Mostly Book Depository, Bookshop.org, & Amazon ☺️If folks are interested in finding the Penguin Clothbound Classics, I have some affiliated links with most of them: Here's my affiliated Penguin Clothbound Classics shop at Bookshop.org: bookshop.org/lists/penguin-clothbound-classics-7ecf8706-5180-477b-9005-660667869a8e Or if you want to go through Amazon, my affiliated link is here: amzn.to/32hC969
Had a long hiatus on reading and tried reading a classic. It was Dorian Gray. I was amazed at Oscar Wilde's style of prose. It's not to complicated and not too simple. It just sits in between making it a good page turner. I loved the premise and the story in general. Too sad that his work was not generally accepted by the society during his time (victorian era) because it's too gay and too unvictorian for them. :(
I think Frankenstein is a good beginners classic. It’s relatively short and the language isn’t too difficult. Also for doorstoppers, I always recommend Les Mis to people who love the musical. It adds so much depth to the story and the characters.
Woah frankenstein has been my first classic! I loved it, moved on to pride and prejudice and now onto little women. I was always intimidated by the thought of the wordiness but so far so good😊
Dracula, Frankenstein, Carmilla, Dorian Grey, the short horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, or the heroic fantasy tales of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith are usually my recommendations when it comes to the classics!
Yes, if you don't mind spoilers, I *highly* recommend watching the movie versions before reading them, but I am a dyslexic scholar and have a tendency to get swept up in the story when I mean to study XD Following the story is definitely much easier if you've seen the movie before reading it (not to mention how much easier it is to know the characters)
I'm reading "murder on the orient express" in search of improving my English skill.🙂 I'm enjoying myself watching your video with English subtitle! thank you from Japan.
Hi,🤗 I really love Japan because I grew up watching animes like Pokemon and all. How are things going on in Japan, like How is the pandemic situation there?
If someone is TOTALLY intimidated by classics, I always recommend some childrens' classics first. Such as Lewis Carroll - everyone knows the story of Alice and it just eases them into the language gently. Also E. Nesbit is good. I also think Henry James is a great introduction. The themes in What Maisie Knew could have been written today. The Turn of the Screw is a great horror read. And I agree with you on Wilkie Collins - love him!
Henry James is extremely demanding. Points of view, crawl behind the narrator’s eyes and don’t trust the narrator. I recommend Turn of the Screw!! Talk about in our DNA.
I dont know if you classify this as a classic, but John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will forever hold a special place in my heart. If you haven’t read it, please do!
The way I got through Shakespeare: they sell editions that have little footnotes or side notes about confusing parts. Made it so much easier and helped me get used to reading his works. By the end, I didn’t even read the notes. I felt MUCH smarter haha.
@@valpaz5802 Personally, I like the Folger editions of Shakespeare, they tend to have a lot of notes and Folger is really well known for their scholarship. Also good are the Norton editions and sometimes the Signet Classic editions.
I read your comment last night and was going to ask you where you purchased yours. Then when I went to the thrift store today, I found a copy of Merchant of Venice exactly as you described! Meant to be!
There's me think she meant classics as in The Odyssey, The Illiad, Dante's Inferno (which I think I see at the top right of your bookshelf) or any classical plays like Medea or Oedipus. STILL A GOOD VIDEO ❤️❤️
For those wanting to get into Russian literature, I recommend starting with something light that sets the tone for Russian culture. A collection of short stories by Pushkin is good
I would reccomend Fathers and Sons, it's very short and easy to read, even if Turgenev is a Westernizer as compared to the much more famous slavophiles Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Also, if someone were into satire I would reccomend Dead Souls by Gogol.
I asked my favorite English teacher a while back. What are some great ways to improve my grammar/sentence structure. He told me reading. At first I was thrown back because I already read books. But I realize I probably wasn’t reading the right books and thought.... Reading classics seems to be a good place to start. 🤞🤞🤞
I honestly think that little women is great to it’s an easy read, and it just has a great plot. And altogether I loved the book, and when I say I loved the book I mean I lovvved the book
In 2020, I learned that Alexandre Dumas was a French black man. It blew my mind. I was a French literature major and I never once hear anyone talk about it in the late 2000s.
he was part black, AND there are many theories that suggest Pushkin is Alexander Dumas. They were both part black. Both spoke fluent Russian and French, AND this is creepily exciting, the person who killed Pushkin in a duel is Georges D'Anthes. Now, the Count of Monte Cristo is called DANTES, and its all about assuming a different character... lol just a super cool theory.
Since even before I learned to read, I've loved books! After learning to read, there was no stopping me! I owned several of the little "Golden Books" from the time I was about five. But I began a serious collecting quest about age eight, and now have about 5,000 books (age 67) in my personal library. I won't say they've all been read cover to cover; perhaps 70-75% of them -- many of them are reference & textual type books. When our first child finished first grade, we decided to home educate her and our other children. She delighted in our reading to her, even into her mid-teens, but did not have the same "passion" I had for reading on her own, though she didn't mind doing so. One day, she pulled a classic from my bookshelves in the den and began reading it on a whim. And it changed her life and perspective on books / reading forever! From then to now, she has been an insatiable reader of not only fiction but science and history as well. The book she chose that day was Baroness Emma Orczy's classic novel of the French Revolution, "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Wherever you are, thank you, Baroness Orczy!
