Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Author: Thomas Hardy

Published: 1891
Novel. 

Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants; however, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, since Durbeyfield is a corruption of D'Urberville, the surname of a noble Norman family, then extinct. 

Two years later, Tess has found employment outside the village, where her past is not known. She works for Mr. and Mrs. Crick as a milkmaid at Tabothays Dairy. There she befriends three of her fellow milkmaids, Izz, Retty and Marian, and meets again Angel Clare, now an apprentice farmer. Soon, Angel and Tess are in love. 

Characters: 

Tess Durbeyfield

Alec D'Uberville

Angel Clare

John Durbeyfield

Joan Durbeyfield

Eliza-Louise

Abraham

Modesty

Hope

Sorrow Durbeyfield/D'Uberville

Izz

Retty

Marian

Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott

Author: Louisa M. Alcott

Published: 1868
Novel. 

Four sisters live with their mother, facing Christmas without their father as the US Civil War is underway. The family is settled in a new neighborhood, living in genteel poverty after the father lost their money. Meg and Jo March, the elder sisters, both work outside the home for money to support the family. Meg teaches four children in a nearby family, while Jo aids her grand-aunt March, a wealthy widow whose strength is failing. 

Beth helps around the house, and Amy attends school. Their nearest neighbor is a wealthy man whose orphaned grandson lives with him. The sisters introduce themselves  to the handsome shy boy, who is the age of Jo.

Meg is the beautiful sister, Jo is the tomboy; Beth is the musician, and Amy is the charming artist with blond curls. 

Jo is impulsive and quick to anger. One of her challenges in growing up  is to control acting out of anger, a challenge that also faced her mother, Marmee. 

Beth contracts scarlet fever after tending to a family where three children died of it. Her poor condition forces her sisters and the Laurences to call Marmee back from Washington, where she has gone to tend her husband, who contracted pneumonia. Beth recovers, but never fully. Jo tends Beth in her illness. Amy, not yet exposed to scarlet fever, is sent to live with Aunt March, replacing Jo after Beth recovers. Jo has success earning money with her writing. Meg spends two weeks with friends, where there are parties for the girls to dance with boys and improve social skills. 

Laurie is invited to one of the dances, as her friends incorrectly think Meg is in love with him; though, Meg is more interested in the young tutor for Laurie, John Brooke. 

Meg and John marry and settle in the house, close to the March home. They learn how to live together, and soon have twins. Meg is a devoted mother that first year, and John begins to feel left out. Marmee advises Meg on how to balance caring for her children and being with her husband. 

Characters: 

Margaret "Meg" March

Josephine "Jo" March

Elizabeth "Beth" March

Amy Curtis March

Professor Friedrich Bhaer

Rob Bhaer

Margaret "Marmee" March

James Laurence

Teddy Bhaer

John Brooke

Theodore "Laurie" Laurence

Uncle Carrol

Aunt Carrol

Flo Carrol

May Chester

Mrs. Chester

Mrs. Crocker

Mr. Dashwood

Mr. Davis

Aunt Josephine March

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Author: Charles Dickens

Published: 1861
Novel. 

On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, a seven-year-old orphan, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard while visiting the graves of his mother, father and siblings. 

The convict scares Pip into stealing food and a file to grind away his shackles, from the home he shares with his abusive older sister and her husband. The next day, soldiers recapture the convict while he is engaged in a fight with another escaped convict.

Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who wears an old wedding dress and lives in the dilapidated Satis House, asks Pip's Uncle Pumblechook to find a boy to visit. Pip visits Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, falling in love with her on first sight, both quite young. 

Pip starts visiting Miss Havisham regularly until it comes time for him to learn a trade; Joe accompanies Pip for the last visit when she gives the money for Pop to be bound as apprentice blacksmith. Pip settles into learning Joe's trade. When both are away from the house, Mrs. Joe is brutally attacked, leaving her unable to speak or do her work. 

Four years into Pip's apprenticeship, Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, approaches him in the village with the news that he has expectations from an anonymous benefactor, with immediate funds to train him in the gentlemanly arts. He will not know the benefactor's name until that person speaks up. Pip is to leave for London in the proper clothes.

He assumes that Miss Havisham is his benefactor. 

Pip goes to Hammersmith, to be educated by Mr. Matthew Pocket. Jagger disburses the money Pip needs to set himself up in his new life. Joe visits Pip, and he feels ashamed. 

A week after he turns 23 years old, Pip learns that his benefactor is the convict from so long ago, Abel Magwitch, who had been transported to New South Wales after the escape. He became wealthy after gaining his freedom there.

As long as he is out of England, he can live. But he returns to see Pip, who was his motivation for all his success in New South Wales. 

