5-Star Rating

Highly Recommended

We like to sell the books we like to read.

That's why you'll find so many books in this category. These are the books that go above and beyond. The worthwhile classics; lesser known but still excellent books; intelligent picture books; novels that are timeless for a reason.

These are books we would recommend wholeheartedly, with little to no reservations. While there is certainly room for other opinions, our ratings are not just a matter of personal preference but come down to three criteria; quality, truth and beauty. That is, quality of the writing. Truth of the message. And beauty of the story, or that extra special something that turns an ordinary novel into a classic. Sometimes this can be a book that shows an uncommonly deep understanding of the human character, or a book that perfectly fills a void that previously existed in literature. When these three come together in a story we give it five stars.

These are, of course, not set in stone and there's no discounting personal taste. Your five-star books and ours may vary wildly. But we have good solid reasons behind our love for these books. We hope you find something you enjoy as well.

Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
96 Items found Print
Active Filters: Adult
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies
Hornblower Series #11
by C. S. Forester
from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Penguin Classics
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.00
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel
from Macmillan
Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$18.00
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
from Ballantine Books
War/Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
Book Club (BCE/BOMC) from Ballantine Books
War/Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
All's Well That Ends Well
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.49
All's Well that Ends Well
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th grade-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.50
All's Well That Ends Well
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Puffin Books
for 2nd-Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Anno's Journey
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 2nd-Adult
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.95
Antigone
Dover Thrift Editions
by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young
from Dover Publications
Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$3.00 $2.00 (2 in stock)
Antigone
by Sophocles
from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$10.50
Antony and Cleopatra
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Antony and Cleopatra
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Around the World in Eighty Days
by Jules Verne, George M. Towle (Translator)
from Bantam Books
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.95 $3.00 (1 in stock)
As I Lay Dying
by William Faulkner
from Vintage Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
As You Like It
Folger Shakespeare Library
by William Shakespeare
from Washington Square Press
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.99
Book of the Dun Cow
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from HarperCollins
for 8th grade-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
from HarperCollins
Dystopian Literature for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley, illustrated by Mara McAfee
from Easton Press
Dystopian Literature for 10th-Adult
in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Dover Publications
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00
Busman's Honeymoon (11)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 11
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Reprint from HarperCollins
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller
from HarperCollins
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Captain Blood
Penguin Classics
by Rafael Sabatini
from Penguin Classics
Historical Romance for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00
Caribbean Mystery
A Miss Marple Mystery #9
by Agatha Christie
from William Morrow & Company
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99
Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
50th Anniversary Edition from Simon and Schuster
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.99
Code of the Woosters
by P. G. Wodehouse
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Humor for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.95
Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
3rd edition from Bantam Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$24.00
Complete Sonnets
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Lyrical Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.50 $2.00 (2 in stock)
Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
from William Morrow & Company
for 9th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas, translated, with an introduction and notes, by Robin Buss
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.00
Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas, translation by Robin Buss
from Modern Library
Realistic Fiction/Adventure for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
Reprint from Avon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Dante's Inferno
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Dante's Purgatory
by Dante Alighieri (translation by Anthony Esolen)
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$16.00
Death by Living
by N. D. Wilson
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Art & Culture (Location: XCU-ART)
$18.99
Death of Ivan Ilych
by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by Lynn Solotaroff
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
by Leo Tolstoy
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$17.95
Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Aylmer Maude and J.D. Duff
from Signet Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.95
Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
by Leo Tolstoy
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
Dr. Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 1
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$10.99
Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 1
by Frank Herbert, introduction by Brian Herbert
Second Ace hardcover, 2019 from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card
from Tor Classic
Science Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
$9.99
Evangeline and Other Poems
Dover Thrift Editions
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$3.00
Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury
from Simon and Schuster
Science Fiction/Dystopian Literature for 10th grade-adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves
by Roy Maynard & Edmund Spenser
from Canon Press
Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$20.00 $9.00 (5 in stock)
Hamlet
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$4.00
Hamlet
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by W. G. Simmonds
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #1
by Douglas Adams
from Ballantine Books
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.99
I Serve
by Rosanne E. Lortz
from Anno Domini
Historical Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott
from Bantam Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Frank E. Schoonover
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Heritage Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Ivanhoe
by Sir Walter Scott, Illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Easton Press
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Leather Bound Collectible Books (Location: VIN-LEA)
Ivanhoe
Windermere Series 4
by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ivanhoe
Windermere Series 1
by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ivanhoe
Windermere Series 2
by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Ivanhoe
Windermere Series 3
by Sir Walter Scott, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Bantam Books
Historical Romance for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Kidnapped
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Living Book Press
Historical Romance for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.99
Leave it to Psmith
by P. G. Wodehouse
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Humor for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.95
Les Miserables (abridged)
by Victor Hugo, supplementary materials written by Margaret Brantley
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.99
Macbeth
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
for 10th-adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$5.00
Manalive
by G.K. Chesterton
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.95
Master and Commander
Aubrey/Maturin #1
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Arthur Conan Conan Doyle
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by Sidney Paget
100th Anniversary Edition from SeaWolf Press
for 7th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.95
Much Ado About Nothing
Dover Thrift Editions
by William Shakespeare
from Dover Publications
Comedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$3.00
Murder Must Advertise
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 8
by Dorothy Sayers
from Harper & Brothers
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Murder Must Advertise (8)
A Lord Peter Mystery, Book 8
by Dorothy Sayers
from HarperCollins
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99
Murder on the Orient Express
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #10
by Agatha Christie
Reprint from HarperTrophy
Murder Mystery for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
North and South
Oxford World's Classics
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Oxford University
Realistic fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.95
North and South
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Vintage Classics
Realistic fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
North and South
Penguin Classics
by Elizabeth Gaskell
from Penguin Random House
Realistic fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Plague, The
by Albert Camus, Stuart Gilbert
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.00
Restaurant At the End of the Universe
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #2
by Douglas Adams
from Ballantine Books
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
Restaurant At the End of the Universe
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #2
by Douglas Adams
Book Club Edition from Harmony
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Right Ho, Jeeves
by P. G. Wodehouse
Reprint from W. W. Norton and Co.
Humor for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.95
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe
from Dover Publications
for 8th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$11.00
Scarlet Pimpernel
Signet Classics
by Baroness Orczy
from Signet Classics
Action/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.95
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
from Dover Publications
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00
Sergeant York and the Great War
by Alvin C. York
from My Father's World
Autobiography for 7th-Adult
in World War I (1914-1919) (Location: HISA-20WW1)
$22.00
Shakespeare's Sonnets
by William Shakespeare
from Barnes & Noble
Lyrical Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Sign of Four
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1892 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Sign of the Four
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, illustrated by Leonard Vosburgh
from Hart Publishing Company
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Study in Scarlet
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Illustrated by George Hutchinson
1891 Illustrated from SeaWolf Press
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.49
Study in Scarlet & The Sign of Four
Dover Thrift Editions
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Dover Publications
Mystery for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Sword at Sunset
by Rosemary Sutcliff
Rep Una from Chicago Review Press
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$24.99
Sword at Sunset
by Rosemary Sutcliff
BCE from Coward McCann
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Tale of Two Cities
Dover Thrift Editions
by Charles Dickens
from Dover Publications
Victorian Novel for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00
Three Musketeers
Signet Classics
by Alexandre Dumas
from Signet Classics
Historical Fiction/Adventure for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.95
Through Gates of Splendor
by Elisabeth Elliot
40th Anniversary from Tyndale House
Missionary Biography for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.99