Classic Books in Carey Library
These classic books have stood the test of time and are still relevant today.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
812.52 MIL
Classic play about the witch hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts, illuminating the destructive power of fears and suspicion in a community.
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
FIC LON
Buck, a dog that has been forced into the harsh life of a sled dog, befriends a man seeking his fortune in the Klondike gold fields, and must ultimately decide whether to stay with his master or obey his instinct to join the wolves.
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
FIC BUR
Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin's London school, is left in poverty when her father dies but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
FIC HUG
The nineteenth-century French novel about Jean Valjean, a peasant who is released from prison, where he spent nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving family, only to find himself threatened by people and events from his past.
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
FIC DIC
In nineteenth-century England, a young orphan boy lives in the squalid surroundings of a workhouse until he becomes involved with a gang of thieves.
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FIC FIT
Amory Blaine wanders through his early years falling in love with a variety of women and attempting to use the power of his personality to woo them.
The Adventures of Robin Hood & his Merry Outlaws by J. Walker McSpadden
FIC MCS
Twenty-four tales of Robin Hood, Little John, Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck, and Allan-a-Dale, and the merry adventures they have while defying the Sheriff of Nottingham and other authority figures in and around Sherwood Forest.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
FIC DIC
Through the intervention of three ghosts, Ebenezer Scrooge is shown the spirit of Christmas.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
FIC SHE
A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator.
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
FIC CRA
During his service in the Civil War a young Union soldier matures to manhood and finds peace of mind as he comes to grips with his conflicting emotions about war.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
FIC BUR
Raised by a fierce she-ape of the tribe of Kerchak, Tarzan learns the secrets of the wild and becomes lord of the jungle. But when an expedition of white men and beautiful Jane Porter enter the jungle, Tarzan must choose between two worlds.
Treasure Island by Robert Lewis Stevenson
FIC STE
While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a treasure map that leads them to a pirate's fortune.
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
812 GIB
Deaf, blind, and mute twelve-year-old Helen Keller was like a wild animal. Scared out of her wits but still murderously strong, she clawed and struggled against all who tried to help her. Half-blind herself but blessed with fanatical dedication, Annie Sullivan began a titanic struggle to release the young girl from the terrifying prison of eternal darkness and silence.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
812 HAN
When it was first produced in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for that season and hailed as a watershed in American drama. A pioneering work by an African-American playwright, the play was a radically new representation of black life.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
812 MIL
Willy Loman is the "everyman" who is suddenly faced with the glaring reality that he is past his prime and has begun living in a self-created fantasy world in which he is not obsolete.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
814 THO
Walden is Thoreau’s autobiographical account of his Robinson Crusoe existence, bare of creature comforts but rich in contemplation of the wonders of nature and the ways of man.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
822 SHA
Shakespeare's play of how a man's ambition leads to murder and, ultimately, his death.
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
822 SHA
Dealing with events surrounding the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., the drama vividly illustrates the ways in which power and corruption are linked.
King Lear by William Shakespeare
822 SHA
A king foolishly divides his kingdom between his scheming two oldest daughters and estranges himself from the daughter who loves him.
Beowulf
829 RAF
The elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and dies in old age in a vivid fight against a dragon.
The Iliad by Homer
883 Hom
Homer's stirring heroic account of the Trojan war and its passions.
The Odyssey by Homer
883 HOM
All the other Greek heroes who survived the war at Troy have returned home. Only Odysseus is still missing, held against his will by the nymph Calypso, and persecuted by Poseidon because Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
FIC ADA
Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren so that they can live in peace. Storytelling at its best.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
FIC ALC
The story of four sisters who grow up in Massachusetts during the Civil War. The story follows their joys and sorrows as they become the "little women" their father so proudly calls them
Emma by Jane Austen
FIC AUS
Content with her life and not interested in marriage, Emma Woodhouse, a rich and beautiful heiress, causes complications with her matchmaking schemes.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
FIC AUS
When Fanny Price is sent away to live with her rich cousins, she's meant to learn the ways of proper society but manages to enlighten them as well.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
FIC AUS
In a world where obtaining an advantageous marriage is a woman's sole occupation, Elizabeth Bennett’s independent manner threatens her family's future. Will her romantic sparring with the mysterious and arrogant Darcy end in misfortune--or will love's true nature prevail?
National Velvet by Enid Bagnold
FIC BAG
A determined girl and boy and a spirited thoroughbred horse join forces to attain the seemingly impossible dream of winning the Grand National Steeplechase.
Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
FIC MAL
Sir Thomas Malory's unique and splendid version of the Arthurian legend tells an immortal story of love, adventure, chivalry, treachery, and death.
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
FIC BRA
A summer in the life of a 12 year old boy in 1928 in the hamlet of Green Town, Ill.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
FIC BRA
A bookburner official in a future fascist state finds out books are a vital part of a culture he never knew. He clandestinely pursues reading, until he is betrayed.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
FIC BRA
The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
FIC BRO
Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead and subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a richer life than that traditionally allowed women in Victorian society.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
FIC BRO
Classic novel of consuming passions, played out against the lonely moors of northern England, recounts the turbulent and tempestuous love story of Cathy and Heathcliff.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett
FIC BUR
Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
FIC CAR
A version of the classic fantasy in which the illustrator portrays Alice as Alice Liddell, Carroll's original inspiration for the story.
