any english literature books i can read?

All right, you've got plenty of options on this one.

Persuasion

Pride and Prejudice

Emma

Mansfield Park

Northanger Abbey

Sense and Sensibility

All are by Jane Austen

Personally, I think Pride and Prejudice as well as Austen is overrated; however, I would recommend Emma for its wit and Persuasion for its universal theme.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Lord of the Rings- J.R.R. Tolkien (my personal favorite)

Mere Christianity

Screwtape Letters

The Chronicles of Narnia (you are bit old for these, but that's ok.)

Until We Have Faces

All are by C.S. Lewis

Animal Farm

1984 *one of the best books you will ever read*

Both are by George Orwell

Silas Marner by George Elliot

There are many more, but I would recommend these reads first and foremost.

I was 9 when I read Jane Eyre and loved it, I still love it now at 48! I also like Jane Austin, D H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. Oliver Twist is so much better than the films and A Christmas Carol by Dickens.

If the old english style lauguage is hard to understand try listening to classics on audio book, if you get unabridged versions you can then follow them with the book. I have lots of classics on audio and listen to them often.

Jane Austen And Thomas Hardy are both excellent suggestions. You could also try any of the Bronte sisters (Jane Eyre by Charlotte, Wuthering heights by Emily or Tenant of Wild fell Hall by Ann).Antony Trollope's Barchester Towers is another good one or maybe Silas Marner by George Elliot. The list could go on and on but these should get you started! Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South is another one suitable for you. I must stop now or else I'll be here all night.

EDIT Scelentic, all the authors I have mentioned are British or are you not familiar with them?!

You have some brilliant answers here! Some to run with, others not. These I highly recommend:

''Prester John' (John Buchan) - exciting and mysterious. A definite 'should read' - you'll love it!

Jane Eyre' (Charlotte Bronte) - I read and adored it at the age of 12.

'Silas Marner' (George Eliot - a lady writer!) - a fantastic read; short and sad and happy all at the same time.

'Tom Sawyer' (Mark Twain) - an excellent, exciting story.

Hope you decide to try some of these books. Enjoy!!

Silas Marner was a good suggestion; it's a shorter novel. I think starting with some shorter stuff might be a good way to dive in. :) If you want to try an American author, Herman Melville wrote an interesting novella called Bartleby, the Scrivener, and you can read it online. Check it out here, and this site has lots of other books available for free (older stuff where the copyright has expired):

http://www.bartleby.com/129/

Perhaps you should start with the relatively easy to read, well-known classics, such as:

Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

Henry Fielding: Tom Jones

Jane Austen

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

Lewis Carrol: Alice In Wonderland

Kipling: Jungle Book

H. G Wells

EDIT:

Don't think I undersestimate you, but you might wait a few years with Hardy and the Brontes. Same with Dickens.

Jane Eyre Wuthering heights Sense and sensiblility Mansfield Park Tess of the Durbervilles Stig of the Dump but in general all of the Bronte sisters books ... Jane Austen ... Dickens ... all classics ...

Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

1984 by Orwell

Bronte Sisters

Charles Dickens

Shakespeare

Haha, it's pretty funny how Jane Austen is the only British author people actually know of.

Instead read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which is basically the ultimate masterpiece of gothic romanticism.

Read Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and some George Orwell.

If you feel up to it, read some Dickens.