Literary Bucket List

May 17, 2018

This time we’ve come up with a list of Classics page-turner that mean the most to us, some well-known stories no book-lover should miss.

So here they are: the books that we can, hand-on-heart say that you really need to read before you die. 

Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy.

1 A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens | Fiction Classics

Rating:

This novel follows the lives of three peasants who are degraded and subdued by the French aristocracy.

2 An Ideal Husband

An Ideal Husband

Oscar Wilde | Drama Classics

Rating:

A distinguished member of the House of Commons in London faces blackmail to support a corrupt plan to construct a canal in Argentina.

3 The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexandre Dumas | Fiction Classics

Rating:

Edmond Dantes is imprisoned on a false political charge. He makes a daring escape, finds the treasure of Monte Cristo, and seeks revenge upon his enemies.

4 Dracula

Dracula

Bram Stoker | Horror Classics

Rating:

Count Dracula is a vampire who terrifies the countryside in his quest for human blood, but the residents soon learn his real identity and vow to destroy him.

5 Emma

Emma

Jane Austen | Fiction Classics

Rating:

The beautiful and intelligent Emma Wodehouse enjoys meddling in other people's love lives, but she can't seem to find a love of her own.

6 The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera

Gaston Leroux | Horror Classics

Rating:

A disfigures musical genius haunts the catacombs under the Paris Opera and terrifies the community until he falls in love with Christine, a budding young singer.

7 Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days

Jules Verne | Fiction Classics

Rating:

Eccentric English man, Phileas Fogg, wagers his fortune that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days, much to the astonishment of his London Club.

8 A Family Man

A Family Man

John Galsworthy | Fiction Classics

Rating:

John and his wife Athene raise their daughter, Camille, properly in the provincial town of Breconridge in this three act play.

9 Baron Trigault's Vengeance

Baron Trigault's Vengeance

Emile Gaboriau | Fiction Classics

Rating:

Marguerite de Chalusse is upset when an unsolved mystery keeps her from marrying Paul Ferailleur.

10 All for Love

All for Love

John Dryden | Drama Classics

Rating:

Set in ancient Egypt, Cleopatra attempts to win back the love of Antony who is torn between his love for Cleopatra and his true wife, Octavia.

11 Antigone

Antigone

Sophocles | Drama Classics

Rating:

Antigone disobeys the royal edict and buries the corpses of her brothers since she believes honoring her family is more important than following the laws.

12 The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Francis Scott Fitzgerald | Fiction Classics

Rating:

In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new, something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It

13 Armadale

Armadale

Wilkie Collins | Fiction Classics

Rating:

Allen Armadale murders the father of his cousin who is also named Allen Armadale, and he eventually confesses to the crime.

14 A Strange Disappearance

A Strange Disappearance

Anna Katharine Green | Mystery Classics

Rating:

A young woman working as a domestic servant disappears from a wealthy household in New York City, and the police begin their search to find her.

15 Agatha Webb

Agatha Webb

Anna Katharine Green | Mystery Classics

Rating:

When Agatha Webb and her servant are found murdered, the task of solving the mystery begins at once, and suspicion points to multiple people.

16 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Mystery Classics

Rating:

Twelve fascinating stories recount the investigations of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they try to solve crimes in Victorian London.

17 Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy | Romance Classics

Rating:

Anna is unhappy with her marriage to a powerful politician, and when she falls in love with a dashing young officer, she must endure the criticism of others.

18 Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen | Romance Classics

Rating:

The beautiful, young Elizabeth falls in love with Mr. Darcy, but he must control his pride while she tries to overcome her prejudice.

19 Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte | Romance Classics

Rating:

A poor, abused orphan named Jane uses her cleverness and perseverance to win the love of the man she loves.

20 Camille

Camille

Alexandre Dumas, Fils | Romance Classics

Rating:

Armond Duval falls hopelessly in love with an expensive prostitute, and he must decide whether to uphold his reputation or live a scorned life with his love.