Hello All,

I’m Catherine and have taken over this quest from Lucy, one of Pagebound’s creators. As you may have noticed (or not 😂), there has been a change in the quest description narrowing its scope. One of the issues with main quests is that the scope can be broad. Too broad, in fact. For example, the Made for the Movies quest quickly exceeded the book cap before J+L decided 100 was to be the maximum. (So now it will be getting a part 2.)

Frankly, there are way too many works considered classics, and I can’t include them all. One website I came across in doing research listed 444 British titles and 111 Irish ones. No matter what I choose or don’t choose, I know someone will be disappointed. My apologies in advance. In order to make the most of what I have to offer in curating this list (I was not an English major at university, but have a strong interest in reading classics, and aim to read every book in this quest) I have decided, in consultation with Lucy and others, to focus on classics for adults written in Modern and Early Modern English (essentially from about Marlowe’s time onward). Children’s classics will not be included. Neither will any books requiring translation into Modern English. I want this quest to be accessible to today’s readers. Choosing a translation is, I’m afraid, beyond my capacity. Thus, there will be no works from the medieval period, despite the fact that I, too, would be interested in reading them. For those of you wanting such a quest, I encourage you to submit a request through the feedback form found in “Contact Us” under Settings & FAQ. In the meantime, I would also suggest making a list.

I will also be limiting the number of titles by author so as to have space for greater representation. Likely this means no more Shakespeare. Or at least, no more of his tragedies and comedies.

I do want to thank all of you who’ve made recommendations. I have been reviewing them as I identify gaps in authorship, time periods, and representation, within the parameters I’ve described above. I also want to encourage readers to explore books less likely to have been read in secondary/high school. I’d like it if not every book on this list is one you’ve already read. (Sorry English majors, you have too extensive a repertoire for me to find classics you may not have read.)

Please add your suggestions and recommendations below. If you have already made recommendations, be assured I have already noted and have been reviewing them. I would encourage readers to check comments under this post from now on to see if someone has already made the same suggestion. Feel free to add additional comments in support. Please also note that while I am happy to receive recommendations and suggestions, I cannot guarantee they will be added to the quest. I will be researching every suggestion. If you really think something should be added, please include the reasons why in your comment.

I have begun making additions to the quest. I will be doing this over the next couple weeks so as not to overwhelm everyone’s feeds. I hope you enjoy the badges that might come along with this. 🥉🥈🥇👏👏

Thank you all for joining this quest, and happy reading!

Posted 09 Feb 2026 Updated 04 April 2026

Hello All,

I’m Catherine and have taken over this quest from Lucy, one of Pagebound’s creators. As you may have noticed (or not 😂), there has been a change in the quest description narrowing its scope. One of the issues with main quests is that the scope can be broad. Too broad, in fact. For example, the Made for the Movies quest quickly exceeded the book cap before J+L decided 100 was to be the maximum. (So now it will be getting a part 2.)

Frankly, there are way too many works considered classics, and I can’t include them all. One website I came across in doing research listed 444 British titles and 111 Irish ones. No matter what I choose or don’t choose, I know someone will be disappointed. My apologies in advance. In order to make the most of what I have to offer in curating this list (I was not an English major at university, but have a strong interest in reading classics, and aim to read every book in this quest) I have decided, in consultation with Lucy and others, to focus on classics for adults written in Modern and Early Modern English (essentially from about Marlowe’s time onward). Children’s classics will not be included. Neither will any books requiring translation into Modern English. I want this quest to be accessible to today’s readers. Choosing a translation is, I’m afraid, beyond my capacity. Thus, there will be no works from the medieval period, despite the fact that I, too, would be interested in reading them. For those of you wanting such a quest, I encourage you to submit a request through the feedback form found in “Contact Us” under Settings & FAQ. In the meantime, I would also suggest making a list.

I will also be limiting the number of titles by author so as to have space for greater representation. Likely this means no more Shakespeare. Or at least, no more of his tragedies and comedies.

I do want to thank all of you who’ve made recommendations. I have been reviewing them as I identify gaps in authorship, time periods, and representation, within the parameters I’ve described above. I also want to encourage readers to explore books less likely to have been read in secondary/high school. I’d like it if not every book on this list is one you’ve already read. (Sorry English majors, you have too extensive a repertoire for me to find classics you may not have read.)

Please add your suggestions and recommendations below. If you have already made recommendations, be assured I have already noted and have been reviewing them. I would encourage readers to check comments under this post from now on to see if someone has already made the same suggestion. Feel free to add additional comments in support. Please also note that while I am happy to receive recommendations and suggestions, I cannot guarantee they will be added to the quest. I will be researching every suggestion. If you really think something should be added, please include the reasons why in your comment.

I have begun making additions to the quest. I will be doing this over the next couple weeks so as not to overwhelm everyone’s feeds. I hope you enjoy the badges that might come along with this. 🥉🥈🥇👏👏

Thank you all for joining this quest, and happy reading!

Posted 09 Feb 2026 Updated 04 April 2026