which book should i read?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton
My Antonia – Willa Cather
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – Frederick Douglass
If you have read any of these tell what what you thought of them
it’s a great list so you can’t go wrong with any of them. Ethan Fromme is pretty short, and really gives you something to think about. Age of Innocence is marvelous. Red Badge of Courage is sad, The Jungle is amazing but hard to take at times.
You will find all of these books at the library. I suggest you see how many you can find there, sit down and read the first page or two of each and see which writing style resonates most with you. Some books beg a reader to continue, while another person can’t seem to get into the story.
you have a wonderful list to choose from. (maybe read some more from the list this summer?!)
good luck!
Oh and also you might want to read:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Things They Carried by Tim Obrien
Is Twilight worth my while?
BTW: I never read Harry Potter because I did not like it. If that helps any. Just my opinion.
I am 20 years old.
I am also purchasing On The Road, Naked Lunch, and Leaves of Grass for some more fall reading.
go and read it NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jake roxz!
EDIT!!!
dotn listen to light4j – she has no idea wat shes talkign about!!!!!!! please go read it!
EDIT:::: we fans are not crazy. do not listen to light4j i know a lady 34 and loves these books
plz read it dotn let any1 ruin da fun 4 u 
EDIT::: dotn listen to marti
just read the book and watch wat happens
EDIT: do NOT listne to S D – read it plz
YES, IT IS SO WORTH YOUR WHILE.
Yeah, i AM a teenager[18] BUT there are many older people who also enjoy twilight and the rest of the series. forexample: twilightMOMS is a website created and run by mothers who LOVE twilight.
hope you do read it =)
.
edit— if you’re looking for genuine advice, don’t listen to the crazed teeny-bopper fans who will answer this! I’m 26 and an extensive reader, and I think that my judgement is pretty accurate
edit– Thank God for all the genuine readers who answer this questions- props to “dolce”
Which of these books would you recommend?
These are some of the book titles that sounded interesting:
A Lesson Before Dying (Ernest Gaines)
Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
Animal Dreams (Barbara Kingsolver)
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Cannery Row (John Steinbeck)
Children of the Holocaust (Helen Epstein)
Cold, Sassy Tree (Olive Ann Burns)
Death Be Not Proud (John Gunther)
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Holocaust (Gerald Green)
Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo)
My Name is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok)
Nectar in a Sieve (Kamala Markandaya)
Night (Elie Wiesel)
Pigs in Heaven (Barbara Kingslover)
Plainsong (Kent Haruf)
Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse)
Snow Falling on Cedars (David Guterson)
The Age of Innocence (Edith Wharton)
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho
The Assistant (Bernard Malamud)
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
The Bonesetter’s Daughter (Amy Tan)
The Cather in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
The Chosen (Chaim Potok)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mark Haddon)
The Elephant Man (Bernard Pomerance)
The Farming of Bones (Edwidge Danticat)
The Fixer (Bernard Malamud)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)
The House of Sand and Fog (Andre Dubus III)
The Hunchback of Notre Dome (Victor Hugo)
The Jungle (Upton Sinclair)
The Loved One (Evelyn Waugh)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter (Kim Edwards)
The Paper Chase (John Jay Osborne, Jr)
The Painted Bird (Jerzy Kosiniski)
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
The Power of One
The Promise (Chaim Potok)
The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
The Return of the Native (Thomas Hardy)
The Shipping News (Annie Proulx)
The Sweet Hereafter (Russel Banks)
The Things They Carried (Tim O’ Brien)
The World According to Garp (John Irving)
The Woman Warrior: Momoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (Maxine Hong Kingston)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
Washington Square (Henry James)
We Were the Mulvaneys ( Joyce Carol Oates)
White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
Shipping News, Lovely bones, The Jungle,The Curious Incident of the Dog. . . .,Pigs in Heaven, and anything else by Kingsolver. The Paper Chase, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Handmaid’s Tale. . . . .
All Quiet on the Western Front – I recall reading this one in middle school. It’s not a happy read, the ending is sad, but it is a more realistic look at war. Altogether, I liked the book. (also has a movie based on the book)
Animal Farm is another I had to read for school (and I liked it so much that I later picked up 1984); this one is an odd read. You wonder how Stalin and Lenin could possibly relate to a a book with animals as the main characters, but this one does so. And even though the characters are animals, the effect is very interesting. On the plus side, the book is a short, quick read; on the negative side, it may take some outside research to discover how relevant this books is (in terms of having historical and satirical parallels). (I think there are two movies based on this one; one is a cartoon and the other is not) I liked this book as well.
Cold, Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns is a very southern novel. I thought the book was very funny and enjoyed it. I definitely didn’t love this one, and it wasn’t the most powerful read.
The Chosen is a book I read and enjoyed and found fascinating because I am not of the same religion, but I can’t say why I liked the book. I just liked it.
If you’re into books about war (Vietnam, in this case), then The Things They carried might be something to look into, though know that Tim O’Brien likes to use his curse words, so use caution with this one if you object to harsh language.
I have previously tried other work by John Irving, and I just think he is absolutely hilarious. I haven’t personally read The World According to Garp, but I recommend it based on my experiences with this author.
Ray Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite authors simply because I think his style of writing is unique and gorgeous. I do highly recommend Fahrenheit 451, especially if you like dystopias. (there is also a movie based on this one, which I didn’t like; but there is another movie called Equilibrium which is like a mix of this book and Orwell’s 1984)
Not recommended:
I am in the minority, as everyone I come across always recommends this book and claims to love it, in that I do not recommend The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. I could not connect to the main character and hated the writing style.
