Madison Public Library's "Readable Fiction Classics"

‘Readable’ and ‘classic’ can mean different things to different people. To avoid confusion, Madison Public Library’s librarians have defined what we mean by them. A ‘classic’ is a work of enduring interest and appeal in which successive generations can find truths that will not age. ‘Readable’ includes those classics whose appeal is immediately apparent and continues throughout.

http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/booklists/fiction.html