I love Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing. I’m a slow reader so the short stories are great, and also there aren’t huge sections of the books that just drag on which I find in some other classics (the one exception is a study in scarlet where there is a large section about Mormons? Still a good story though). Also the character of Sherlock Holmes (and Watson too actually) is so much more interesting and enjoyable in the original stories than in many adaptations so don’t be put off by whatever your current understanding of him is
@@luiza7453 It is about a dystopian futurist (even though 1984 was long algo) society in which people are constantly controled. It mainly follows the life of Winston Smith, a man who works for the goverment until he starts realizing that something bad is going on, and that obviously produces loads of problems on his life. I highly recommend it, it's a great book.
I am SO happy to see the copy of Don Quixote. It is so often neglected amongst the classics despite being the father of the modern novel. I love this video!!!!
The Count of Monte Cristo is a favorite along with The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. Loved Anna Karenina, Moby Dick, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Happiest when I see a young person put down their phone and read.😄
I admire that you have so many beautifully covered editions. They're so aesthetically pleasing yet practical to carry with you. Many of my classics are well traveled paperbacks with a couple giant ostentatious b&n classics that barely leave the shelf.
This is a fantastic video! Some spot-on recommendations here. Way back when I was a child/young teen I had the great good fortune to accidentally stumble upon some of the more accessible classics: Oliver Twist, all of Holmes, Dracula, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights among others. First Shakespeare was Macbeth, right up my alley with the fantasy witchy elements and spooky dream scenes. And yes, Emma! She doesn’t get enough love. These Where to Start videos are both useful and entertaining. Please keep up the good work.
Very, very good books to start with! :) When my nephew was a teenager, these are the books I sent him: To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Outsiders, That Was Then, This is now.
There are a lot of videos here about book recommendations and they're all good, but there's something about you that convinces me to read all of yours immediately. I am really grateful for all these. Keep it up!
I don’t read very often anymore but I recently read the Count of Monte Cristo and loved it! I really like how the Count is this very intelligent, mysterious figure who’s one step ahead; but he is also flawed, has emotions and makes mistakes. There are characters that are hateful but also ones to root for. The ending was also very satisfying and showed growth.
I loved this, Mara! I agree with you on Wilkie Collins. He’s completely underrated. The Woman in White might be my favorite classic. I also appreciate your love for Merchant of Venice! It truly has aged well.
Oh I started with The Picture of Dorian Gray literally last week and I loved it (and tbh the first couple of chapters especially I was just sitting there going this is so gay this is totally appropriate for pride month)
E. M. Forsters stuff is also really gay. One of his books wasn't published until after his death in the 1970's, but he has a lot of gay characters that are disguised with thinly veiled subtext, just like in Dorian Gray. Maurice, of course, gets rid of all the subtext.
I'm literally thirteen years old, but I absolutely love classics. I love Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. I always think that the teens my age don't usually read these types of books, and people don't know how to tell me where to start, so you really helped me in these. Thank you so much❣
I’m so happy that you mentioned Middlemarch because I’m actually on Chapter 4 as I’m watching this. So far, very readable and has kept my attention well!
I remembered after reading Frankenstein (it was good tho) I used to get little annoyed that some people think Frankenstein is a monster but actually that's a Doctor
A great video! If people like Jane austen or the bronte sisters, I would also suggest elizabeth gaskell. Cranford, and north and south are accessible reads with great characters.
So pleased that Pride and Prejudice was your top choice as it was the first classic I read at 11 years old and to this day, after 5 re-reads, it has not been replaced as my favorite, although Jane Eyre really did come in as a close second
Great content and Channel! I will definitely share this will my daughters who are currently 8 and 10 years old. We started a book reading channel to improve their English reading and comprehension skills. Plus, I wasn't much of a book reader growing up and now having the opportunity to read with them and share it with the world. Thank You and looking forward to your future videos!
I fell in love with classics from oliver twist and I'm telling you it worth it , though my all time favourite character of Dickens would have to be Miss Havisham.
I'm not a huge classics reader. But to go along with your suggestion of reading Shakespeare out loud, most of the time I find it easier to consume classics through audiobooks.
The first time I read war and peace , I was around 18 years; I left out all the parts about the war: I reread it a few years ago ; now with the war scenes. Another book I really enjoyed was Gone with the wind, great read about American history and nothing like the movie.
Funny to think about the idea of starting with Wuthering Heights as an angsty teen. When I wanted to start reading it my mental health was at an all time low. Even though I had no idea what it was about, I guess I did choose to right novel for me.
I remember using a notebook while reading Lord of the Rings and Count of Monte Cristo to keep track of all the characters and their relationships. Now I read everything on the Kindle app, which is great because I can just run a search on a forgotten name that hasn't been mentioned in 450 pages.
I’m slowly starting to get back into classics again and I ended up picking up Pride and Prejudice 😄 I’m going to read it again because it was my favorite Jane Austen book that I’ve read in my life and it was the first book that really drew me into classics during high school 😄 I also picked up sense and sensibility because I have been told that it I loved pride and prejudice I will also love that book too.
