10 British Classics You Should Read Before You Die

    It's April, and I say it's about time for another book list. There are so many books in the universe to read. (I've only in the past few days at the ripe old age of twenty-one decided I won't read every book published.)

     But there are four authors that I recommend without fail any time I am asked what classics are worth reading. Below I highlight the best works (that I have read so far) from these authors, so you can easily start by picking up the best of the bunch.

     So quit your Internet browsing and pick up these classics that are a dime a dozen (in cost, not value) at your local bookstore...

1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (follow with A Tale of Two Cities or A Christmas Carol)

• Some quick facts: 1800s Victorian-era writer and social critic
• Favorite theme: The poor and orphaned
• Where readers get hung up: Dickens was paid by the word, so he uses *all the words,* which can slow down the pace of the book.
• Where readers fall in love: His beautiful, redemptive endings, his memorable characters

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (read next: Emma or Persuasion)

• Some quick facts: 1800s Regency novelist, parson's daughter
• Favorite theme: The human heart's flaws and virtues, despite economic or social encumbrances
• Where readers get hung up: The stereotype that Austen is a "romance writer" just for women
• Where readers fall in love: Her exploration of motivations, loyalties, and the personal growth coming from heartbreak, the cleverly written dialogue and characters, and the aesthetic of the movie adaptations

3. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (pick up Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile when you finish)

• Some quick facts: dubbed "the Queen of Mystery," outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare
• Favorite theme: Unsolvable mysteries with impossible twists
• Where readers get hung up: Trying to track her plethora of characters
• Where readers fall in love: Never being able to solve her mysteries until the final page (I've been surprised by every ending but that of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.) and any book in her Poirot series, which stars French detective Hercules Poirot

4. Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (choose from his many novels and short stories)

• Some quick facts: studied medicine and became a physician, leading to his medical details in his detective fiction
• Favorite theme: Logical reasoning and deduction
• Where readers get hung up: Where to start reading since Doyle has written four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes
• Where readers fall in love: The witty banter, baffling cases, and tv show adaptations such as Sherlock and Elementary

     Which will you pick up next? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

~Madeline