Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Classic Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In A Lifetime
15
items These are universally loved classics, each with timeless themes still relevant today.
The quintessential coming-of-age story. Holden Caufield’s journey of self-discovery is equal parts hilarious and touching. It’s a story of growing pains, of transitioning out of childhood, and, in true Peter Pan fashion, of a certain refusal to grow ...
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Paperback - Barnes & Noble
A masterfully crafted novel from start to finish, To Kill a Mockingbird is a modern-day classic that is essential reading for readers in any stage of life. Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep South—and th...
To Kill a Mockingbird (Pulitzer Prize Winner) - Barnes & Noble
A frightening look into a society where free thought is punishable. Disturbing and thought-provoking, 1984 warns us of the dangerous possibilities of what would happen if everyone became completely submissive to the state. Remember, Big Brother is al...
1984 by George Orwell, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
Considered by many to be the greatest novel of all time. Set against the back drop of the Jazz Age, the story of Jay Gatsby and his lover Daisy is truly timeless. Just as relevant now as when it was written, it's the story of class divides, moral dep...
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a seminal novel of the 1960s. Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants—a counterculture classic that inspired the 1975 film adap...
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: (Penguin Orange Collection)
One woman’s quest for freedom in a world reluctant to give it. Jane Eyre continues to be a soaring narrative of love and hate, self-discovery, and the search for home. It’s nothing short of a masterpiece. Following the death of her uncle, the orphan ...
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble
Stepping far afield from his medical studies, Victor Frankenstein brings to life a human form he has fashioned from scavenged body parts. Horrified by his achievement, he turns his back on his creation, only to learn the danger of such neglect. Writt...
Frankenstein (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) by Mary Shelley ...
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels in English literature and a cornerstone of Jane Austen's reputation as one of the greatest novelists of all time. As the Bennets prepare their five grown daughters to ente...
Pride and Prejudice (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions)
The classic novel based on the early life of Buddha, Hesse’s brilliant narrative centers on the search for self-realization and how to find inner peace amidst external turmoil. This is a beautiful read about the shackles of earthly riches and how one...
Siddhartha (Signature Classics) - Hermann Hesse - Barnes & Noble
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again." With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began he...
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early-twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters...
The Color Purple (Pulitzer Prize Winner) by Alice Walker, Paperback
In this deeply compelling novel and epic milestone of American literature, a nameless narrator tells his story from the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. He describes growing up in a Black community in the South, attending...
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
There is no more horrible an example of group think than the Salem Witch Trials, and the masterful playwrite Arthur Miller does not shy away from the depths of depravity it sprouted. Meant as a mirror to the Red Scare, the dangers depicted in this pl...
The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Paperback | Barnes & Noble
Charles Dickens is unmatched in literary quality, and while it’s hard to choose a single one as his quintessential work, you can’t go wrong with Great Expectations. In typical Dickens fashion, the story revolves around a young orphan boy and offers a...
Great Expectations (Signature Classics)|Paperback - Barnes & Noble
The complete four-book boxed set of the greatest fantasy epic of all time: The Lord of the Rings and its enchanting prequel, The Hobbit. When Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves embark upon a dangerous quest to reclaim the hoard of gold stolen...
J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the ...