I wanted to start reading classics so I picked up Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the language isn’t too difficult as it is a slightly more modern classic, written in 1948 (I think) and it’s a really entertaining story. I haven’t finished it yet but would recommend for people wanting to start classics!
My favorite thing about Emma is that Clueless is one of my all-time favorite movies and it's such a great modern adaptation. If you know the movie and know its an adaptation it makes the translation of the book to present day a lot easier! I would laugh out loud reading it at the gym.
I love classics too! Those are definite good starts especially my favorite genre in classics; horror. One of my favorite books which you could probably place under horror is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (I hopefully spelled the last name correctly) If you have ever seen the musical or modern movie based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, the book is almost like that so in a sense it is familiar. If you want to stay in horror then might I suggest the entire works of Edgar Allen Poe, a big book, but worth it or watch the classic movies starring Vincent Price, he did a lot of Poe inspired movies like The Pit & the Pendulum, Fall of the House of Usher, Masque of the Red Death, etc. I started my love of classics with the horror genre and branched out. If there's ever a book you want to read aloud because of language like Shakespeare then Dante's Inferno is a good one, The Odyssey by Homer, although you may want to start with the Iliad first because it's before the Odyssey. Good books if you're obsessed with Greek mythology like I am. I don't know if these are considered modern classics, but they might be, would be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which I absolutely love the book and movie, there's also a sequel for this book. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (again hopefully spelled the last name right) which is just an amazing mystery thriller book to me, it was such an unexpected read and I had to read this for school many, many years ago. She is also responsible for the short story (if I recall) The Birds which Alfred Hitchcock turned into a movie. I will have to disagree with you on one thing and this could have been due to my age back then, but I didn't like The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, in fact I DNFed it and I had to read that book for my senior year. I really didn't like it, but I may try at a later time and we'll see if I still hate it.
The only one of these that I haven't read is Dorian Gray. And I'm a Christian so i love that a lot more Christian themes! The first one i read was an old copy of pride and Prejudice that my grandmother gave me!
Oh man, you did such a great job on this! I've just finished The Canterbury Tales (Thanks a lot Steve Donaghue for plunging me into the Western Canon!) and in prep for that I found Dolores Cullen's, Chaucer's Pilgrims. Wow, now I've got to read Chaucer again! I love the classics! Did Shakespeare last year, but am looking forward to the 19th century.
I'm 15 years old and I just got into classics and reading more and I decided to go with pride and prejudice. Honestly it's really nice and the language is very beautiful. Sadly, english is not my first language and since I wanted to read the book in its original form, I'm having a little trouble understanding some parts. Reading out loud as you mentioned in shakespeare really help!
Les Misérables would be my number One. I first read it when I was twelve and I loved it. The second time I read it was in my Junior year; it was required. So good. And thank you for your list, I will report to the library tomorrow.
Thank you so much for this brilliant video. I am just about to start my journey into the Classics and after a few minutes of watching, I paused, went on-line and reserved a copy of Pride and Prejudice from my local library. Looking forward to getting it and making a start. Have subscribed to your channel.
You read Count of Monte Cristo as a kid? I'm impressed! I picked up an abridged version as a middle schooler and put it down because it was a bit tedious. I picked up the unabridge version earlier this year, as an adult, and finally read through it-I quite enjoyed it. P & P is something I tried reading multiple times but I just can't follow through and read it. I might try Persuasion soon, though as I'm trying to get more into classics. Great video!
I had this "game" on my Nintendo DS called 100 classic books. (Or 100 books that are so old we can put them in for free. ) It gave like half a page on two screens and was a nice precursor to an eReader! Read the picture of Dorian Grey on there. What a story, waayyyy gayer than I thought you could get away with in those days! And the karakter evolution was so interesting!
@@LL-ub9tz The author is a religious fanatic who sets up the structure and narrative to demonstrate God, who rationaliists know is imaginary. Insecure people claim to love the book without reading it. I don't blame them. It is garbage.
War and Peace is so good. I had to read it for a class otherwise I never, ever would have picked it up. I read it 30 years ago and I have been recommending ever since :)!
I started classics with pride and prejudice and Emma then pet sematary I finally read the diary of Anne Frank, now I have Tom Sawyer and the outsiders and I'm excited to read it and I also have the complete plays of Shakespeare the next time I try to read it I'll read out loud
I know, it's heresy: S E Hinton's The Outsiders is like Hamlet-lots of variety. S E Hinton's That Was Then, This is Now is like King Lear- overwhelming devestation
Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick, A Day in the Life of Ivan Donisovich, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Count of Monte Cristo, Huckleberry Finn, The Call of the Wild, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Bible, Profiles in Courage, The Grapes of Wrath, The Good Earth, Gulliver Travels, Jane Eyre, The Odyssey. All good reads, worth repeat readings. All are concerned with the human condition, and bring light to bear on this most fascinating subject, us.
Love this list! As far as a contemporary prose style, I can't explain why, but I had a much easier time reading Sense & Sensibility than P&P, which I thought could be longwinded at times. Thus, I love to recommend Sense & Sensibility to new-to-classics readers; plus, I like personally think the sisterly dynamic is more interesting between Elinor & Marianne than say Elizabeth and Jane.