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
FIC CAR
Tells the tale of Alice, who steps through a mirror and experiences unusual adventures in a world of nonsensical characters.
O Pioneers! By Willa Cather
FIC CAT
The daughter of Swedish immigrant farmers finds her devotion to the land sustains her against the hardship and suffering of life on the Nebraska prairie.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
FIC CHR
What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
FIC DIC
Tells the story of a young man, orphaned as a boy, growing up in nineteenth-century England.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
FIC DIC
Pip, a poor orphan being raised by a cruel sister, does not have much in the way of great expectations--between his terrifying experience in a graveyard with a convict named Magwitch and his humiliating visits with the eccentric Miss Havisham's beautiful but manipulative niece, Estella, who torments him--until he is elevated to wealth by an anonymous benefactor.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
FIC DIC
The inhabitants of two cities--including a doctor, his devoted daughter, the young French aristocrat she loves, and their English friend--are swept into the tide of the French Revolution.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
FIC DOS
Raskolnikoff murders an old moneylender and her sister, and after a lengthy investigation a saintly prostitute Sonya convinces him to confess.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
FIC DUM
A young bride is brought by her new husband to his manor house in England. There she finds that the memory of her husband's first wife haunts her, and she tries to discover the secret of that mysterious woman's death.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
FIC DUM
Edmund Dantes, unjustly accused and imprisoned for treason, eventually escapes from his unbearable captivity, uncovers a treasure and begins his long repressed vengance against those who betrayed him.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
FIC DUM
The young ambitious D'Artagnan arrives aspiring to join the Musketeers, proves he is worthy, and with the others helps save the honor of their Queen.
Adam Bede by George Eliot
FIC ELI
Adam Bede, an honest, hard-working carpenter, has his heart set on marrying his sweetheart, pretty dairymaid Hetty Sorrel. Hetty wants nothing to do with her boring life on the farm and she allows herself to be seduced by the heir to a local estate. She finds herself abandoned and pregnant from her ill-fated dalliance.
Silas Marner by George Eliot
FIC ELI
In rural nineteenth-century England, a weaver, lonely and embittered at the unjust treatment he has received from people he considered to be his friends, finds his only solace in money until he inadvertently becomes the guardian of an orphaned little girl.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FIC FIT
Tells the tragic love story of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
BIO FRA
Traces the life of the Jewish girl who hid with seven other people in an attic for two years in Nazi-occupied Holland and chronicled her day-to-day life in a diary which was discovered after her death in German concentration camp.
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
FIC GIP
With the help of a yellow stray dog named Old Yeller, fourteen-year-old Travis tries to meet his responsibilities on the family's Texas hill country farm in the 1860s.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
FIC GRA
The escapades of four animal friends who live along a river in the English countryside--Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger.
Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Grimm Brothers
FIC GRI
Merry, dark or magical, these classic tales never fail to inspire and enthrall. From the land of fantastical castles, vast lakes and deep forests, the Brothers Grimm collected a treasury of entrancing folk and fairy stories full of giants and dwarfs, witches and princesses, magic beasts and cunning boys.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
FIC HAW
In early colonial Massachusetts, a young woman endures the consequences of her sin of adultery and spends the rest of her life in atonement.
Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
FIC HEM
"The tragic and timeless story of one man's indomitable spirit and the enduring dignity of the common man.
The Outsiders by SE Hinton
FIC HIN
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
FIC HUX
Huxley's classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
FIC IRV
An animated version of Washington Irving's tale about a gangly schoolmaster, and a headless ghost who haunts the Hudson River region.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
FIC KES
Here is the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially the tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
FIC KEY
The beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. High school and older.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
FIC KNO
Against the backdrop of World War II, the rivalry of two roommates at a boys' school turns into a private war.
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
FIC LEW
Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil -- what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written in 1949 by Clive Staples Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.
White Fang by Jack London
FIC LON
The adventures in the northern wilderness of a dog who is part wolf and how he comes to make his peace with man.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
FIC MEL
Captain Ahab maniacally hunts the great white whale across the seven oceans.
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
FIC MIT
A view of the Civil War from the Southern side and a spoiled, rich plantation woman.
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff
FIC NOR
Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on the high seas against the tyrannical Captain Bligh aboard the H.M.S. Bounty when the underfed, overflogged sailors can no longer take the brutality.
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
FIC OHA
Through his intense devotion to the colt Flicka, a young boy, living on a Wyoming ranch, begins to learn about responsibility and gain a better understanding of his brusque father.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baronness Orczy
FIC ORC
A foppish English dandy, alias the Scarlet Pimpernel, rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine; and in the midst of these adventures, he meets and falls in love with Marguerite, France's most celebrated actress.
