Top 10 Los Gatos Library Classics Collection Books

1. Tuesdays with Morrie: Mitch Albom

"Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

2. East of Eden, John Steinbeck

The biblical account of Cain and Abel is echoed in the history of two generations of the Trask family in California.

3. Ender's game, Orson Scott Card

An expert at simulated war games, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin believes that he is engaged in one more computer war game when, in truth, he is commanding the last Earth fleet against an alien race seeking Earth's complete destruction.              

4. To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. (amazon)

5. Atlas shrugged, Ayn Rand

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world, and did. Is he a destroyer or a liberator? Why does he have to fight his battle not against his enemies but against those who need him most? Why does he fight his hardest battle against the woman he loves?

6. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. This exemplary novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.(amazon)

7. Beloved: Toni Morrison

Sethe, an escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio with her daughter and mother-in-law, is persistently haunted by the ghost of her dead baby girl.

8. Cannery Row, John Steinbeck

Cannery Row is just a few blocks long, but the story it harbors is suffused with warmth, understanding, and a great fund of human values. (amazon)

9. The scarlet letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne

Novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. It is considered a masterpiece of American literature and a classic moral study. (amazon).

10. The old man and the sea, Ernest Hemingway

Story of an old fisherman's struggle against natural obstacles that hinder the catch of a huge marlin.