I had the best World Lit high school teacher who made me fall in love w Classic Literature. I am thankful to this day for him. He was my best English teacher.
Thank you for acknowledging how white, cis, Christian and straight most classics are. This is my first video of yours and as a black girl, I felt so alienated from the book recommendations at the beginning of the video, although I think that are good recs. I'm so happy we live in a time where people are more cognisant of how minority groups might feel about mainstream media. You just earned a subscriber!
Hi, I'm from Argentina. I love to read but, in this case, I'm here to learn english by listening native english with people like you. Also I want to read more classics so, double victory. Anyway, it's a very good video, I love your books collection. Sending my love from Buenos Aires, stay at home. Bye!
Lewis is underrated as a writer, philosopher, and generally good human. Thanks for spreading the word on him! If you haven’t yet, try “Planet Narnia,” a book by a Lewis scholar about the hidden themes in the Narniad. It’s pretty neat.
where do you find all those beautiful copies?
Mostly Book Depository, Bookshop.org, & Amazon ☺️If folks are interested in finding the Penguin Clothbound Classics, I have some affiliated links with most of them: Here's my affiliated Penguin Clothbound Classics shop at Bookshop.org: bookshop.org/lists/penguin-clothbound-classics-7ecf8706-5180-477b-9005-660667869a8e
Or if you want to go through Amazon, my affiliated link is here: amzn.to/32hC969
Barnes and Noble have a lot of beautiful classics also. That's where I got mine.
bookslikewhoa thank yoy❤️🌸
Von White thank you so much💕🦋
waterstones in the uk produced the copies like that :)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favourite books. I challenged myself to read more classics this year and its rekindled my love for books!
Author Oscar Wilde's last words on his deathbed in a cheap rented room: "Either this wallpaper goes, or I do."
I love Dorian Gray, and when I get into the classroom to teach high school ELAR, I want to teach it
Oh I have a book report on the picture of Dorian Gray
Had a long hiatus on reading and tried reading a classic. It was Dorian Gray. I was amazed at Oscar Wilde's style of prose. It's not to complicated and not too simple. It just sits in between making it a good page turner. I loved the premise and the story in general. Too sad that his work was not generally accepted by the society during his time (victorian era) because it's too gay and too unvictorian for them. :(
its sexist but interesting for sure.
I think Frankenstein is a good beginners classic. It’s relatively short and the language isn’t too difficult. Also for doorstoppers, I always recommend Les Mis to people who love the musical. It adds so much depth to the story and the characters.
booluther yes but les mis is a very big book so that’s putting me off but you are right about Frankenstein that was the first classic I read.
Yeah I read it in high school
Couldn't agree more!
Woah frankenstein has been my first classic! I loved it, moved on to pride and prejudice and now onto little women. I was always intimidated by the thought of the wordiness but so far so good😊
I tried reading Frankenstein recently and I really couldn't get into it. Might give it another go!
Dracula, Frankenstein, Carmilla, Dorian Grey, the short horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, or the heroic fantasy tales of Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith are usually my recommendations when it comes to the classics!
I just finished Carmilla today and that is one I wish people talked about more. It’s really excellent.
If u like Carmilla, have u read the vampyre. It’s weird that even though they’re the first vampire novels Dracula is more famous
SAME!
I agree. I got copies of most of those sitting in my shelf
Dorian gray is one of my favorite books rn
I watched Pride and Prejudice before I read the story. The language was easy to follow along with because I already knew the story.
Hannah Faires yes, I agree. I’ve done this with a few classics.
I did too and it made it easier while reading because I could visualize it and know where I was. The same with Emma
I watched Jane Eyre before reading it and I regret it because it ruined the mystery. Still really enjoyed it though. Masterpiece.
Yes, if you don't mind spoilers, I *highly* recommend watching the movie versions before reading them, but I am a dyslexic scholar and have a tendency to get swept up in the story when I mean to study XD Following the story is definitely much easier if you've seen the movie before reading it (not to mention how much easier it is to know the characters)
Recommended! While there's loads of humour in the book, and top class writing, there's also a lot of ... words.: )
I'm reading "murder on the orient express" in search of improving my English skill.🙂
I'm enjoying myself watching your video with English subtitle!
thank you from Japan.
That's awesome- welcome!!
Hey i did that too with murder on the orient express!
-supporting you from germany
Hi,🤗 I really love Japan because I grew up watching animes like Pokemon and all.
How are things going on in Japan, like How is the pandemic situation there?
@@harikrishnan2713 Viruses have running rampant in Japan I want to go abroad as soon as possible:(
@@かかし先生-i3k Oh🙁. Here in India, the situation is dreadful as hell. Anyways good luck with your ambitions pal.👍
If someone is TOTALLY intimidated by classics, I always recommend some childrens' classics first. Such as Lewis Carroll - everyone knows the story of Alice and it just eases them into the language gently. Also E. Nesbit is good. I also think Henry James is a great introduction. The themes in What Maisie Knew could have been written today. The Turn of the Screw is a great horror read. And I agree with you on Wilkie Collins - love him!
Great advice!
