Which British Literature books should I include on my students' supplemental reading list? And which Dickens novel should I teach?

By rose

I’m getting ready for my first year teaching high school, and I’ll be doing British Lit with 12th graders—basically everything from stuff like Chaucer or Sir Gawain through to post–WW2. I’d like to put together a “if you want to” reading list for them that helps connect the writing to the mindset/history of each period. I’m trying to find either classics we probably won’t get to cover, or more modern authors who write really solid historical fiction. What would you put on a list like that for 12th graders, and why? Bonus question: if you had to pick among Dickens, which one(s) would you say are the most important for me to teach?