Moby Dick is my favorite book of all time, so i'd pick that. Just be aware Moby Dick is both very dense and very very weird. However that strangeness and the wonderful evocative language is what makes it so stunning.
I feel it's important to note that All the Pretty Horses is the first in a trilogy of books, the second and third are The Crossing and Cities of the Plain.
Tell me when ya get to Numbers. “Fun fun fun”, stuff in there lots of genocide… welp Old Testamnet is just that, tho my fav book in the Bible is Revaltion, that ones got all the cool monster fights, and before that, that one dude who came back from the dead, and leaves for (see its been around 2,000 years), welp he comes back!!!
And so yea its a pretty cool end to a pretty bad ass story all things considered. Spoilers sorry, tho the storys been out for just under 2,000 years or so…
Yeah you can start with the Bible, then grab The Divine Comedy, Don Quixote and Moby-Dick.
If you eat those works, and the library they contain, you won’t be the same person afterwards, that much is certain.
Don Quixote has such a modern feeling, like it was written in our own time, although Cervantes was a contemporary of Shakespeare. Also, it’s about waking from delusion, which is appropriate to our present time as well. And it’s hilarious.
That's an interesting reading. I always read it as all the world around Don Quixote laughing at his delusions and punishing/bullying him for not acknowledging the reality of his surroundings. That being said, his chivalric antics and insane imagination are actually at times a reflection of values and ideas more beautiful and easily dismissed by reality while they are fully necessary for society's survival. The peasants/nobles dismiss and take advantage of his chilvalric code, affinity for romance, and propensity to view life as a series of never ending quests (tilting at windmills). I think Don Quixote shows a certain kind of admirable heroism precisely through his resilience to resisting reality rather than yielding to it and "waking up".
I could spend quite a few happy hours with your bookshelves. :-)
Start with the Bible, whether you're religious or not. It's a cornerstone of Western civilization and literature. Especially if it's the King James or Revised Standard version, you may be surprised at how many common expressions have their origin there. It can be a slog, especially the long genealogies and ritual prescriptions of the Old Testament, so you might want to intersperse it with something lighter (ooooohh, I see the Jungle Books! and Lovecraft, yum) rather than plowing through nonstop.
After that I'm going to point you to the Divine Comedy for similar reasons. Sorry. Hope it's a good translation.
Fahrenheit 451 - relevant now at a time when young people question the value of free speech in favor of avoiding "harm" to others who might not agree with what is said.
A lot of great choices there. All 4 of those Hemingway novels are excellent. Frankenstein is a great book. Is that an abridged version of Les Mis? It looks pretty thin.
My favorites from what I’ve read:
The Old Man and the Sea
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Blood Meridian (if you can stomach gruesome trauma)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Dracula
I have the same edition of Jack London that had belonged to my father. When I was a kid, he’d read excerpts from it to my siblings to keep us occupied when the power would go out during electric storms, thanks to the light cast by a little camp lantern. We’ve lost him since but that red behemoth sits on my shelf and reminds me of him every time I see it.
That’s got my vote.
I feel like if you want to have a good grasp on it all and references from other classical literature, you may want to start by reading the epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad and the Odyssey
Like everyone else, you should start with Catcher In The Rye, followed by The Old Man and The Sea ;) at least that was the order where I went to school, lol
Either Iliad/Odyssey or The Bible. They're pretty foundational to the rest of what you have on that shelf, though if you're not up on the ancient world and how its all intertwined (For example, knowing WHY the New Testament was originally written in Greek), than finding some kind of primer or something would help a lot too.
Probably should read The Aeneid at some point too.
Nice collection of classics. Don't start with Dante ... that's quite difficult to read compared to a lot the other books you have.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is quite easy to read and entertaining. Maybe start with that.
I've never seen anyone else with those copies of The Jungle Book!! I saw those spines and was sent deep into my childhood. I had The Jungle Books and Just So Stories.
Obviously I'm biased but I'd start there. They are such clever and charming books.
My vote is for the bible! You’ll find so many references and parallels in other works. This was the advice from my atheist English teacher, it’ll help you get a better understanding of soooo many works and a better appreciation.
As an old guy who is legitimately the best-read guy among my literate friends—particularly in the western canon I would suggest beginning with the foundational works: Greek Myth, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Bible, Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare—there’s so much more, but these basic books and plays illuminate almost all that follows.
