't really read many either.
Hope you enjoy reading all of these!
Jennifer Hunter
July 2, 2014 at 3:33 pmScarlet Letter! Dorian Gray! P&P! Those are some of my fave books ever. I thought Dorian Gray was a less difficult read than most classics, once it got moving. :)
Fifi Islaih
July 3, 2014 at 6:24 pmI'm re-reading LITTLE WOMEN (: Happy reading!