1984 by George Orwell
FIC ORW
In Orwell's vision of the year 1984, humans have become ruthless and manipulative, uncaring of personal and individual freedoms, all in the name of freedom and democracy.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
FIC ORW
In this satire of the Russian Revolution, Manor Farm is transformed into Animal Farm, a democracy proclaiming, "All Animals Are Created Equal." After totalitarian rule is re-established, the reality becomes, "But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others."
Great Tales of Terror by Edgar Allen Poe
FIC POE
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
FIC RAN
Government leaders seeking control over all business become increasingly frantic as major industrial companies are being thrown into chaos following the sudden disappearance of their leaders.
The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings
FIC RAW
A young boy, Jody, living with his family on the Florida frontier shortly after the Civil War, must sacrifice his pet fawn for his family's survival.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
FIC RAW
Set against the background of the Ozark Mountains, this is the story of a young farm boy and how he trains his two coon hounds to achieve fame for their hunting and trapping.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
FIC REM
Paul Bäumer is just 19 years old when he and his classmates enlist. They are Germany's Iron Youth who enter the war with high ideals and leave it disillusioned or dead. Paul watches his Second Company --150 men strong-- reduced in a single battle to 32 weary survivors.
The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery
FIC SAI
An aviator whose plane is forced down in the Sahara Desert encounters a little prince from a small planet who relates his adventures in seeking the secret of what is important in life.
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
FIC SAL
Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
FIC SEW
A thoroughbred horse struggles to keep his head held high amid all the cruelty and suffering his adventurous life brings his way.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
FIC SMI
A young girl in a shabby neighborhood lives with dreams in an innocent time before the war.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
FIC STE
Novel about the plight of American farmers who were forced off their farms by drought and foreclosure during the 1930's
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
FIC STE
The tragic story of two itinerant ranch hands on the run--one is the lifelong companion to the other, a developmentally disabled man.
The Pearl by John Steinbeck
FIC STE
The story is of Keno, a poor fisherman who finds a great, luminous pearl. Although he is sure the fortune it represents will solve all his problems, Keno eventually realizes that the pearl has marked his life forever.
The Black Arrow by Robert Lewis Stevenson
FIC STE
A young Englishman, seeking to avenge the death of his father, becomes involved in the band of the Black Arrow and the events of the War of the Roses.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson
FIC STE
A kind and well-respected doctor can turn himself into a murderous madman by taking a secret drug he's created.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
FIC STO
The quintessential horror tale of the powerful, centuries-old Transylvanian vampire follows his bloodthirsty trail from the mountains of Central Europe to England, until the savvy Dr. Van Helsing comes up with a way to end his reign of terror.
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
FIC SWI
The tale of an 18th-century physician who takes eight years to travel through a variety of fantastical lands, only to have everyone but his wife take him for a madman when he returns home.
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
FIC THA
The interweaving destinies of two contrasted heroines during the period of Waterloo & its aftermath
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
FIC TOL
he Lord of the Ringstells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard, the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, Boromir of Gondor, and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
FIC TOL
Story of passion and family conflict set in 19th century upper-class Russia, in which the wife of an aristocrat falls in love with a dashing cavalry officer.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark
Twain
FIC TWA
The adventures of a boy growing up in a nineteenth-century Mississippi River town as he plays hookey on an island, witnesses a crime, hunts for the pirates' treasure, and becomes lost in a cave.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
FIC TWA
The classic story of a 19th-century New Englander who, after a quarrel, awakens to find himself in sixth-century England
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
FIC TWA
A poor English boy finds his appearance is remarkably similar to Edward, the Prince of Wales.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
FIC VER
An eccentric Englishman accepts a challenge to circle the globe with unprecedented speed. Exotic locales, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and comic relief provide a fantastic blend of adventure, entertainment and suspense.
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
FIC VER
What a stunning discovery: an old, coded note that actually contains directions for reaching the Earth's very core! And once he finds it, renowned geologist Professor Liedenbrock can't resist setting out with his 16-year-old nephew to go where only one man has gone before.
The Time Machine by HG Wells
FIC WEL
The time? 802,701 A.D. The place? An Earth stranger than you can imagine. The people? A pretty, childlike race, the Eloi-and their distant cousins, the Morlocks: disgusting, hairy creatures who live in caves and feed on the flesh of-what? Enter the Time Traveller, who has hurtled almost a million years into the future. After the Morlocks steal his machine he may be trapped there...and at their mercy.
The Invisible Man by HG Wells
FIC WEL
One of the most famous scientific fantasies ever written, this highly imaginative tale focuses on the powers and bold ventures of a scientist, who, after discovering the means to make himself invisible, unleashes a bizarre streak of terror on the inhabitants of an English village.
The War of the Worlds by HG Wells
FIC WEL
An English astronomer, in company with an artilleryman, a country curate, and others, struggle to survive the invasion of Earth by Martians in 1894.
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
FIC WYS
A shipwrecked family struggles to come to terms with the unfamiliar and frightening new life they find on a deserted island.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
FIC LEE
Scout's father defends a black man accused of raping a white woman in a small Alabama town during the 1930s.