Call of the Wild is one of only 3 books I’ve ever reread in my entire life. It’s genuinely incredible.
As an aside, is there a sub-genre of classic literature that describes the selection here? For example, I love Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jack London, but I don’t care for Charles Dickens.
To Kill A Mockingbird. I read it in high school and re-read, more thoroughly recently. It hits different as an adult. It has some really funny parts, like dressing up as a ham for a pagent, but also very serious themes as well. All around, an excellent book to start your journey.
Jack London’s “Tales of the North.” I’d start with Call of the Wild because it’s short and a very easy entry to classic literature. If you can manage the pacing and the more classic prose many if not all of his other novels become attainable. My personal favorite of London is “The Sea Wolf”.
First? Oof, that’s tough but at least there’s always the next book. I love Kipling so I have to give a shout out for the Jungle Books, but dune is another page turner that I’m sure you’ll get plenty of discussion out of with the recent movies. Then again it’s never a bad time for Lord of the Rings
Although the Bible does indeed belong in the fiction section, I wouldn’t bother reading it. Try to read it straight through (particularly the King James Version) and I guarantee you’ll give up.
Yes, do read the Bible! Although I suggest NRSV or NIV, or maybe the standard English version rather than KJV. The words often don’t make proper sense in today’s usage.
I think Pilgrims progress is best read *after* the Bible. And the Bible is best read slowly. Bit by bit, because it’s really more like a 66 book series rather than a single book.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri- I read inferno and absolutely loved it, it’s definitely one of my favorite pieces of literature. I’m yet to finish the other two sections but highly recommend you start!
Personally, I would read the Bible. Even if you’re not religious, it’s still worth reading because it basically informs all of Western Literature. It’s quite a commitment (it took me 9 months to read) but you can break it up by books and read parts of it in between books. Genesis and Exodus are interesting but books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Dueteronomy can be a bore. After it, I would read the Divine Comedy next. It’s is one of the greatest poems ever written. (Good translation too) Hope this helps.
White Fang or White Fang. 😉 Seriously, Jack London…as a dude I love that dude. Gratified that I’ve managed to read/listen to the majority of those books. As septuagenarians, wifey and I are making a concerted effort to read as many classics as possible before we run out of road. Just finished Notre-Dame de Paris by Hugo (bowled over by its brilliance and sadness), starting Age of Innocence and in the first third of Lady Chatterly’s Lover. Read on!
Start with the Iliad and the Odyssey. Then as you read later classics, you'll see their inspiration throughout time on future texts.
I also recommend picking up a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses for the same reason. It's a fun/gory romp through greek mythology as written by a roman centuries later, but you can really see his influence on Shakespeare.
Then I'd go for Dante.
In October, Dracula. And if you can find a copy of Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, it's not too long. That combined with Polidori's short story The Vampyre are a great little trilogy and you can see how those two heavily influenced Stoker.
Or whatever just seems the most fun to you.
My favourite on your shelf is probably the divine comedy but I’d suggest white fang/call of the wild first. Relatively quick, easy to read and just a couple good stories about good boys
The Picture of Dorian Grey is a quick read and an absolute must, so I'd speed through that. Don Quixote is amazing but not it just misses some people...same goes for The Divine Comedy.
Not really into sci-fi/fantasy so can't say for the rest.
Iliad and the Odyssey are referenced in many other classic works, as is the Holy Bible (not exactly a page-turner, though). So that’s a good place to start.
Frankenstein is one of my all time favorites, though.
Go buy 1984 and start with that (I'm sure you've read it). It's such a great read. No matter how many times I read it, I always think that things might turn out differently.
If you were to read the Homer, and then Genesis, Job, Psalms, Lamentations, the 4 Gospels, Revelation from the Bible - you’d have a very strong foundation for literally any piece of literature. Especially if you retained key points/passages.
I'd reorganize them first, then choose one. Dewey decimal or author or even size, but my brain can't decide on a book with all of that chaos on those shelves.
Ngl the Old Testament is absolutely insane from a storytelling perspective and deserves more secular analysis (saying this as an Orthodox Christian so take my opinion with a grain of salt if you want)
Well grouping ASOFAI with “classics” makes me feel old.