Eleven years later, Pip visits the ruins of Satis House and meets Estella, widow to the abusive Bentley Drummle. She asks Pip to forgive her, assuring him that misfortune has opened her heart and that she now empathizes with Pip. 

Characters: 

Philip Pirrip

Joe Gargery

Mrs. Joe Gargery (Georgiana Maria)

Mr. Pumblechook

Miss Havisham

Estella

Matthew Pocket

Herbert Pocket

Cousin Raymond

Georgiana

Sarah Pocket

The Convict (Abel Magwitch/Provis/Mr. Campbell)

Mr. Hubble

Mrs. Hubble

Biddy

Mr. Jaggers

John Wemmick

Molly

Compeyson

Arthur Havisham

Dolge Orlick

Bentley Drummle

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

Author: Phillip Pullman


Published: 1995-2000
Novel. Trilogy.

Set in a world dominated by a theocratic international organisation, the Magisterium, which actively suppresses heresy. In this world, humans' individual souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient dæmons. 

Lyra is an English girl on the cusp of puberty, who has been allowed to run wild with her dæmon Pantalaimon, in the grounds of Jordan College for her entire life, under the guardianship of the college's Master. One day, Lyra sneaks into a wardrobe, in the hopes of spying on her uncle, Lord Asriel lecture to the Scholars. 

Moments before, she witnesses a bottle of wine being poisoned by the Master, she warns Asriel not to drink it. Asriel orders Lyra to return to her hiding place moments before the Scholars enter the room. The lecture has one purpose: convincing the Scholars to fund Asriel's trip. 

After Asriel leaves Jordan, Lyra begins hearing rumors of the Gobblers, a mysterious group that has been kidnapping children, allegedly for torture or experimentation. Shortly, her friend Roger Parslow goes missing. Lyra meets Mrs. Coulter, a beautiful, enchanting woman and eagerly agrees when invited by the Master to go and live with her. 

Before leaving, the Master secretly entrusts Lyra with an alethiometer, a "truth telller" wich resembles a four-handed pocket watch that will truthfully answer any possible question asked by a skilled user.

After living for several weeks with Mrs. Coulter, Lyra realizes that she is the leader of the General Oblation Board: the secret, Church-approved, child-stealing organization that kids have been calling the Gobblers.  Horrified, Lyra flees and is rescued by the Gyptians. 

Characters: 
Lyra Belacqua.
Pantalaimon.
Will Parry
Kirjava
The Authority
Lord Asriel
Marisa Coulter
The Golden Monkey
Metatron
Lord Carlo Boreal (Sir Charles Latrom)
Mary Malone
Iorek Byrnison
Lee Scoresby
Serafina Pekkala
The Master of Jordan
Roger Parslow
John Parry (Stanislaus Grumman/Jopari)
Lord Roke
Madame Oxentiel
Chevalier Tialys
Lady Salmakia
Ma Costa.
John Faa
Father Gomez
Fra Pavel Rasek
Balthamos
Tony Makarios
Mulefa

1984 by George Orwell

Author: George Orwell



Published: 1949
Novel.

The story begins with Winston Smith, on April 4th, 1984. Winston Smith lives in Airstrip One, the ruins of an England ravaged by war, civil conflict, and revolution. A member of the middle class Outer Party, Winston lives in a one-room London apartment on a diet of black bread, synthetic meals and "Victory" -branded gin. 

Telescreens in every building, along with hidden microphones and cameras, permit the Thought Police to identify anyone who might endanger the Party's regime. Children are indoctrinated to inform on suspected thought criminals, specially their parents. 

Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, as an editor responsible for historical revisionism. He rewrites records and alters photographs to conform to the state's ever-changing version of the truth, rendering the deleted people unpersons, the original documents are incinerated in a memory hole.

Winston suddenly becomes fascinated by the true past and tries to learn more about it. In an alcove beside his Telescreen, where he believes he cannot be seen, he begins writing a journal criticizing the Party and its leader, Big Brother, which, if discover, warrants certain death. 

Background:

Set in Oceania, one of three inter-continental superstates that divided the world after a global war. 

Most of the plot takes place in London, the chief city of Airstrip One the Oceanic province that "had once been called England or Britain." Posters of the Party leader, Big Brother, bearing the caption BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, dominate the city.

The class hierarchy of Oceania has three levels:

• The Upper-Class Inner Party

• The Middle-Class Outer Party

• The Lower-Class Proles

As the government, the Party controls the population with four ministries:

• Ministry of Peace, dealing with war and defense. 

• Ministry of Plenty, dealing with economic affairs (rationing and starvation).

• Ministry of Love, dealing with law and order (torture and brainwashing).