Oh I just read The Turn of the Screw and I couldn’t agree more. It was excellent!
Henry James is extremely demanding. Points of view, crawl behind the narrator’s eyes and don’t trust the narrator. I recommend Turn of the Screw!! Talk about in our DNA.
I dont know if you classify this as a classic, but John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will forever hold a special place in my heart. If you haven’t read it, please do!
Oh yes, its incredible sad, but still one of the best books, I've ever read.
It’s a modern classic
I definitely enjoyed reading it in school.
Steinbeck is my absolute favorite. I love all his books
I used to hate reading, but this book changed my mind! I love it so much.
The way I got through Shakespeare: they sell editions that have little footnotes or side notes about confusing parts. Made it so much easier and helped me get used to reading his works. By the end, I didn’t even read the notes. I felt MUCH smarter haha.
Anna Jo I need that because I struggle with fully understanding Shakespeare 😅 if you don’t mind me asking, what books did you purchase to help? 😊
@@valpaz5802 Personally, I like the Folger editions of Shakespeare, they tend to have a lot of notes and Folger is really well known for their scholarship. Also good are the Norton editions and sometimes the Signet Classic editions.
I agree! I like the Norton editions
I read your comment last night and was going to ask you where you purchased yours. Then when I went to the thrift store today, I found a copy of Merchant of Venice exactly as you described! Meant to be!
Critical editions are always more expensive, but I just ADORE the Arden Shakespeare Editions.
Looking forward to a 'Where to start with modern classics' video!
My favourite classic is The Great Gatsby. I could read that book for the rest of my life♥︎
Yes!!! It's a really great book
I got half way through and wanted to end mine.
There's me think she meant classics as in The Odyssey, The Illiad, Dante's Inferno (which I think I see at the top right of your bookshelf) or any classical plays like Medea or Oedipus.
STILL A GOOD VIDEO ❤️❤️
Elizabeth Adejumo yep same lol, waiting to see what she would say about my bbys
For those wanting to get into Russian literature, I recommend starting with something light that sets the tone for Russian culture. A collection of short stories by Pushkin is good
I would reccomend Fathers and Sons, it's very short and easy to read, even if Turgenev is a Westernizer as compared to the much more famous slavophiles Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.
Also, if someone were into satire I would reccomend Dead Souls by Gogol.
I personally started with Anna Karenina, best decision I've ever made 😍
hmm notes from the underground might be good to start with
@@Ariana-vc3df it’s too long but is it really worth it ?
Russia sucks !!!
Jekyll and Hyde is such an approachable book! It's a novella and the language isn't too hard, it's what I always recommend!
“Middlemarch” my favorite book! Yes! Yes! Sooo worth your time! It will also open the door to so many other works.
I asked my favorite English teacher a while back. What are some great ways to improve my grammar/sentence structure. He told me reading. At first I was thrown back because I already read books. But I realize I probably wasn’t reading the right books and thought....
Reading classics seems to be a good place to start.
🤞🤞🤞
As a book translator and as a language and literature student this was the third time I come around your channel. Your videos are great. Thanks. :)
I honestly think that little women is great to it’s an easy read, and it just has a great plot. And altogether I loved the book, and when I say I loved the book I mean I lovvved the book
In 2020, I learned that Alexandre Dumas was a French black man. It blew my mind. I was a French literature major and I never once hear anyone talk about it in the late 2000s.
he was part black, AND there are many theories that suggest Pushkin is Alexander Dumas. They were both part black. Both spoke fluent Russian and French, AND this is creepily exciting, the person who killed Pushkin in a duel is Georges D'Anthes. Now, the Count of Monte Cristo is called DANTES, and its all about assuming a different character... lol just a super cool theory.
@@AyaAndTheOddities mindblown! Haha! Thanks for sharing this!!
I’m 3 minutes in and already love you haha. I love hearing the way that you frame reassign and these books and also you are stunningly beautiful.
Haha, thank you
Since even before I learned to read, I've loved books! After learning to read, there was no stopping me! I owned several of the little "Golden Books" from the time I was about five. But I began a serious collecting quest about age eight, and now have about 5,000 books (age 67) in my personal library. I won't say they've all been read cover to cover; perhaps 70-75% of them -- many of them are reference & textual type books.
When our first child finished first grade, we decided to home educate her and our other children. She delighted in our reading to her, even into her mid-teens, but did not have the same "passion" I had for reading on her own, though she didn't mind doing so. One day, she pulled a classic from my bookshelves in the den and began reading it on a whim. And it changed her life and perspective on books / reading forever! From then to now, she has been an insatiable reader of not only fiction but science and history as well. The book she chose that day was Baroness Emma Orczy's classic novel of the French Revolution, "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Wherever you are, thank you, Baroness Orczy!
My favorite door stopper is gone with the wind. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING BOOK.
Ben Parrish I agree wholeheartedly! One of my absolute favorites!