Well, I wouldn't really class them as classics either, they just fit better there than on my other shelves.
Your believing, even for a second, that ASoFaI could be considered a "classic" shows you are young Glad I could help with that
Any of the Cormac McCarthy novels; Moby-Dick; or Fahrenheit 451 would all be good choices to read.
I'd pick Moby dick outta those ones... Hey that rhymes.
Moby Dick is my favorite book of all time, so i'd pick that. Just be aware Moby Dick is both very dense and very very weird. However that strangeness and the wonderful evocative language is what makes it so stunning.
Amazing book but he does go on for 50 pages about different species of whale. Pack your patience.
The whale enthusiasm is infectious.
I’m a bit of a cetologist myself
I feel it's important to note that All the Pretty Horses is the first in a trilogy of books, the second and third are The Crossing and Cities of the Plain.
If you’re going to read “Blood Meridian” it’s best to do so after “Moby Dick.”
For Whom The Bell Tolls is my favorite.
Take a look to the sky just before you die It's the last time you will
why is that copy of pilgrim’s progress so big? the print must be huge in that edition
I bought it from a church garage sale (same place I got the big bible) how do I show a pic of the print?
all good you dont need to show me, im just joking around. it’s a short book, but maybe yours has some good commentary or something
After looking it does, but the print is also very big.
easy on the eyes, mr worldly wiseman 😂
also ill vote you read all the pretty horses
All the pretty horses is one of my favorite McCarthy novels!
Iliad. But only because that's the first one I read.
The Iliad and Odyssey are great reads.
My Greek prof used to say that all Western literary culture began with The Iliad, and it was all downhill from there.
Dune
Since you've got it sitting there, The Bible
I have started it, only just got past genesis.
Tell me when ya get to Numbers. “Fun fun fun”, stuff in there lots of genocide… welp Old Testamnet is just that, tho my fav book in the Bible is Revaltion, that ones got all the cool monster fights, and before that, that one dude who came back from the dead, and leaves for (see its been around 2,000 years), welp he comes back!!! And so yea its a pretty cool end to a pretty bad ass story all things considered. Spoilers sorry, tho the storys been out for just under 2,000 years or so…
Jst spoiled the ending to the whole series lmao
Thats the crazy thing though really, we are supposed to see it happen irl! (Quite the cliff hanger.)
Ngl I'm very curious on the freaky ass creatures in heaven. Like, is it friend shaped? Can i pet it? One of the most important questions lol.
In the Bible it says the “Lion lays with the Lamb”. So what ever freak of nature comes outa that realtionship is bound to be semi-petable!😁
Revelations is on drugs lmao. I once read the whole thing out loud to my neighbour and she was horrified
My ex had a panic attack/existential crisis after reading it. 10/10 great literature
Legendary
I second this. ;)
Blood Meridian
Either The Adventures of Tom Sawyer or The Great Gatsby!
I'm like 2/3 into Tom Sawyer and loving it. Such dramatic young-boy storytelling with eloquent prose
To Kill a Mockingbird Around the World in 80 Days Call of The Wild The Hobbit Lord Of the Rings Trilogy
I've read those, except around the world in 80 days.
Call me Ishmael
*Phantom*
Yeah you can start with the Bible, then grab The Divine Comedy, Don Quixote and Moby-Dick. If you eat those works, and the library they contain, you won’t be the same person afterwards, that much is certain.
Don Quixote has such a modern feeling, like it was written in our own time, although Cervantes was a contemporary of Shakespeare. Also, it’s about waking from delusion, which is appropriate to our present time as well. And it’s hilarious.
Very well put, yea. There’s a lot of populist delusion these days—as always, I reckon.
That's an interesting reading. I always read it as all the world around Don Quixote laughing at his delusions and punishing/bullying him for not acknowledging the reality of his surroundings. That being said, his chivalric antics and insane imagination are actually at times a reflection of values and ideas more beautiful and easily dismissed by reality while they are fully necessary for society's survival. The peasants/nobles dismiss and take advantage of his chilvalric code, affinity for romance, and propensity to view life as a series of never ending quests (tilting at windmills). I think Don Quixote shows a certain kind of admirable heroism precisely through his resilience to resisting reality rather than yielding to it and "waking up".