• Ministry of Truth, dealing with news, entertainment, education and art (propaganda). 

Characters: 

Winston Smith

Julia

Big Brother

O'Brien

Emmanuel Goldstein

Katherine Smith

Tom Parsons

Mrs. Parsons

Syme

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Author: Emily Bronte


Published: 1847
Novel.

In 1801 Lockwood, a wealthy man from the South of England who is seeking peace and recuperation, rents Thruschcross Grange in Yorkshire. He visits his landlord, Heathcliff, who lives in a remote moorland farmhouse, Wuthering Heights. There Lockwood finds an odd assemblage: Heathcliff seems to be a gentleman, but his manners are uncouth; the reserved mistress of the house is in her mid-teens; and a young man seems to be a member of the family; yet dresses and speaks as if he is a servant. 

Thirty years earlier, Wuthering Heights is occupied by Mr. Earnshaw, his teenage son Hindley and his daughter Catherine. On a trip to Liverpool Earnshaw encounters a homeless boy, and adopts him, naming him Heathcliff.

Hindley is sent to college. Three years later Earnshaw dies and Hindley becomes the master of Wuthering Heights. He returns to live there with his new wife, allowing Heathcliff to stay as a servant.

Heathcliff takes up residence at Wuthering Heights, and spends his time gambling with Hindley and teaching Hareton bad habits. Hindley dissipates his wealth and mortgages the farmhouse to Heathcliff to pay his debts. 

Characters: 

Heathcliff

Catherine Earnshaw

Hindley Earnshaw

Hareton Earnshaw

Edgar Linton

Nelly Dean

Isabella Linton

Cathy Linton

Linton Heathcliff

Joseph

Mr. Lockwood

Frances

Mrs. Earnshaw

Mr. Earnshaw

Mr. Linton

Mrs. Linton.

Dr. Kenneth

Mr. Green

January - Book of the Month

The Guest Room by Chris Bohjlaian

When Richard Chapman offers to host his younger brother's bachelor party, he expects a certain amount of debauchery. He sends his wife, Kristin, and young daughter off to his mother-in-law's for the weekend, and he opens his Westchester home to his brother's friends and their hired entertainment. What he does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, a dangerously intimate moment in his guest bedroom, and two naked women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night. In the aftermath, Richard's life rapidly spirals into a nightmare.

The police throw him out of his home, now a crime scene; his investment banking firm puts him on indefinite leave; and his wife finds herself unable to forgive him for the moment he shared with dark-haired girl in the guest room. But the dark-haired girl, Alexandra, faces a much graver danger. In one breathless, violent night, she is free, running to escape the police who will arrest her and the gangsters who will kill her in a heartbeat. 




To buy The Guest Room:
On Amazon
On Barnes and Noble

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Author: Harper Lee

Published: 1960
Novel.

The story takes place between 1933 and 1935, when the Great Depression is affecting everyone in Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County.

It focuses on six-year-old Jean Louise Finch (Scout) who lives with her older brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. 

Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who visits Maycomb to stay with  his aunt each summer. The three children are terrified of, and fascinated by, their neighbor, Arthur "Boo" Radley.

While the children are fascinated and terrified, the adults are hesitant to talk about Boo, and, for many years few have actually seen him. The children feed one another's imagination with rumors about his appearance and reasons for remaining hidden, and they often fantasize about how to get him out of his house. 

After two summers of friendship, Dill, Scout and Jem find that someone leaves them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley place. 

Judge Taylor appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Although many of Maycomb's citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees.

Characters: 
Atticus Finch
Arthur Radley
Jeremy Atticus Finch
Bob Ewell
Mayella Violet Ewell
Jean Louise Finch
Aunt Alezandra
Maudie Atkinson
Charles Baker Harris
Tom Robinson
Calpurnia
Link Deas
Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose
Nathan Radley
Heck Tate
Mr. Underwood
Mr. Dolphus Raymond
Mr. Walter Cunningham
Walter Cunningham

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

Author: J. K. Rowling

Published: 1997
Novel.

Harry Potter, an orphan who discovers at the age of 11 that he is, in reality, a wizard; though he lives within the ordinary world of those who are non-magical. The Wizarding World has hidden itself from the non-magical or Muggle world.
Harry's magical abilities are inborn, and children with such abilities are often invited to attend the exclusive Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to teach them the necessary skills to succeed in the Wizarding World. When receiving his letter, Harry becomes a student, and it is here where most of the events take place.
As Harry develops through his adolescence, he learns to overcome the problems that face him; magical, social and emotional.


