Hello everyone!

Happy November! It is officially the greatest time of the year and the peak time for reading with the fairy lights on and the cold outside and a warm blanket *heart eyes.* I also get really in the mood to read classics in this time of the year, so in honor of that, I decided to share with you guys my classics collection. I don’t have any books by the populars like Jane Austen and Emily Bronte in physical copy, which makes me incredibly sad,, but I do have Emma and Wuthering Heights on my Kindle. I also have read a lot more classics through school, but I only read the school copy and I really want the book (like Catcher in the Rye). So, here is my classics collection:

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

This book was one of the suggested books for my AP Lang class so I read it over the summer and LOVED it. It tells about the murder of a whole family in the beginning, and the rest of the book takes the point of views of the killers and the investigators to figure out what happened and why. I actually want to re-read it because I know what happens now – I feel like it would still be impactful and shocking though.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

This book is really good for topics and themes as it talks about the rise of feminism in this one housewife. If you ever need to write an essay on a book about feminism, this one is perfect – there’s lots of symbolism and metaphors and themes to write about. It is also really impactful to read about the deterioration of a woman trying to be an individual in this time period.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Ok, I’m not going to lie, it’s super boring and I can’t even tell you what happens because I was half asleep throughout the entirety of this novel.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Another great book for essays and themes. Conrad discusses the mistreatment of people and environment in Africa by the Westerners who hunt for ivory. It really shows the trash that is pretentious, power hungry, Western men. It is a very good book, and it’s one that really opens your eyes to society in ways you don’t usually think about.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

I read this book in one day – I devoured it and I would gladly do it again. The Outsiders is about two gangs, the preppy people and the greasers, and they always fight and try to kill each other because of their social classes. It gets intense very quickly, and it is a really unique story. I highly recommend this book, especially to young adults because it reflects a lot on the younger side of Western culture.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I hate everyone in this book except the main guy, Guy, and the other people that show up in the very end. You’re supposed to hate them, but it doesn’t lessen my hate anymore. HOW COULD YOU GET RID OF ALL THE BOOKS? WhAt?? It pissed me off – the society is just so frustrating, but is a great book. Also, the book was written in the fifties, but takes place in the future, so the way Bradbury portrayed the future is really interesting.

Hamlet by Shakespeare

This was the book that nobody really read in my class, but I loved and I made it known that I loved it so everyone thought I was a huge nerd. They were right, but still. My boyfriend only watched the movie and did better on the test than me, but it’s alright, I liked the play.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I LOVE the Great Gatsby. I first read it freshman year when a junior told me it’s super good, and I adored it, and then I read it my own junior year for class and appreciated it even more. The book is phenomenal, the movie is phenomenal, you just have to do both. It’s now required since you read this. It’s super short, so you’ll fly through it.

Candide by Voltaire

This book is great too, and if you want a book to cover any essay topic, it’s this one. This book criticizes everything; it bashes the church, it mocks the belittlement of rape, it represents the mistreatment of women, it hits on “man isn’t born a wolf, he becomes one,” it discusses corruption of the government, and to top it off, it talks about the grass being better on the other side. It’s got everything. And, it’s hilarious because the exaggerations are just so extreme.

Let me know your classic collection down below and which ones are your favorites!

Thanks for reading!

Taylor