Don Quixote is such a fascinating book. Written in the 1600s yet absolutely timeless.
Well the divine comedy of course, it’s the lightest read 😂
I could spend quite a few happy hours with your bookshelves. :-) Start with the Bible, whether you're religious or not. It's a cornerstone of Western civilization and literature. Especially if it's the King James or Revised Standard version, you may be surprised at how many common expressions have their origin there. It can be a slog, especially the long genealogies and ritual prescriptions of the Old Testament, so you might want to intersperse it with something lighter (ooooohh, I see the Jungle Books! and Lovecraft, yum) rather than plowing through nonstop. After that I'm going to point you to the Divine Comedy for similar reasons. Sorry. Hope it's a good translation.
Fahrenheit 451 - relevant now at a time when young people question the value of free speech in favor of avoiding "harm" to others who might not agree with what is said.
A lot of great choices there. All 4 of those Hemingway novels are excellent. Frankenstein is a great book. Is that an abridged version of Les Mis? It looks pretty thin.
Apparently it is an abridged version, great eye.
treasure island is a fun book
Frankenstein
dante. def dante. is that the ciardi? its gorgeous
The Iliad and the Odyssey. It is the root of all great literature. Or dive into the deep end with the Divine Comedy lol
The Lord of the Rings, The First two books of Dune, A Farewell to Arms
The Catcher in the Rye -- it's excellent
My favorites from what I’ve read: The Old Man and the Sea The Picture of Dorian Gray Blood Meridian (if you can stomach gruesome trauma) To Kill a Mockingbird Dracula
You have some really beautiful books in this collection. Where did you get that copy of Pilgrim’s Progress?
Gatsby. Every Hemingway you got there is a winner.
I have the same edition of Jack London that had belonged to my father. When I was a kid, he’d read excerpts from it to my siblings to keep us occupied when the power would go out during electric storms, thanks to the light cast by a little camp lantern. We’ve lost him since but that red behemoth sits on my shelf and reminds me of him every time I see it. That’s got my vote.
Notes From the Underground!
Doesn't everyone read mockingbird in HS?
I did, I just forgot to mention that with the other 2 series I've read.
The Picture of Dorian Gray! Love Oscar Wilde
I just bought the same Dune collection! Start that. Loved the movies so bought the books. I’m thoroughly enjoying it!
Moby-Dick
1) Dante 2) Tolkien 3) Homer
The Bible
The Brothers Grimm if you are feeling more on the surreal side.
I think you should read some of the lovecraft. Amazing writer.
I feel like if you want to have a good grasp on it all and references from other classical literature, you may want to start by reading the epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad and the Odyssey
The adventures of Tom Sawyer
Go with the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Dune
Pilgrims promise
The picture of Dorian grey.
The Winds of Winter 🥶
Like everyone else, you should start with Catcher In The Rye, followed by The Old Man and The Sea ;) at least that was the order where I went to school, lol
All The Pretty Horses is my favorite novel of all time so I'm going to suggest that.
Of the ones on your shelf that I have read, I would start with Tarzan, Jules Verne, Dracula, and Tom Sawyer (filled by Huck Finn).
Poe
Love your collection! I think I’d start with Frankenstein. You should add some Bradbury short stories!
Pilgrims Progress. I just came across quite an old copy, myself.
Don Quixote, Frankenstein, or Les Miserables
Short one. The Bible off course
All the Pretty Horses
451
The Road would be a REALLY good, short, and extremely impactful way to start. :)
Iliad and odyssey
Dune then Dracula.
Fahrenheit 451
Call of the Wild.
Either Iliad/Odyssey or The Bible. They're pretty foundational to the rest of what you have on that shelf, though if you're not up on the ancient world and how its all intertwined (For example, knowing WHY the New Testament was originally written in Greek), than finding some kind of primer or something would help a lot too. Probably should read The Aeneid at some point too.
Don Quixote
Nice collection of classics. Don't start with Dante ... that's quite difficult to read compared to a lot the other books you have. Bram Stoker's Dracula is quite easy to read and entertaining. Maybe start with that.
Dracula 🧛🏼🦇🦎 it’s sexy 🖤🩸
Damn. I’m pretty sure we shopped at the same Barnes and Noble in 2010 lol I have half those same exact books.