Characters:
Harry Potter
Ron Weasley
Hermione Granger
Neville Longbottom
Rubeus Hagrid
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Petunia Dursley
Draco Malfoy
Dudley Dursley
Professor Quirrell
Professor Snape
Filch

Books:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Published: 1847
Novel.

The novel is set in the north of England, during the reign of George III, and goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, her education at Lowood School, her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, her time with the Rivers family; and her reunion to her beloved. 

Characters:

Jane Eyre

Mr. Reed

Mrs. Reed. 

John Reed.

Eliza Reed. 

Georgiana Reed. 

Bessie Lee. 

Robert Leaven

Mr. Lloyd.

Mr. Brocklehurst. 

Miss Maria Temple

Miss Scatcherd. 

Helen Burns

Edward Fairfax Rochester

Bertha Antoinetta Mason

Adéle Varens

Mrs. Alice Fairfax

Leah

John

Mary

Blanche Ingram

Richard Mason

Grace Poole

St. John Eyre Rivers

Diana Rivers

Mary Rivers

Rosamond Oliver

Mr. Oliver

Alice Wood

John Eyre

The Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Published: 1954
Novel.
Trilogy.

A sequel to The Hobbit.

Thousands of years before the events of the novel, the Dark Lord Sauron had forged the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power and corrupt those who wear them: the leaders of Men, Elves and Dwarves. 

Sauron was later vanquised in a battle by an alliance of the Elves and Men, led by Elendil and Gil-galad. 

Isildur, a ruler of Men, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, claiming it as an heirloon for his line, and Sauron lost his physical form. When Isildur was later ambushed and killed by the Orcs, the Ring was lost. 

Over two thousand years later, the Ring was found by one of the river-folk called Déagol. His friend, Sméagol immediately fell under the Ring's influence and strangled Déagol to acquire it. Sméagol was banished and hid under the Misty Mountains, where the Ring extended his lifespan and transformed him so much he became the corrupted creature called Gollum. 

He lost the Ring when it was found by Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit). 

Books: 

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

The Return of the King

Characters:

Frodo Baggins

Bilbo Baggins

Samwise Gamgee

Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck 

Peregrin (Pippin) Took

Gandalf the Grey, later Gandalf the White

Aragorn, descendant of Isildur

Legolas Greenleaf

Gimli, son of Glóin

Denethor

Boromir

Faramir

Galadriel

Celeborn

Elrond

Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond

Théoden, King of Rohan

Éomer

Éowyn

Treebeard

Sauron, the Dark Lord

The Nazgul or Ringwraiths

Saruman the White

Gollum

Shelob

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Author: Jane Austen

Published: 1813

Novel. 

Set in England in the early 19th century, tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's five unmarried daughters; after the rich Mr. Bingley and his friend, Mr. Darcy move into their neighborhood. 

Mr. Bingley immediately likes the oldest of the Bennet girls, Jane; while Darcy has a difficult adapting to the local society and has constant problems with Elizabeth, the second oldest daughter.
A novel about wealth, marriage, class and self-knowledge that after all these years, is still one of the most popular books and one of the favorites for every classic literature lover (and even for those who are not just fans of the classics). Austen's novel will always be one of the most important works of literature. 

Characters: 

Mr. Bennet 

Mrs. Bennet

Elizabeth Bennet

Jane Bennet

Mr. Charles Bingley

Mr. Fitzwilliam  Darcy. 

Mary Bennet

Catherine (Kitty) Bennet

Lydia Bennet

Caroline Bingley

Mr. George Wickham

Mr. Williams Collins

Charlotte Lucas. 

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Aunt Gardiner

Uncle Gardiner

Georgiana Darcy

Louisa Hurst

Goodreads. 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
2. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8. 1984 by George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
11. Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
12.Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
17. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
19. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch by George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

22. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House by Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll 

30. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
33. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

34. Emma by Jane Austen.

35. Persuasion by Jane Austen. 

36. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

37. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 

40. Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

41. Animal Farm by George Orwell. 

42. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving

45. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables y L.M. Montgomery

47. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

50. Atonement by Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

52. Dune by Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

57. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon 

60. Love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez

61. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. 

62. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

66. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy 

68. Bridget Jone's Diary by Helen Fielding

69. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

72. Dracula by Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses by James Joyce

76. The Inferno by Dante

77. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal by Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession by A.S. Bvatt

81. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Expuéry 

93. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

94. Watership Down by Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunes by John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables by Víctor Hugo

NOTE: I FOUND THE LIST ON GOODREADS (Click to go to the page) AND THERE WAS NO NUMBER 23 OR NUMBER 26. BUT YOU CAN ALSO GO AND SEE BBC'S ORIGINAL LIST AND CLICK TO SEE HOW MANY YOU HAVE READ.