I am collecting books, making my kids a library. What are some good books to look for? Not only kids books.?

Question

I have started a library for my children, in hopes to fill an entire room. The library will not be just for them, So I will need all kinds of book names that would be good to find. Any suggestions? I have a couple of old encyclopedia sets and some great books. I have 2 book cases full and almost a third.

Answer 1

Here are a couple of lists:

http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/booklis...

http://www.waterborolibrary.org/oldsite/...

for highschoolers -

http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/resources/...

Personally I want to collect works from Hermann Hesse and Dostoevsky for my library [just started it]. Also Irvin Yalom novels.

Answer 2

think of the books you liked to read growing up.  i don't have kids but one of my hobbies is remembering & then buying books i liked when i was young.  many of them i bought through the "scholastic book" program through school.  it brings back such great memories!  so think of the ones you liked.

i would start with dr. seuss!  can't go wrong with him!

Answer 3

You might want to look to buy large lots or wholesale books, perhaps at yard sales and garage sales, especially if you're on a tight budget.  Your library may occasionally have sales.

Children's books, of course you'll want to include a Dr. Seuss collection, and for the older children, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.  "My Dumb Diary" is one my daughter likes.  Children also love books about animals.

For older children, the Harry Potter books, the Golden Compass and Phillip Pullman's sequels.  

For older children and adults, certain classics should be included:  

The Bible (for historic value, even if you're atheist or not religious)

The Koran (for the same reason)

The works of William Shakespere

Dante's Divine Comedy

Homer's Illiad and Oddysey

Tolstoy's War and Peace

The works of Edgar Allen Poe

Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield

Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

Moby d**k

You might want to include some "genre classics" like 2001: A Space Odyseey and Orwell's 1984, which are classic science fiction, or "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and some of the Agatha Cristie books for classic mystery, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein for classic horror, or "The Maltese Falcon" for classic crime.

You'll probably want some books on history, including the writings of Thomas Jefferson, books about Washington, Lincoln, the American Revolution and the Civil War. I'll also recommend the biography "John Adams" by David McCullough.

You may want to include some works of popular authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

I'm sure I could come up with thousands more.

You could google "classic book list" and come up with long lists.

You could also google by genre.

Answer 4

To kill a mocking bird

emily dickinson's most famous poems volume 1

the great gatsby

the lord of the flies

Answer 5

If you have a daughter, the Anne of Green Gables series is wonderful.

Answer 6

catcher and the rye, lord of the flies, anything jack kerouac (for their college years), eb white, shel silverstein, ronald dahl,  ralph ellison,  adventures of tom sawyer and huckleberry finn, oh geesh, there's so many more, i will be back!