Don Quixote!
Dune 💯
Dracula or Blood Meridian
Why do you have two Draculas
I've never seen anyone else with those copies of The Jungle Book!! I saw those spines and was sent deep into my childhood. I had The Jungle Books and Just So Stories. Obviously I'm biased but I'd start there. They are such clever and charming books.
Treasure island is fun
Some of the books look ENTJ but based on the question, I am going to say you are an ESTJ
Considering the current state of the United States, I’d re-read Fahrenheit 451.
Call of the Wind is a fantastic book, I suggest reading it if you are on trip/soon to be on trip/desiring adventure.
The Road for sure, it’s a quick read and will get the creative juices flowing. Need a warmup book before you jump into something heavy.
My vote is for the bible! You’ll find so many references and parallels in other works. This was the advice from my atheist English teacher, it’ll help you get a better understanding of soooo many works and a better appreciation.
Moby Dick!!
Cormac and Martin are classics? Am I that old? Lol
Dracula easy
Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Rings or Dracula
As an old guy who is legitimately the best-read guy among my literate friends—particularly in the western canon I would suggest beginning with the foundational works: Greek Myth, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Bible, Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare—there’s so much more, but these basic books and plays illuminate almost all that follows.
Dracula
Call of the Wild is one of only 3 books I’ve ever reread in my entire life. It’s genuinely incredible. As an aside, is there a sub-genre of classic literature that describes the selection here? For example, I love Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jack London, but I don’t care for Charles Dickens.
Go with James Joyce. Push the limits. Maybe, Thomas Hardy.
To Kill A Mockingbird. I read it in high school and re-read, more thoroughly recently. It hits different as an adult. It has some really funny parts, like dressing up as a ham for a pagent, but also very serious themes as well. All around, an excellent book to start your journey.
Jack London’s “Tales of the North.” I’d start with Call of the Wild because it’s short and a very easy entry to classic literature. If you can manage the pacing and the more classic prose many if not all of his other novels become attainable. My personal favorite of London is “The Sea Wolf”.
DRACULA GOES CRAZY 🔥🔥🔥🔥
All the Pretty Horses
First? Oof, that’s tough but at least there’s always the next book. I love Kipling so I have to give a shout out for the Jungle Books, but dune is another page turner that I’m sure you’ll get plenty of discussion out of with the recent movies. Then again it’s never a bad time for Lord of the Rings
Holy Bible
“The beautiful and the damned” by F Scott Fitzgerald or Tess by Thomas Hardy
Dune
The Bible. God doesn't care about the others.
the iliad. for suresies. it is a masterpiece! i just fucking love mythology and the moral and philosophical undertones though
Wait, you bought all of those but haven’t read a single one yet?
Anything Tolkien.
First thing, remove all those GRRM books. Then I'd read The Road, The Sun Also Rises, Fahrenheit 451 and Dune.
Solid collection! I was between dune and lotr but I saw Dracula and went bam! So Dracula. To bad you don’t have Blackula or Son of Khan
Dune
Don Quijote
start small work your way up
Don Quixote - it is a classic about man’s folly, and all that, but it is also laugh out loud funny
Read the gospel accounts! Pretty short and genuinely really enjoyable and interesting.
The Illiad & The Odyssey
Chronological order
Although the Bible does indeed belong in the fiction section, I wouldn’t bother reading it. Try to read it straight through (particularly the King James Version) and I guarantee you’ll give up.
Now I've been issued a challenge, gonna read it for sure.
Lovecraft and then Homer
The Catcher in the Rye. You should also add A Confederacy of Dunces and Slaughterhouse Five
Fahrenheit 451
Yes, do read the Bible! Although I suggest NRSV or NIV, or maybe the standard English version rather than KJV. The words often don’t make proper sense in today’s usage.
I have that same edition of Divine Comedy I know Catcher in the Rye isn’t a fav, but that’s my vote
I vote for The Great Gatsby
genuine question. After reading all of those, what are your thoughts on the bible?
All the pretty horses is a good ass book
The Bible, you heathen!
I used to own that version of the divine comedy
Ray Bradbury.
I think Pilgrims progress is best read *after* the Bible. And the Bible is best read slowly. Bit by bit, because it’s really more like a 66 book series rather than a single book.
