Books that do and don't suck

[Datalord]

Ok, so in English Class at my school we have required reading books, pretty standard, but the books we have to read suck more than monica lewinsky.

right now we have Watership Down, the Scarlet Letter, and Autobiography of a Face.

I suggested 1984,Animal Farm, We, and a few other books, but the teachers and administration said the books were not appropriate for high schoolers.

So, fellow escapists, what required reading do you have for classes do you have that suck or doesn't suck, and what good and bad books have you read recently?

 

[walls of cetepedes]

I suggested 1984,Animal Farm, We, and a few other books, but the teachers and administration said the books were not appropriate for high schoolers.

... the hell?

MY English teacher recommended 1984 to us!
Jeez.

OT: 'Agent Zigzag' is the best one I've read recently. Damn it was funny finding out that the British Intelligence services had full control of the entire German Spy Network in Britain during WWII.

 

[Cilliandrew]

On the horrible pile: "Who Has Seen the Wind"

On the good pile: "Farenheit 451"

Everything else kinda falls in between. I used to hate the books we had in primary school, though.. With a passion...

"The Cay", "A Wrinkle in Time", "I am David"... Gosh i despised all of those books..

"The Outsiders" was kind of okay, i guess.

 

[Hobo Joe]

I'm doing English Literature for A-Level, (17-18 year olds); we're reading Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Awesome book) and King Lear, another excellent piece of literature, as well as the poetry of John Keats. Last year, at GCSE I did To Kill A Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, Journey's End, Romeo & Juliet as well as a slew of other poems. I don't know why the quality of the books you're reading are so low, I hope I don't offend but maybe the school's English department is simply rubbish?

 

[JanatUrlich]

In English Lit I'm reading poetry anthologies by Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy and they suck maaaajor donkey balls

But in English Language I'm reading Cupcakes and Kalashnikovs by various female authors and if you can get over the PURE FEMINISM then it's actually a pretty good read.

Also, I read 1984 and Animal Farm for recreational purposes and they were boring as fuck. Still way better than Larkin and Duffy though

 

[Optimus Hagrid]

Good: "The Wasp Factory", "Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse"

Bad: Erm. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Yeah, I haven't read in a while.

 

[CIA]

Watership Down? I'm sorry. Try to read some Douglass Adams or something to take your mind off it. The sparknotes for the scarlet letter aren't bad, by the way.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

For some reason in early high school they turn everything boring.

A pretty awesome book for me is War and Peace ^_^. I'm reading through it and enjoying it, but it isn't light reading so I'd understand if a high school didn't teach it.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i read Animal Farm in high school and for my last year of high school english essay my teacher suggested i read A Clockwork Orange

try suggesting The Chrysalids by John Wyndham or even Anthem by Ayn Rand

sorry to say but Animal Farm and 1984 is great for high school to read.

 

[Ekonk]

Twilight, Oryx & Crake.

Guess which one sucks and which one doesn't.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

Strangely enough, Animal Farm was required reading for my school.

Although given how we're not taught about the Soviet Union until college, the teachers had to gloss over the political commentary. My country's school system = FAIL

But we also had to read Beowulf, The Merchant of Venice and Don Quixote.

 

[Grab-bag]

I'm reading Patient Zero and I recommend that to all of you...Yes...EVEN YOU!

It's a must read and I can't put it down, seriously I got it with men here!!

 

[SkylerRock]

For personal reading time do yourself a favour and stay away from Dan Brown, the only reason I even bothered to finish the predictable dross that was The Lost Symbol was because I had a link to a website that insulted it hard and I wanted to get all the references.

'Journey To The Center Of The Earth' by Jules Verne is actually a nice, easy to read adventure. Animal Farm is excellent high school reading material, as well as being a razor sharp satire of the formation of the Soviet Union, can't believe a lecturer would deny such a classic work.

 

[QuirkyTambourine]

Well One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a obvious choice, we had to read it and I loved it. I read Night by Eli Wiesel and found that it was both enthralling and disturbing. John Hershey's Hiroshima was a great book as well.

For some reason I keep referring to WWII era books but I'll say one more, Slaughterhouse 5 by Vonnegut. Actually, a collection of short stories from Vonnegut or Ray Bradbury is all you really need. They're both so freaking good.

Edit: Forgot to add Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

 

[Kiutu]

Those two books usually ARE part of the books you have to read or might have to read in highschool.
For 'free readings' in 12th grade though, I just relied on Kurt Vonnegut books (having fallen in love with Cat's Cradle in english sumemr school prior to)
I love his works, and wish he was still alive, since it would not be a far drive to the diner he frequented.

 

[Megacherv]

The Weegies vs. Edinbuggers/Edingbuggers vs. Weegies series, and the Flanimals series. Love those books.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I came into this thread thinking it would be about something else entirely... so yeah, required reading...

Okay, I got nothing - it's been almost a decade since I had anything resembling a 'reading list'. I still read books all the bloody time (I read something in the neighborhood of 115 different novels last year) but it's because I want to, not because its mandatory.

 

[TheTrojanBadger]

In my high school, we had to read two books for a summer reading project. One was about how the Vietnam war = FAIL, and the other was about how capitalists are douchbags. The year before, we had to read about an African tribesman who "rightfully" and "heroically" killed white people because they had set up a mission in his territory and converted his son to christiannity.

Can you guess which special intrest groups are lobbying at my school?

 

[TheTrojanBadger]

I came into this thread thinking it would be about something else entirely... so yeah, required reading...

Okay, I got nothing - it's been almost a decade since I had anything resembling a 'reading list'. I still read books all the bloody time (I read something in the neighborhood of 115 different novels last year) but it's because I want to, not because its mandatory.

Hey! I read over 200!

 

[Cormitt]

On the surprisingly good side: The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.