Phantom of the opera, little women, Oliver twist, good earth are must read for beginners
I love Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing. I’m a slow reader so the short stories are great, and also there aren’t huge sections of the books that just drag on which I find in some other classics (the one exception is a study in scarlet where there is a large section about Mormons? Still a good story though). Also the character of Sherlock Holmes (and Watson too actually) is so much more interesting and enjoyable in the original stories than in many adaptations so don’t be put off by whatever your current understanding of him is
I would recommend 1984 by George Orwell it’s a great classic if you’re into dystopian settings
Handmaidens tale isn’t classic buts it’s good dystopian
@@marksuckinbgber yes well let's just chalk it up that we both have different definitions of "classic" lol
What is it about
@@luiza7453 It is about a dystopian futurist (even though 1984 was long algo) society in which people are constantly controled. It mainly follows the life of Winston Smith, a man who works for the goverment until he starts realizing that something bad is going on, and that obviously produces loads of problems on his life.
I highly recommend it, it's a great book.
I am SO happy to see the copy of Don Quixote. It is so often neglected amongst the classics despite being the father of the modern novel. I love this video!!!!
The Count of Monte Cristo is a favorite along with The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. Loved Anna Karenina, Moby Dick, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Happiest when I see a young person put down their phone and read.😄
Karyn Kerndl young person here, I mostly read by using my phone 😂
I admire that you have so many beautifully covered editions. They're so aesthetically pleasing yet practical to carry with you. Many of my classics are well traveled paperbacks with a couple giant ostentatious b&n classics that barely leave the shelf.
The Great Gatsby is my ultimate favourite of all the times 🎶🎶🎶
This is a fantastic video! Some spot-on recommendations here. Way back when I was a child/young teen I had the great good fortune to accidentally stumble upon some of the more accessible classics: Oliver Twist, all of Holmes, Dracula, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights among others. First Shakespeare was Macbeth, right up my alley with the fantasy witchy elements and spooky dream scenes.
And yes, Emma! She doesn’t get enough love.
These Where to Start videos are both useful and entertaining. Please keep up the good work.
Very, very good books to start with! :) When my nephew was a teenager, these are the books I sent him: To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Outsiders, That Was Then, This is now.
People will pay you just to visit your home library just to see those covers they are absolutely stunning
Unfortunately those penguin cloth covers designs(which are gorgeous) rub off as you read them. So sad to see the designs disappear as you read.
There are a lot of videos here about book recommendations and they're all good, but there's something about you that convinces me to read all of yours immediately.
I am really grateful for all these. Keep it up!
I don’t read very often anymore but I recently read the Count of Monte Cristo and loved it! I really like how the Count is this very intelligent, mysterious figure who’s one step ahead; but he is also flawed, has emotions and makes mistakes. There are characters that are hateful but also ones to root for. The ending was also very satisfying and showed growth.
I loved this, Mara! I agree with you on Wilkie Collins. He’s completely underrated. The Woman in White might be my favorite classic. I also appreciate your love for Merchant of Venice! It truly has aged well.
Oh I started with The Picture of Dorian Gray literally last week and I loved it (and tbh the first couple of chapters especially I was just sitting there going this is so gay this is totally appropriate for pride month)
E. M. Forsters stuff is also really gay. One of his books wasn't published until after his death in the 1970's, but he has a lot of gay characters that are disguised with thinly veiled subtext, just like in Dorian Gray. Maurice, of course, gets rid of all the subtext.
I'm literally thirteen years old, but I absolutely love classics. I love Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. I always think that the teens my age don't usually read these types of books, and people don't know how to tell me where to start, so you really helped me in these. Thank you so much❣
This December needs to be a re-reading of the classics, watching this made me nostalgic for most of these titles.
I’m so happy that you mentioned Middlemarch because I’m actually on Chapter 4 as I’m watching this. So far, very readable and has kept my attention well!
Was surprised by no mention of a huge reading project which I loved, Les Misérables. Talk about a door stop!! Fantastic
I remembered after reading Frankenstein (it was good tho) I used to get little annoyed that some people think Frankenstein is a monster but actually that's a Doctor
Although I would definitely say doctor Frankenstein was a monster considering how he treated his "child"
@@july3817 You know what? I agree.
I thought the monsters name was Frankenstein I was surprised while reading that it was the doctors name 😭
Same! And sadly, I related A LOT to the monster the moment I read it. Now I don't.
A great video! If people like Jane austen or the bronte sisters, I would also suggest elizabeth gaskell. Cranford, and north and south are accessible reads with great characters.
I'm so glad you recommended Middlemarch. I'm more a fan of The Mill on the Floss but close enough. 😉👍
🇧🇷 I love books, I love literature, and I'm learning to speak English on my own. So I've already subscribed to your channel, success!
Welcome aboard!
omg your books are so aesthetically pleasing to look at
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is literally my far favorite book I've ever read...
Wuthering Heights is my fave and I love to read it around Christmas time. I also love Thomas Hardy.
Thank you for recommending Cranford as I had not heard of it before. Such a delightful little book!
Wow... The knowingness of this video... How could you know how relevant this would be in 2020? Thank you for this.
So pleased that Pride and Prejudice was your top choice as it was the first classic I read at 11 years old and to this day, after 5 re-reads, it has not been replaced as my favorite, although Jane Eyre really did come in as a close second
Great content and Channel! I will definitely share this will my daughters who are currently 8 and 10 years old. We started a book reading channel to improve their English reading and comprehension skills. Plus, I wasn't much of a book reader growing up and now having the opportunity to read with them and share it with the world. Thank You and looking forward to your future videos!
