 | Things Fall Apart: A Novel by Chinua Achebe
Buy new: $7.92 / Used from: $1.21 This is a must-read in a world of globalization. Written by an African, Things Fall Apart is the story of an African tribe torn apart by European missionaries.
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 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Hilarious read. Wonderful to get rid of the headache brought on by some of the other books on this list. :)
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 | Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $7.00 / Used from: $0.75 Classic Jane Austen. Not as good as Pride and Prejudice, but not much is.
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 | Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $2.73 Absolutely wonderful. Cheesy romance and social satire all rolled into one.
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 | Pride and Prejudice: An Authoritative Text Backgrounds and Sources Criticism (Norton Critical Editions) by Jane Austen
Buy used from: $1.18 The criticism in this edition of Pride and Prejudice is really good. Excellent companion if you're interested in some of the nitty-gritty details. :)
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 | Mansfield Park (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $0.80 Different from both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Social satire with a conscience. And, of course, a love story.
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 | Emma (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $1.32 Really funny book. The book that Clueless was based on. Much more intelligent than Clueless, of course, but still very funny. There's again a lot of political and social satire here.
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 | Persuasion (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $6.00 / Used from: $1.64 Not Jane Austen's best. The love story is less passionate and a bit more dry.
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 | Northanger Abbey (Modern Library Classics) by Jane Austen
Buy new: $6.95 / Used from: $0.01 Also a very funny Jane Austen book. Pokes a lot of fun at gothic novels such as Anne Radcliffe.
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 | Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.48 I haven't gotten around to reading this book yet, but it was recommended to me by one of my professors, so I think it's worth saying something about. More modern and contemporary English literature.
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 | Peter Pan (Puffin Classics) by J.M. Barrie
Buy used from: $29.35 Very cute and charming book. A lot of classic fairy tale here that you'll find in some more "grown-up" books. Of course, who's to say that "grown-up" is better? :)
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 | Forbidden City by William Bell
Buy new: $6.50 / Used from: $0.01 This book got me hooked on historical fiction as a middle schooler. Very well-written and personal, I suggest anyone who knows little about Chinese events read this.
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 | The Complete Poems, 1927-1979 by Elizabeth Bishop
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $1.50 Elizabeth Bishop uses words very well. Her poetry is not so difficult to read as many of her contemporaries, but about as insightful.
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 | Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.01 Excellent book for those who love literature. There are also a lot of horrors in this book that were fictional at the time, but have become a most frightening reality.
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 | Jane Eyre (Puffin Classics) by Charlotte Brontë
Buy new: $4.99 / Used from: $0.01 Another lovely romance, with a lot of interesting twists and turns. Highly entertaining.
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 | Wuthering Heights (Bantam Classics) by Emily Brontë
Buy new: $4.95 / Used from: $0.01 |
 | Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale by Frederick Buechner
Buy new: $14.03 / Used from: $8.29 A fabulous retelling of the Gospel. Buechner tells the story from the point of view of a tragedy, a comedy, and a fairy tale in the attempt to knock the mystery back into our faith.
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 | Kingdom Works: True Stories About God and His People in Inner City America by Bart Campolo
Buy used from: $0.62 Not exactly what I'd expected. A lot of stories that Bart Campolo has collected from his time working with inner city kids. It unfortunately acts as a large advertisement for his program.
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 | If by Amy Carmichael
Buy new: $5.99 / Used from: $1.54 This book will trouble you in a very good way. If you think you understand what Christ's love is all about, you need to read this book.
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 | The Canterbury Tales (Norton Critical Editions) by Geoffrey Chaucer
Buy new: $13.81 / Used from: $5.35 I really enjoy the critical essays in this book. The glosses for the Middle English words are also very helpful. Some well-known tales are, unfortunately, left out for no good reason that I can figure
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 | Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $0.01 FABULOUS BOOK!!!!! Anyone who called it "the grown-up Harry Potter" was mistaken. This book is just as good as Harry Potter, but in entirely different ways. 800 pages never felt so short.
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 | The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
Buy used from: $0.01 |
 | Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
Buy used from: $1.51 Excellent, challenging book. What is crazy? Who says what is normal and what is too different? These are the questions addressed in Veronika.
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 | The Woman in White (Bantam Classics) by Wilkie Collins
Buy new: $5.95 / Used from: $0.01 Very good mystery. Written in the style of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, or the Brontes.
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 | The Moonstone (Signet Classic) by Wilkie Collins
Buy used from: $0.01 |
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