I would not recommend Things Fall Apart to a high school student. The culture depicted in the book is so vastly different from what you’re probably used to and the main character’s actions contradict so strongly with what most people consider to be right that I wouldn’t really recommend this book outside of a school setting in which the whole class is picking the book apart and everything is being explained. On another note, if you want a view into another culture and understand that the book (fiction but based on practices which did and still do exist in some places) is sort of brutal, then go for it.
On the fence:
I’ve heard great things about The Power of One, and I saw the movie based on this book some years back, but I’ve also heard that the book has some mature content.
How many of these books have you read?
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
This is a list of banned books. The list was prepared by the American Library Association as part of banned book week.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm
they are timeless
p.s. i cant help but feel that the hitchhickers guide to the galaxy is sorta the odd one out there. I love that book but it is very different from the others on that list lol.
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First of all, congratulations on your wonderful selection of reading. Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse are actually terrible books to read. They consist of an abusive boyfriend (who is put in good light), a doormat of a girlfriend, a mother who doesn’t love her child (again,it is as if Stephenie Meyer is saying that is okay to do), an idiot father who doesn’t realize his daughter is lying and bringing over boys, scary skinny vampires who are considered “beautiful”, drug references, terrible writing, laughable dialogue, and a whole lot more. Sound worth your time?
im 20 years old and i am going ape crap over these books. My sister got me hooked on them. Its just the story and the charaters pull u in. trust me its a good book to read for fun.
Well they are loved by love-crazed teenage girls who think the characters are “hot” but I think its not a good book at all. It is horribly written and the plot is not unique. Its a vampire love story with werewolves thrown in. wow. The characters are shallow and its the same plot in all the books. Edward wants to leave Bella but they get back together. Authors like Edgar Alan Poe are on a much higher level than Stephanie Meyer. You should stick to American Literature. And I bet teenage girls will answer this question with answers like “OMG. u totally shud. its the best book ever”. But I think twilights crap on paper, and thats my honest opinion.
But if u like cheesy vampire love stories that are horrible written, then go right ahead and read them.
I’m sure its entertaining but based on your reading list I’m guessing you’re looking for something with a little more depth. Do yourself a favor, skip Twilight, read one of these, all of these authors are modern day contemporaries of the writers you mentioned:
The Kite Runner
The Gravedigger’s Daughter
Middlesex
The Things They Carried
Short Range: Wyoming Stories
Into the Wild
and if you’re looking for fantasy:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy – the king of all horror novels
Anthem by Ayn Rand – Its a short read, only about 80 pages depending on the edition you buy but an amazing dystopia story
There are different opinions. I love it.
Just read it and see if you like it.
These books are formulaic romance, meaning that if you consider romance fluff and not to your liking, you are not going to enjoy them. Add to it teen angst and well, you get the picture. If you do enjoy romance, then give it a try, see how you like it. However, I don’t really expect you to fall in love with it. You like depth in your reading material and this is certainly not that type of book.
Read them if you are looking for fun light hearted reading, if you want something deep and meaningful that transfers to a life lesson don’t.
I’m an adult who reads everything fiction and non fiction, i like historical fiction and loved harry potter. When i heard all the buzz about twilight i knew i had to read it, now I’m on the second one and almost done. They are just fun to read and a break from from all the other great literature I’ve been reading.
I think you should give it a try!
Twilight is an excellent book. It’s a bit cheesy in parts, I’ll admit, but the rest of it is exciting and sweet. I know a lot of adults that like the book. I’d give it a shot and get it from the library or a friend, rather than buying it. Just because you may not like it.
If you like deep, well written books– and from the sound of things, you do– you wouldn’t like this series. My favorite books are classics, and because of that, I didn’t like Twilight much. Twilight is terribly written. The plot is non-existent, and what little plot there is has just been borrowed from other stories. There is nothing unique about the series. Most of the characters are underdeveloped and two-dimensional. Twilight has absolutely no literary value– it’s just a chick flick in novel form. It’s fluff. There’s nothing of value in it. It’s just an entertaining read. So if you are bored and feel like reading a book that doesn’t make you think and isn’t going to impact you at all, read Twilight.
I’d recommend Twilight for bulimics, it will help them vomit easily, without sticking tooth brushes or anything else in their throats.. (Not that I don’t know it’s a sickness, and that bulimia is a serious problem and it needs to be treated)..
Twilight is a waste of time, seriously pathetic, the book is basically about a girl named Bella, she is an unattractive, plain, ambition-less, dreamless, clumsy and self-conscious girl.. Who lusts an abusive, obsessive, controlling, handsome, ridiculously god-like(at least he is described like that, I think the contrary!) vampire boy named Edward, who happens to like her because she smells good..
I felt nausea, while reading it!
This is also my problem. From the quotes I read, it looked interesting but not well-written. It seems what someone who has read very little would think is a wonderful book.
only 17….but yeah…..i will try to read all of these
2/100 but im gonna make this my reading list
please answer mine
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhIFyU.iloHCTEV3FcUFXD7sy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090930115526AA7WDwK
dee xx
11 of them and all were very interesting. I hope to get my hands on the other 89 if they are alike. However i don’t see any reason why these books should have been banned.
I’ve read 14 of these. If I hadn’t spent my childhood reading so much science fiction it would probably be more. Though there are some good sci-fi titles on the list.
By the way, these books aren’t necessarily banned, they all had ban attempts made against them.
Four why?
17 although it’s been so long since I read some of them, that I would have to reread them. Also I saw a few more of the movie versions.