Oldies but Goodies

Image from The Broke and the Bookish

Today's Top Ten Tuesday, brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish, was a pick-your-own genre feature.  Since I read and recommend a lot of YA fiction and some contemporary adult fiction, I thought I would share my hidden reading passion and encourage my readers to broaden their reading horizons as well.

I was a British Literature major in college, and I especially adored the 19th century.  Some of its most notorious writers, such as Jane Austen, made their living off of very "sensible" portraits of life at that time; however, other writers, such as Bram Stoker, really stirred the fears of the literary population with their sensational fiction.  Organized chronologically, here are my top ten 19th century (1801-1900) picks.

1. Persuasion Jane Austen (1817) *Although I do love Pride and Prejudice, I am more partial to Austen's Persuasion, published posthumously, for its depiction of love lying in wait. 

2. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte (1818)

3. Love letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne (1818-1821) *I am cheating a bit here, but I absolutely adore Keats' poetry, and his love letters are swoon-worthy!  Worth a read.  They were mass-market published as a tie-in with the movie Bright Star.

4. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte (1847) *Forget Mr. Darcy; I am Mr. Rochester all the way!

5. Villette Charlotte Bronte (1853)

6. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins (1859)

7. Lady Audley’s Secret Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1862) *Scandal, intrigue, mystery!

8. Carmilla Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872) *Female vamps.

9. Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy (1891) *I also like his Satires of Circumstance and Misc. Pieces which contains his "Poems of 1912-1913" mourning the death of his wife.

10. Dracula Bram Stoker (1897) *The original vampire thriller!

Dust off those covers, and try one of these classics!