I fell in love with classics from oliver twist and I'm telling you it worth it , though my all time favourite character of Dickens would have to be Miss Havisham.
While listening to an unabridged audio of Oliver Twist in the car on a long ride home, when Nancy was murdered, my husband missed the exit!
I'm not a huge classics reader. But to go along with your suggestion of reading Shakespeare out loud, most of the time I find it easier to consume classics through audiobooks.
Neville Longbottom I agree! I read tons of classics for school and I still find them to be easier on audio.
Agree! Audio is a great way to help process the sentence flow of older style of prose
The first time I read war and peace , I was around 18 years; I left out all the parts about the war: I reread it a few years ago ; now with the war scenes. Another book I really enjoyed was Gone with the wind, great read about American history and nothing like the movie.
This eyeshadow is freaking everything with your hair n eyes
Thank you!
Yes, Emma is my favourite book! I recommend it to everyone 💕
Funny to think about the idea of starting with Wuthering Heights as an angsty teen. When I wanted to start reading it my mental health was at an all time low. Even though I had no idea what it was about, I guess I did choose to right novel for me.
This is a great list! You named all of my favorites!
Thank you for this video, I really enjoyed your recommendations. Also, I am super jealous of your classics bookshelf!
I remember using a notebook while reading Lord of the Rings and Count of Monte Cristo to keep track of all the characters and their relationships. Now I read everything on the Kindle app, which is great because I can just run a search on a forgotten name that hasn't been mentioned in 450 pages.
Doorstoppers. Love it.😂
I’m slowly starting to get back into classics again and I ended up picking up Pride and Prejudice 😄 I’m going to read it again because it was my favorite Jane Austen book that I’ve read in my life and it was the first book that really drew me into classics during high school 😄 I also picked up sense and sensibility because I have been told that it I loved pride and prejudice I will also love that book too.
I wanted to start reading classics so I picked up Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the language isn’t too difficult as it is a slightly more modern classic, written in 1948 (I think) and it’s a really entertaining story. I haven’t finished it yet but would recommend for people wanting to start classics!
My favorite thing about Emma is that Clueless is one of my all-time favorite movies and it's such a great modern adaptation. If you know the movie and know its an adaptation it makes the translation of the book to present day a lot easier! I would laugh out loud reading it at the gym.
Somerset Maugham has a large number of wonderful books, full of great insight into human nature (often the dark side) and very readable.
I love classics too! Those are definite good starts especially my favorite genre in classics; horror. One of my favorite books which you could probably place under horror is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (I hopefully spelled the last name correctly) If you have ever seen the musical or modern movie based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, the book is almost like that so in a sense it is familiar. If you want to stay in horror then might I suggest the entire works of Edgar Allen Poe, a big book, but worth it or watch the classic movies starring Vincent Price, he did a lot of Poe inspired movies like The Pit & the Pendulum, Fall of the House of Usher, Masque of the Red Death, etc.
I started my love of classics with the horror genre and branched out. If there's ever a book you want to read aloud because of language like Shakespeare then Dante's Inferno is a good one, The Odyssey by Homer, although you may want to start with the Iliad first because it's before the Odyssey. Good books if you're obsessed with Greek mythology like I am.
I don't know if these are considered modern classics, but they might be, would be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which I absolutely love the book and movie, there's also a sequel for this book. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier (again hopefully spelled the last name right) which is just an amazing mystery thriller book to me, it was such an unexpected read and I had to read this for school many, many years ago. She is also responsible for the short story (if I recall) The Birds which Alfred Hitchcock turned into a movie.
I will have to disagree with you on one thing and this could have been due to my age back then, but I didn't like The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, in fact I DNFed it and I had to read that book for my senior year. I really didn't like it, but I may try at a later time and we'll see if I still hate it.
The only one of these that I haven't read is Dorian Gray. And I'm a Christian so i love that a lot more Christian themes! The first one i read was an old copy of pride and Prejudice that my grandmother gave me!
Oh man, you did such a great job on this! I've just finished The Canterbury Tales (Thanks a lot Steve Donaghue for plunging me into the Western Canon!) and in prep for that I found Dolores Cullen's, Chaucer's Pilgrims. Wow, now I've got to read Chaucer again! I love the classics! Did Shakespeare last year, but am looking forward to the 19th century.
Reading Willkie Collins “the Frozen Deep” right now- love him! Recommend Women in White often!
I'm 15 years old and I just got into classics and reading more and I decided to go with pride and prejudice. Honestly it's really nice and the language is very beautiful. Sadly, english is not my first language and since I wanted to read the book in its original form, I'm having a little trouble understanding some parts. Reading out loud as you mentioned in shakespeare really help!
You have such a beautiful collection of books, makes me sooo jealous. Also, girlll, your make up is so so good
Thank you so much!!
Les Misérables would be my number One. I first read it when I was twelve and I loved it. The second time I read it was in my Junior year; it was required. So good. And thank you for your list, I will report to the library tomorrow.
aint no way you read les miserables at 12 years old
@@jd395 Oh, yeah!! Way!
