This page shows a list of books I’m interested in reading to fill in some gaps in my reading of what can loosely be described as “literary classics”. They are personal choices reflecting my interests in literature from the nineteenth century and part of the twentieth century. I’ve included a number of books that can be found in lists such as “1001 Books To Read Before You Die” or the BBC’s Big Read Top 100 but there are notable omissions such as Moby Dick, Finnegan’s Wake and Don Quixote.

Why the omissions?

Quite simply there are numerous books that you’ll find on such lists, that hold no appeal to me. I recognise they are considered exemplary or noteworthy works of literature but I don’t feel any compulsion to read them.

Reading isn’t meant to be an ordeal or a chore and I don’t buy into the idea that anyone “should” have to read certain texts just because they are considered classics. I’m choosing only books that I think I will enjoy.

I’m not setting any deadline for this project though I will do my best to follow the guidelines of the Classics Club and read 50 of them within the next five years.

Current Status (as of January 2026): Read 21. Remaining to read – 29

Which literary classics to read?

My list falls into four categories:

19th Century Classics: My favourite period in literature. This list includes much-loved authors such as George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell but there are a few names I’ve not read previously like Mary Braddon and George Gissing.

20th Century Classics: My cut off point is 1959. I’m figuring that a book has to have been around for at least 60 years for it to be deemed a classic

International Classics : I’m including countries other than UK, Canada and USA. France is well represented through Emile Zola and Honoré De Balzac. Germany includes Thomas Mann and Hans Fallada. There are smatterings of Russians and one or two authors from Japan and Africa.

Celtic Classics: Here I’m listing authors from Wales, Scotland and Ireland

19th Century Classics

1. Belinda by Maria Edgeworth (1801)

2. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853)

3. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853) Read November 2025

4. The Lifted Veil by George Eliot (1859) Read October 2022

5. Armadale by Wilkie Collins (1864) Read December 2023

6. Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope (1865) – Removed August 2023

7. Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope (1869) Removed August 2023

8. The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope (1875) Removed June 2025

9. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)

10. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)

11. What Masie Knew by Henry James (1897)

12. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (1899)

20th Century Classics

13. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James (1902)

14. Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett (1902) Read October 2025

15. Ambassadors by Henry James  (1903)

16. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad (1904)

17. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (1907) Abandoned August 2022

18. The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennet (1908) Read January 2023

19. The Man Who Was Thursday by G K Chesterton (1908) Abandoned August 2022

20. Ethan Frome  by Edith Wharton:  (1911)

21 Oh Pioneers by Willa Cather (1913)

22. Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham (1915)

23. William — An Englishman by Cecily Hamilton (1919)

24. The Man Who Knew Too Much by G K Chesterton (1922) Did Not Finish –Abandoned April 2024

25. Anderby Wold by Winifred Holtby (1923) — Read 2025

26. The Mother’s Recompense by Edith Wharton (1924)

27. The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham (1925)

28. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (1928) Abandoned June 2024

29. Quartet by Jean Rhys (1929)

30. The Well of Loneliness by Radcylffe Hall (1928)

31. The Edwardians by Vita Sackville West (1930)

32. The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E M Delafield (1930)

33.. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley  (1932)

34. To The North by Elizabeth Bowen (1932)

35. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

36. Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge (1933) Read March 2024

37. Tender Is The Night by Scott Fitzgerald (1934) Abandoned June 2024

38. They Knew Mr Knight by Dorothy Whipple (1934)

39. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1936)

40 Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938)  Read February 2023

41. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938) Read July 2025

42. Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winnifred Watson (1938)  Read July 2024

43. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)

44. Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood (1939)

45. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (1940)

46. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (1940)

47. Fisherman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier (1941)

48. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

49. No Highway by Neville Shute (1948) Read November 2025

50. The Far Cry by Emma Smith (1949)

51.The Third Man by Graham Greene (1949)

52. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (1950)

53. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (1951)

54. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)

55. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (1952) Read March 2025

56. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (1954)

57. The Fellowship of the Ring by J R R Tolkein (1954)

58. The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon (1956)

59. On the Beach by Nevil Shute (1957) Read July 2025

60.. Voss by Patrick White (1957)

61. The Assistant by Bernard Malamud (1957)

62. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe (1958)

63. The Unlit Lamp by Radcylffe Hall (1924)

International Classics  

64. The Nose  by Nikolay Gogol (1836) — Ukrania/Russia

65. Dead Souls by Nikolay Gogol (1842) — Ukrania/Russia

66. The Black Sheep by Honoré De Balzac (1847) — France

67. Cousin Bette by Honoré De Balzac (1846) — France

68. The `idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1868) — Russia

69. A Sentimental Education by Gustav Flaubert (1869) — France

70. The Conquest of Plassans by Emile Zola (1874) — France

71. The Sin of Father Mouret by Emile Zola (1875) — France

72. The Dream by Emile Zola (1888) — France — Read January 2026

73. Money by Emile Zola (1891) —France. Read January 2025

74. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1879) — Russia

75. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (1912) — Germany

76. Skylark, by Dezső Kosztolányi (1924) — Hungary

77. Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand (1935) — India

78. On the Edge of Reason by  Miroslav Krleža (1938) — Croatia

79. Nada by Carmen Laforet (1944) — Spain Read September 2023

80. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (1947) — Germany

81. Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata (1952) — Japan Read November 2024

82. The Hills Were Joyful Together by Roger Mais  (1953) — Jamaica

83. In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (1953) — Barbados

84. Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (1954) – France – Read December 2024

85. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas (1957) — Norway

86. To Sir, With Love – E. R. Braithwaite (1959) — Guyana – Read November 2024

Celtic Classics

87. A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1886) — Scotland

88. Stranger Within The Gates by Bertha Thomas (1912) — Wales

89. Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915) — Scotland

90. The Battle to the Weak, Hilda Vaughan (1925) — Wales

91. The Informer by Liam O’Flaherty (1925) — Ireland

92. Winter by Dorothy Edwards (1928) — Wales

93. Glastonbury Romance by  John Cowper Powys (1932) — Wales

94. Black Parade, Jack Jones (1935) — Wales — Abandoned March 2024

95. The Citadel by A J Cronin (1937) — Scotland — Read May 2023

96. The Rising Tide by Molly Keane (1937) — Ireland Read August 2022

97. Fame Is The Spur by Howard Spring (1940) — Wales —Abandoned March 2024

98. The Feast of Lupercal by Brian Moore (1957) — Ireland

99. A Toy Epic by Emyr Humphreys (1958) — Wales

100. The Bitter Glass by Eilis Dillon (1958) — Ireland

101. Strike for a Kingdom, Menna Gallie (1959) — Wales

I may swap out some of these books at a later date if I discover other titles that I think are of interest. I’ll keep track of my progress and include links to my reviews as I make headway.