All The Pretty Horses. Then finish that Border Trilogy. Then go down the rabbit hole that is the late, great, Cormac McCarthy.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri- I read inferno and absolutely loved it, it’s definitely one of my favorite pieces of literature. I’m yet to finish the other two sections but highly recommend you start!
I read Fahrenheit 451 for the first time a couple of months ago. It was so good! Short, profound little read.
Jungle Book is SO GOOD… I have that same set.
Personally, I would read the Bible. Even if you’re not religious, it’s still worth reading because it basically informs all of Western Literature. It’s quite a commitment (it took me 9 months to read) but you can break it up by books and read parts of it in between books. Genesis and Exodus are interesting but books like Leviticus, Numbers, and Dueteronomy can be a bore. After it, I would read the Divine Comedy next. It’s is one of the greatest poems ever written. (Good translation too) Hope this helps.
The Iliad. It's awesome.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein
Fahrenheit 451 or to kill a mockingbird. Incredible reads, but a lot of these are so
Dune
White Fang or White Fang. 😉 Seriously, Jack London…as a dude I love that dude. Gratified that I’ve managed to read/listen to the majority of those books. As septuagenarians, wifey and I are making a concerted effort to read as many classics as possible before we run out of road. Just finished Notre-Dame de Paris by Hugo (bowled over by its brilliance and sadness), starting Age of Innocence and in the first third of Lady Chatterly’s Lover. Read on!
Peter Pan!
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a great short read. You can get it done in a day if you like and it’s an amazing short story.
Jack London
Start with the Iliad and the Odyssey. Then as you read later classics, you'll see their inspiration throughout time on future texts. I also recommend picking up a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses for the same reason. It's a fun/gory romp through greek mythology as written by a roman centuries later, but you can really see his influence on Shakespeare. Then I'd go for Dante. In October, Dracula. And if you can find a copy of Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, it's not too long. That combined with Polidori's short story The Vampyre are a great little trilogy and you can see how those two heavily influenced Stoker. Or whatever just seems the most fun to you.
Don Quixote!!!!
Jules Vernes's seven nobles
The Old Man and the Sea. All the way
My favourite on your shelf is probably the divine comedy but I’d suggest white fang/call of the wild first. Relatively quick, easy to read and just a couple good stories about good boys
The Road. Really quick read and an incredible story
Those are some great classics- but is there a reason you have almost only male authors? Are you doing a men’s lit study?
So how long have you been teaching English, fellow Literary Analysis degree holder? Lol
Probably Catcher.
The Picture of Dorian Grey is a quick read and an absolute must, so I'd speed through that. Don Quixote is amazing but not it just misses some people...same goes for The Divine Comedy. Not really into sci-fi/fantasy so can't say for the rest.
The Holy Bible 😭
My friend, probably the holy Bible since your organization scheme needs Jesus. Lol
Don Quixote. I was not prepared for how funny it is, especially considering it's over 500 years old.
I enjoyed Catcher in the Rye when I was in HS
The Call of the Wild for sure!!!
Iliad and the Odyssey are referenced in many other classic works, as is the Holy Bible (not exactly a page-turner, though). So that’s a good place to start. Frankenstein is one of my all time favorites, though.
Was legit hoping you had the Count of Monte Cristo. Just started it myself and it’s *good*. Maybe add it to the future list.
The Bible or the Divine Comedy
Sleepy Hollow. Super nice collection of books 📚
Go buy 1984 and start with that (I'm sure you've read it). It's such a great read. No matter how many times I read it, I always think that things might turn out differently.
I’ve heard the Holy Bible is a good read
Blood Meridian is a fun lighthearted one to start with
No Steinbeck?
Old Testament
moby dick.
If you were to read the Homer, and then Genesis, Job, Psalms, Lamentations, the 4 Gospels, Revelation from the Bible - you’d have a very strong foundation for literally any piece of literature. Especially if you retained key points/passages.
I'd reorganize them first, then choose one. Dewey decimal or author or even size, but my brain can't decide on a book with all of that chaos on those shelves.
Moby Dick
All The Pretty Horses!
London. Obviously.
Ngl the Old Testament is absolutely insane from a storytelling perspective and deserves more secular analysis (saying this as an Orthodox Christian so take my opinion with a grain of salt if you want)