Thank you so much for this brilliant video. I am just about to start my journey into the Classics and after a few minutes of watching, I paused, went on-line and reserved a copy of Pride and Prejudice from my local library. Looking forward to getting it and making a start. Have subscribed to your channel.
I have been wanting to get into classics for a while so this video is just perfect. Thank you for making this and these recommendations. ❤
You're so welcome! Glad it was helpful :)
I would recommend "Sons and Lovers" by D.H. Lawarence as well. And not just because it's my favorite book. It really got me into classics.
You read Count of Monte Cristo as a kid? I'm impressed! I picked up an abridged version as a middle schooler and put it down because it was a bit tedious. I picked up the unabridge version earlier this year, as an adult, and finally read through it-I quite enjoyed it. P & P is something I tried reading multiple times but I just can't follow through and read it. I might try Persuasion soon, though as I'm trying to get more into classics. Great video!
A retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray with social networks.
Yessssss
I had this "game" on my Nintendo DS called 100 classic books. (Or 100 books that are so old we can put them in for free. )
It gave like half a page on two screens and was a nice precursor to an eReader!
Read the picture of Dorian Grey on there. What a story, waayyyy gayer than I thought you could get away with in those days! And the karakter evolution was so interesting!
those books are gorgeous and so are you. love the recs
Thank you! Especially for Leo Tolstoy.
Lack of Dostoyevsky really hit me 🥺
Andjela Kostic ah, yes. Nothing like a little Dostoevsky to get into classics hahaha I’d say.. don’t start with Dostoevsky 😅
He is awful. RELIGIOUS NUT.
True🖤
@@locutusdborg126 if that's what you get from Dostoyevsky then you have serious problems as a human being.
@@LL-ub9tz The author is a religious fanatic who sets up the structure and narrative to demonstrate God, who rationaliists know is imaginary. Insecure people claim to love the book without reading it. I don't blame them. It is garbage.
War and Peace is so good. I had to read it for a class otherwise I never, ever would have picked it up. I read it 30 years ago and I have been recommending ever since :)!
I started classics with pride and prejudice and Emma then pet sematary I finally read the diary of Anne Frank, now I have Tom Sawyer and the outsiders and I'm excited to read it and I also have the complete plays of Shakespeare the next time I try to read it I'll read out loud
I know, it's heresy: S E Hinton's The Outsiders is like Hamlet-lots of variety. S E Hinton's That Was Then, This is Now is like King Lear- overwhelming devestation
Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick, A Day in the Life of Ivan Donisovich,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Count of Monte Cristo, Huckleberry Finn, The Call of the Wild, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Bible, Profiles in Courage, The Grapes of Wrath, The Good Earth, Gulliver Travels, Jane Eyre, The Odyssey. All good reads, worth repeat readings. All are concerned with the human condition, and bring light to bear on this most fascinating subject, us.
This is really useful! Thanks. I think Rebecca is a great place to start for classics - it's basically a really good psychological thriller.
Totally agree!
Her Agatha Christie collection though!
I loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier if you are a mystery/ Wilkie Collins fan!!
My favourite is Jane Eyre and your book collection is amazing 😱😱😱😱😀😀
Love this list!
As far as a contemporary prose style, I can't explain why, but I had a much easier time reading Sense & Sensibility than P&P, which I thought could be longwinded at times. Thus, I love to recommend Sense & Sensibility to new-to-classics readers; plus, I like personally think the sisterly dynamic is more interesting between Elinor & Marianne than say Elizabeth and Jane.
I love the penguin clothbound classics
You matching your eyeshadow to the Pride&Prejudice cover is just awwwwweeeesome 😀
I had the best World Lit high school teacher who made me fall in love w Classic Literature. I am thankful to this day for him. He was my best English teacher.
I'm so glad you mentioned A Modest Proposal 💚
Thank you for acknowledging how white, cis, Christian and straight most classics are. This is my first video of yours and as a black girl, I felt so alienated from the book recommendations at the beginning of the video, although I think that are good recs. I'm so happy we live in a time where people are more cognisant of how minority groups might feel about mainstream media. You just earned a subscriber!
Treasure island, Robert Louis Stevenson. Great read.
Hi, I'm from Argentina. I love to read but, in this case, I'm here to learn english by listening native english with people like you. Also I want to read more classics so, double victory. Anyway, it's a very good video, I love your books collection. Sending my love from Buenos Aires, stay at home. Bye!
Thanks for sharing!
The time honored way refugees from Hitler's Nazi Europe, when they came to America with no English skills, they learned by going to the movies.
Mara is one of the most articulate booktubers I have watched. New subbie 💕
Lewis is underrated as a writer, philosopher, and generally good human. Thanks for spreading the word on him!
If you haven’t yet, try “Planet Narnia,” a book by a Lewis scholar about the hidden themes in the Narniad. It’s pretty neat.
I love Emma! She needs supporters. :-)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is literally my favorite novel of all time. Highlyyyy recommend!!!
One of my favourite doorstoppers is Vanity Fair, I found it surprisingly funny for a Victorian novel.
Leanne Burnham It’s at the top of my list.
@@johntuffin3262 Remarkable novel. Love it!