Hello and welcome to my first Top Ten Tuesday here on Always Trust In Books. I have a lot of great top tens planned to share with you all but I thought I would start at the very beginning of my time as a reader. Classic Novels! There are so many classics that should have made this list but there are only ten spots so had to stick to my most wanted list. I should have probably made this a top 100 list but who has time for that? These classic novels have defined their genres and I still haven’t managed to read them! I have made this list to encourage myself to get onto at least a few of these in 2018. Enjoy the list and let me know if you have read any of these classics and where I should begin.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have watched so many TV and Movie adaptations surrounding Jekyll and Hyde! It is about time I got involved with the real deal. Stevenson is one of the most influential authors for the genres I love so I need to step up and read this classic.
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
So many people rant and rave about 1984 and I am sat here thinking whaaaaat? This needs to change and soon! Another hugely influential author who I come across in both fiction and non-fiction quite often so it would help to be fully in the know.
The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This story has always astounded and freaked me out. I adore fiction that makes the reader question their humanity and Dorian Gray fits this bill so well. I am ready to face my chills and read some Oscar Wilde.
(Found the awesome picture here)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
A novel about book burning and the destruction of knowledge? That is everything I stand against! I love a good portion of controversy in my daily reading so I am eager to read and understand the events explored in Fahrenheit 451.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
I know it is a bit late as Christmas has been and gone. January is nearly over!?!?! Can you believe it! Anyway… I have picked this book up and put it down so many times that it is just time to conquer it and harness the spirit of Christmas. The ghost of Marley always freaks me out…
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
I have this on my bookshelf but haven’t had the gumption (great word) to get involved with its, no doubt, chilling and unsettling prose. I watched the film with Daniel Radcliffe so I am already prepping my ‘the book is so much better than the film’ speech…
The Brothers Karamazov Novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky is one of those authors I have been desperate to read but have never been in the same orbit as them. I keep hearing about The Brothers Karamazov though and I have decided to invest in a copy to shut up that part of my brain that keeps going on and on about it. You get what I mean!
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Heart Of Darkness seems so far away from anything I have read up until this point so it made the list by being a read that takes me right out of my comfort zone. I do enjoy a testing read once in a while.
The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
This British classic sounds really intense and bizarre. It was published in 1908 and sounds like a soap opera meshed with an occult murder novel. I am intrigued to say the least. I am not sure if it will be my sort of read but I am willing to break boundaries when looking for another great novel.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
This should really be at the top of the list but ‘save the best for last’ and all that business. I have just finished Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Griffin which is inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic and it made me really want to pick up the original. I can’t wait to get stuck into the lore and mythology behind one of the most iconic creatures in fictional history. Frankenstein is definitely on my TBR for 2018.
Thank you for stopping by to check out this Top Ten Tuesday! I love classic novels and it is great to be able to talk about them when I can. There are so many influential novels out there and I plan to get to them all at some stage but for now this list is a great starting point. If you enjoyed this list or can recommend me a good place to start on this mountain of classic literature then please let me know in the comments. Thanks for all your support as usual and wish me luck with getting through these books in 2018.
Always Trust In Books 
I recommend 1984 because it’s pretty good!
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I need to read it as a lot of the books I have read recently have referenced it in someway. Thanks for the recommendation.
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I’ve read The Picture of Dorian Gray, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. All these live up to the hype of being labelled ‘classic reads’. I’ve always wanted to read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirly Jackson but sadly haven’t got around to it.
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That is good to hear! Need to go out any but them I reckon. Might force me to put time aside for them 😀
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I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 2016 and loved it, appreciated by the fact that prior to reading I’d covered it with my French students who were learning English, in a 10 week listening program on BBC Learning English and that I also watched a broadcast replay of the amazing production of it by the National Theatre (London) with Benedict Cumberbatch playing the Creature. After all that I was in awe of the continual inspiration that this book has inspired and so to then read the original was an act of appreciation and wonder. You’re indeed saving the best for last!
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Sounds amazing. Need to get a copy as soon as possible!
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I loved 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I read them whilst at High school, and I remember finding them disturbing but memorable!
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I am seriously behind on my classic reading. Might have to go on a library binge!
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Libraries are life-savers for avid readers. I spent every Saturday morning in our local library when my daughters were young – set them in good stead to be avid readers in turn. Enjoy your classic reading 🙂
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I am grateful that my boys love books and the library too. I certainly will 😁
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Enjoyed Dorian Gray and The Woman in Black – not so much Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
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Two out of three isn’t bad. I know RLS is a bit of an acquired taste!
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I can thoroughly recommend an audiobook of A Christmas Carol read by Tom Baker. It’s absolutely brilliant and brings a smile to my face every time I listen to it.
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That is a great idea thanks! I need to get into my audiobooks 😁
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I also need to read more classics, I got a few on sale and they have been sitting there, I need to get my butt in gear and pick them up. I have read Frankenstein which is pretty good and it reads pretty fast.
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That is good to hear as I have been looking for quicker reads at the moment. Let the classic hunt begin!
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I wish you the best of luck:)
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Glad to see that I’ve read a couple of these! The others will just have to work their way up the TBR, I suppose. I really enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde was quite the talented man, though I’d say that I prefer The Importance of Being Earnest to Dorian Gray.
The only other one I’d read was Heart of Darkness. I’m pretty indifferent about that one.
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The Woman In Black isn’t a classic it’s just set in the past. I’ve read Jekyll and Hyde and Dorian Grey quite short and not what I expected. I always enjoy A Christmas Carol. I keep finding more classic books to read I love them. My favourites are Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen. I love Jane Eyre and hope to read more Dickens soon. Rereading Little Women this month don’t forget the classics that are aimed at children, I found them too hard as a child and love them now
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Forgot to say that I enjoyed Frankenstein and want to reread it. Loved The Woman In Black and other books by Susan Hill. Her novels are good but not a fan of her more recent book of shorter stories.
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I have a bunch of classics sitting on my shelves just waiting for me.
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I need to have a classics binge soon!
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