What are your favorite classical books?

[atpeace]

I have come to realize that I love classical literature, and need suggestions for expanding my "to read" list.

I have loved all the Jane Austen books, and am joyously whizzing through the "Anne of Green Gables" series right now. Are there others in the same style/period/etc that you have enjoyed? Please share!

The only thing is, I would like it to be written in that time period, not a modern book ABOUT that time period. I find the old authors who actually lived in the 1700-1900 better (as opposed to someone living in modern times who wrote about the past). Also, I'm interested in female authors specifically.

[LittleBirdy]

I took a course on literature of that period, and in addition to Pride & Prejudice we had to read David Copperfield by Dickens. Obviously not female but I really did enjoy it.

[salty]

i recently read "silas marner" by george eliot, so that fits your female author requirement. i really enjoyed it! i was sort of surprised at how much i enjoyed it. and i've only recently read a few dickens novels. i loved "david copperfield" but really did not care for "oliver twist." i don't know why that is.

[morganlefay]

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, of course I read The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot last year--slow going but worth it. My favorite Dickens novel is A Tale of Two Cities.

[kirstenb]

I loved reading "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" when I was younger, by Margaret Sidney. Looking up the name of the auther I see she wrote a ton of books about them, which means I will have to check out my library this weekend.

"Ethan Frome" is a good book by Edith Wharton.

I don't see Louisa May Alcott listed- I loved reading her books. Another good one is "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell. Even though it's considered a children's classic I still think it is a good book as an adult.

[katmann]

of human bondage - maugham (sp?) is one of my favorites.

[Oriole]

Jane Eyre
The Hobbit
Jonathan Livingston Seagull :

[Princess ConsuelaB]

Anna Karenina
The Scarlet Letter
Ethan Frome

Not all female writers, but wonderful.

[Tra1978]

Jane Eyre is also one of my favourites!

I also loved David Copperfield but couldn't really get into Oliver Twist. But my favourite Dickens would have to be Great Expectations.

Louisa May Alcott is great too.

I don't think I've read very many female authors of the time period.

If you like Anne of Green Gables, LM Montgomery wrote quite a few books. My favourite is the Blue Castle and Jane of Lantern Hill but they are all good.

[dancindoula]

I third Louisa May Alcott, and also put forward George MacDonald (not a female author but a prolific 18th century writer with a really intriguing reportoire). Rudyard Kipling is pretty interesting as well.

[Jenifer76]

A Tale of Two Cities is a favorite.

[cristeen]

Laura Ingalls Wilder was a favorite growing up.

[St. Margaret]

Yeah, Jane Eyre is great.

Maybe Middlemarch-- I loved it.

Maybe Mary Shelley? And I think her mother, Wollstonecraft, wrote not just nonfiction but a novel as well....

[staceychev]

Doesn't fulfill the "female writer" requirement, but I'm a big fan of The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment.