There are certain books that stay with you and are crucial to inspiring your love for reading. Whether you're just starting out or you've been reading for a long time, we've compiled this list of essential books for readers of all ages.
There's nothing like reading an incredible book or book series that transports you to another world as the words on the pages spring to life before your very eyes, the characters quickly turning into old friends, and their journeys morphing into your own.
As you travel on this journey called life, you think you're the only one experiencing pain and heartbreak, but then you pick up a book and read. Books teach us that the things that torment us the most are what connects us to people from the past, present and even future. In a nutshell, books are extremely powerful.
To encourage readers of all ages, we've put together a list of the best books around.
Beginning Readers | Ages 2 to 5
Dr. Seuss's ABC | by Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham | by Dr. Seuss
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom | by John Archambault
Miss Spider's ABC | by David Kirk
Amelia Bedelia series | by Peggy Parish
Frog and Toad series | by Arnold Lobel
The Giving Tree | by Shel Silverstein
Pete the Cat series | by James Dean
Little Critter series | by Mercer Mayer
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? | by Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle
Elementary School Readers | Ages 6 to 10
A Bad Case of Stripes | by David Shannon
Magic Tree House series | by Mary Pope Osborne
Matilda | by Roald Dahl
The BFG | by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | by Roald Dahl
Ramona series | by Beverly Cleary
Charlotte's Web | by E.B. White
Where the Wild Things Are | by Maurice Sendak
Goosebumps series | by R.L. Stine
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day | by Judith Viorst
Nancy Drew series | by Carolyn Keene
Hardy Boys series | by Franklin W. Dixon
The Boxcar Children series
| by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Intermediate Readers | Ages 11 to 13+
Island of the Blue Dolphins | by Scott O'Dell
The Hobbit | by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings series | by J.R.R. Tolkien
Harry Potter series | by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games series | by Suzanne Collins
Divergent series | by Veronica Roth
Where the Red Fern Grows | by Wilson Rawls
Little Women | by Louise May Alcott
Holes | by Louis Sachar
Bridge to Terabithia | by Katherine Paterson
Eragon series | by Christopher Paolini
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | by C.S. Lewis
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants | by Ann Brashares
Treasure Island | by Robert Louis Stevenson
Percy Jackson & the Olympians series | by Rick Riordan
Hatchet | by Gary Paulsen
Lord of the Flies | by William Golding
Watership Down | by Richard Adams
The Giver | by Lois Lowry
Call of the Wild | by Jack London
A Series of Unfortunate Events series
| by Lemony Snicket
Young Adult Readers | Ages 14 to 18+
The Outsiders | by S.E. Hinton
The Odyssey | by Homer
The Iliad | by Homer
The Great Gatsby | by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird | by Harper Lee
Of Mice and Men | by John Steinbeck
Macbeth | by William Shakespeare
1984 | by George Orwell
Animal Farm | by George Orwell
Frankenstein | by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Pride and Prejudice | by Jane Austen
Death of a Salesman | by Arthur Miller
The Crucible | by Arthur Miller
The Count of Monte Cristo | by Alexandre Dumas
The Fault in Our Stars | by John Green
Paper Towns | by John Green
Into the Wild | by Jon Krakauer
The Mortal Instruments series | by Cassandra Clare
The Book Thief | by Markus Zusak
Vampire Academy | by Richelle Mead
The Maze Runner series | by James Dashner
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch | by Douglas Smith
Sherlock Holmes series | by Arthur Conan Doyle
Adult Readers | Ages 18+ | **Contains Graphic Content**
Wild | by Cheryl Strayed
Unbroken | by Laura Hillenbrand
A Song of Ice and Fire series | by George R.R. Martin
The Help | by Kathryn Stockett
Outlander series | by Diana Gabaldon
The Girl on the Train | by Paula Hawkins
Moby Dick | by Herman Melville
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | by Stieg Larsson
Room | by Emma Donoghue
Memoirs of a Geisha | by Arthur Golden
Fahrenheit 451 | by Ray Bradbury
The Shining | by Stephen King
Misery | by Stephen King
It | by Stephen King
Four Past Midnight | by Stephen King
Mistborn series | by Brandon Sanderson
How many books on this expansive list have you read? Are there any that we forgot? Share your vast literature knowledge with us by commenting below!
