FALL IN LOVE WITH CLASSICS BOOK LIST

Find a classic book to read and love!

This book list is an introduction to 

British and American classics 

primarily. However, we would love 

to do a separate book list in the 

future that focuses on non- 

Eurocolonial classics from countries 

outside of the U.S. and the U.K. 

Please feel free to email us any 

recommendations you might have 

for these books! 

 

phlibrary@pennhillslibrary.org

Published 1987 

American classic 

Horror 

“Me and you, we got more yesterday 

than anybody. We need some kind of 

tomorrow.” 

Read this if you like... 

Light, paranormal horror; stories about 

motherhood and siblings; multiple 

timelines; slow pacing; descriptions of 

nature


British classic 

Gothic 

“He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls 

are made of, his and mine are the same; and 

Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from 

lightening, or frost from fire.” 


Multi-generational stories; an unlikable 

main character; revenge plot; chaotic 

romantic relationship



Gothic, horror, science 

fiction 

“Thus strangely are our souls 

constructed, and by slight ligaments are 

we bound to prosperity and ruin.” 


Eerie and dark atmosphere; explorations 

of death and mortality; Biblical 

references; descriptions of nature



Literary fiction 

“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, 

just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way...I 

can't apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I 

want to... We will never have to be other than who 

we are in order to be successful...We realize that we 

are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid. 

It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they 

choose.” 


Books told through letters; sisterhood and family; 

LGBTQIA+ romance; books that will make you 

cry



Romance, gothic 

“His mind was indeed my library, and 

whenever it was opened to me, I entered 

bliss.” 


Forbidden romance; a main character 

with a mysterious and tragic past; 

travel and adventure




“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the 

individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. 

And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to 

take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must 

fight against: any idea, religion, or government which 

limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and 

what I am about.” 


Multi-generational stories; family drama; 

Biblical references; emotional stories



Literary fiction, 

romance 

“Is not general incivility the very 

essence of love?” 


Witty writing; rich character work and 

character development; enemies to lovers 

romance; social commentary




romance 

“I come here with no expectations, only to 

profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my 

heart is and always will be...yours.” 


Witty writing; rich character work and 

character development; slow-burn 

romance; social commentary



Mystery, science fiction, 

horror 

“All human beings, as we meet them, are 

commingled out of good and evil: and Edward 

Hyde, alone, in the ranks of mankind, was pure 

evil.” 


Short, fast-paced stories; thrillers and 

suspenseful books; battle of good and evil


Irish classic 

Horror, mystery 

“I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I 

think strange things, which I dare not confess 

to my own soul.” 


Mixed media stories; vampires; slow-burn 

mysteries; psychological horror; midnight 

wanderings through graveyards




“Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon 

like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around 

the waist of the world and draped it over 

her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! 

She called in her soul to come and see.” 


Strong character growth; books about finding 

yourself; messy romantic relationships


Italian classic 

Magical realism 

“You have with you the book you were reading in the cafe, which 

you are eager to continue, so that you can then hand it on to her, 

to communicate again with her through the channel dug by 

others' words, which, as they are uttered by an alien voice, by the 

voice of that silent nobody made of ink and typographical spacing, 

can become yours and hers, a language, a code between the two of 

you, a means to exchange signals and recognize each other.” 


Books told in second-person; books about reading 

and writing; weird and whimsical storytelling




“Saints and martyrs had never interested 

Maggie so much as sages and poets.” 


Stories about childhood and coming of age; 

a wild, headstrong main character; 

complicated sibling relationships



Plays, comedy 

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the 

mind, 

And therefore is winged Cupid painted 

blind.” 


Plays; lots of humor; miscommunication 

and tricks; fairies and magic




mystery 

“Such a captive maiden, having plenty of time to think, soon realizes 

that her tower, its height and architecture, are like her ego only 

incidental: that what really keeps her where she is is magic, 

anonymous and malignant, visited on her from outside and for no 

reason at all. Having no apparatus except gut fear and female cunning 

to examine this formless magic, to understand how it works, how to 

measure its field strength, count its lines of force, she may fall back on 

superstition, or take up a useful hobby like embroidery, or go mad, or 

marry a disk jockey. If the tower is everywhere and the knight of 

deliverance no proof against its magic, what else?” 


Mysterious and strange plots; chaotic narrative 

structure; satire; lots of adventure



Science fiction 

“Until they become conscious they will 

never rebel, and until after they have 

rebelled they cannot become 

conscious.” 


Dystopian stories; social commentary; 

political thrillers; conspiracy; unsettling 

stories



Gothic, mystery 

“Fate intervened. Some of us, that day, she 

led inexorably through the gates of death. 

Some of us, innocent and unsuspecting, 

took, unwillingly, that one last step to 

oblivion. Some of us took very little sugar.” 


Subtle horror; family drama; an unreliable 

narrator; small town setting; characters with 

a mysterious past




“Dance is the universal art, the common joy of 

expression. Those who cannot dance are 

imprisoned in their own ego and cannot live well 

with other people and the world. They have lost 

the tune of life. They only live in cold thinking. 

Their feelings are deeply repressed while they 

attach themselves forlornly to the earth.” 


Satire and comedy; social commentary; 

references to historical moments and people; 

books about by music and art



Play, drama 

“LUCIFER: I pity thee who lovest 

what must perish. 

CAIN: And I thee who lov'st nothing” 


Retellings; Biblical references; 

antiheroes; morally grey main characters; 

short plays

FALL IN LOVE WITH CLASSICS BOOK LIST

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