Readers’ Choice: 12 Treasured Books You Read Again and Again and Again…

THE GOOD EARTH, chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club read, paints a portrait of a vanishing China in the 1920s during the reign of the last emperor. Hardworking farmer Wang Lung and his devoted wife O-Lan lead a simple, honest life. Little do they know that their day-to-day life exists along the edge of impending social upheaval and political change that will rock the country they know and love, as well as the world beyond.

Fredrik Backman’s stories rightly hold a place on our favorites list. In this novel, Beartown, a small community nestled deep within the woods, slowly loses any semblance of a town. Its only redeeming factor is the ice rink that was built generations ago in its center, bringing a spark of happiness and excitement to the townspeople. Beartown’s junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national championships, which they have a fair shot at winning. But when the semifinal match is the catalyst for a violent act, accusations flood through the town.

Some consider this “the great American novel,” and we have to agree. In this quintessential novel about Jazz Age America, midwesterner Nick Carraway is invited into the lavish life of his cousin Daisy Buchanan and his Long Island neighbor Jay Gatsby. Despite the fact that Daisy is married to the boorish Tom Buchanan, she’s still attracted to Gatsby, her former lover. As Nick facilitates their budding affair, he finds that the sway power, prestige, and old aristocracy hold over what he thought was a modernizing world becomes hard to ignore.

LITTLE WOMEN is a classic piece of literature that has withstood the test of time. Each March sister—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—has her own defining characteristics that set her apart from the others. As you read through their story, you’ll feel as though the four sisters are your own. Between their struggle to survive in New England during the Civil War and their unifying bond of sisterhood, readers fall in love with this story time and again.

THE SHELL SEEKERS follows Penelope Stern Keeling, an elderly British woman who returns home from the hospital after a heart attack. She relives her life through flashbacks from her point of view and those of her three children. Penelope’s most prized possession in THE SHELL SEEKERS is a painting done by her father. But when her children discover how much their grandfather’s painting is now worth, they each have their own opinion about what they mother should do with it. This enduring classic is a perfect read to return to time and again to relive the connection among Penelope’s family members.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE is a horrifying work of speculative fiction that depicts Gilead, a deeply repressive version of the United States where women are stripped of their rights and the few fertile women are subjected to the role of “handmaid.” This fine work of fiction has also garnered acclaim through its recent Hulu adaptation. This wild, crazy, and sinister tale will always hold its cherished spot on the shelves of readers.

Widely considered one of Virginia Woolf’s greatest novels, TO THE LIGHTHOUSE is set in the remote and starkly beautiful Isle of Skye and told through the eyes of locals and guests. In this beloved and cherished novel, Virginia Woolf crafts an emotional world that explores the differences and relationships between men and women, family members, and community.

THE SNOW LEOPARD, a brilliant piece of nonfiction environmental literature, traces the story of author Peter Matthiessen and his journey to Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and, possibly, glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen is a Zen Buddhist at a time in his life where he feels this pilgrimage is necessary. A personal, physical, and spiritual journey, THE SNOW LEOPARD is a perfect book to meditate on the journey of the heart.

This remarkable novel follows main characters Kafka Tamura and Satoru Nakata. Kafka is on the run in Japan and Nakata is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, readers are immersed in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder. For fans of magic and the surreal, this is a must-have story on your shelf.

THE ALCHEMIST has touched the lives of people across the globe, and will continue to for years to come. Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd, yearns to travel in search of worldly treasure. But the treasures he finds along the way teach readers about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, above all, following our dreams.

In this classic adventure, sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned by his enemies. Over a decade later, he escapes from his captors with directions to an island full of treasure that helps him establish a new life. But by this point, he’s lost his career, and his true love has already married another. Under the guise of a different identity, he sets out to take revenge on those who wronged him. This is an epic tale of suspense, love, and retribution.

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is stirring and terrifying, but also immensely groundbreaking. When a man visits his childhood home to attend a funeral, he is again drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. Now, again in this setting, the past comes flooding back. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide at this farm at the end of the road. With this death, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible happened to the main character as a little boy. And Lettie had promised to protect him no matter what