Posted by MaggieH (admin)
Sep 8, 2009 9:02 pm

Replies (16)

Posted by

• When I was in high school(and now currently in college) I had read all the required reading before it was actually required for me to read it. So I loved reading over and over books that I was already so fondly familiar with. But I'd have to say that Albert Camus "The Stranger" because it really opened up a whole new world for me that I had already experienced (in terms of leading an ordinary life) but did not know existed. And through "The Stranger" I found existentialism and Jean-Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness". . .

  Sep 8, 2009 10:22 pm
  by beattifickid89

• I loved To Kill a Mockingbird when I read it as assigned reading in the 11th grade. I remember reading ahead. I love the story and the characters. It remains one of my favorite books.

  Sep 8, 2009 10:22 pm
  by danahuff

• I read Lord of the Flies when I was about the same age as the boys in the story. It gave it an extra dimension that was not there when I re-read years later.
  
  I also read The Iliad when I was 17. I remember skipping to the end to find out about the Trojan Horse. (After all it was about the Trojan War wasn't it?) It launched a love of Greek history and mythology that continues to this day.

  Sep 9, 2009 8:38 am
  by cresswga

• I adored reading To Kill A Mockingbird, Oliver Twist & Henry V. I still have the same copies I bought for school and they've become very well read and very well loved over the years

  Sep 9, 2009 10:50 am
  by badfalcon

• The one that has stayed with me (the most impact) is The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. Even as I was reading it, I remembered thinking what a serious book to have a young person read. But of course, that was the point of the assignment to make one consider what one normally wouldn't. I liked it best because it made me grow as a reader.

  Sep 9, 2009 12:06 pm
  by dreamdust

• In 8th grade there was "The Outsiders" of course. My 5th grade teacher read us the first three "Harry Potter" books and "Wizard of Oz" out loud, in one year. I think we also read either "Matilda" or "James and the Giant Peach" in that same 5th grade class. In grade four maybe, we read a book called "Bunnicula" about an evil rabbit or something. In highschool we read: Catcher and the Rye, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Of Mice and Men, Great Gatsby, etc. I think we were supposed to read "To Kill A Mockingbird" in grade ten, but that teacher was so incompetant. We did read a couple of books, but never finished them.

  Sep 9, 2009 1:39 pm
  by angelicmobster8

• These are great--and I'm getting lots of ideas for my own reading list.
  
  I wanted to share the response reader "Hal" shared on our blog:
  
  In high school “1984″ was a required reading book. Frankly, it scared me out of my wits. Because of the emotional impact of this book, I consider it one of the greatest books in literature. And this is why I liked it.
  
  Later in college, I read “Les Misérables” (the unabridged version) and absolutely loved it. Since then I’ve read most of Hugo’s work and consider him among the top five novelists who ever wrote. His style is readable for almost everyone, yet he paints with words the most beautiful pictures.
  

  Sep 10, 2009 12:46 pm
  by MaggieH (admin)

• I took an excellent Shakespeare class in college that made me really love and appreciate Shakespeare's plays. I've had good teachers for Frankenstein in high school and in college, so I like Frankenstein a lot too.
  
  Although I love reading and enjoyed most of the books I read in school just as I read them, I think the quality of the teacher and the way books are taught have a lot to do with how much they stay with you. I can think of a lot of books that I find completely fascinating because I've studied them, and now when I read something interesting, I wish I could take a class on it or write a paper about what I think.

  Sep 10, 2009 3:42 pm
  by emilyyoung

• Beowulf. A great read. I liked it so much. I am now reading a new book titled, Beowulf on the Beach.

  Sep 10, 2009 9:43 pm
  by moengey

• In 10th grade, we read "The Great Train Robbery" by Crichton. I remember it being a fascinating story and one of the few books I read in school that really stands out.

  Sep 16, 2009 3:51 pm
  by jimini321

• Catcher in the Rye was my favorite in high school, and in college I greatly enjoyed Song of Solomon.

  Sep 18, 2009 3:17 am
  by amfritsc

• I had a fascination with "Lord of the Flies" from the time I was in the 3rd or 4th grade (my older sister who was in high school at that time read it for her english class). I read it as an adventure book at first, then as I aged I got more and more into the whole symbolism thing. same thing for "Animal Farm".
  I also have a fondness for "The Phantom tollbooth" which my 5th grade teacher read to us; all of us at first thought we wwere too old to be read to, but we were all hooked after the first chapter.

  Sep 18, 2009 8:53 am
  by paigu

• Moengey, Would you please post in the forum-ideas and suggestions, items of note who is the author of Beowulf on the Beach? As this sounds like a book I would enjoy reading also. Thanks!

  Sep 22, 2009 4:57 pm
  by dreamdust

• When I was in the eleventh grade back in 1968-69 my English teacher mentioned a book that was all the rage on college campuses. She said it was about elves, dwarves, something called a hobbit and a magic ring. I tracked down the Fellowship of the Ring at the library and have been a Tolkien fan ever since.

  Sep 22, 2009 8:01 pm
  by Golem100

• I loved to read in school. In high school I loved, "Of Mice And Men." I soon read as much of Steinbeck as I could find. I also enjoyed "Lord of the Flys."

  Sep 23, 2009 2:09 pm
  by onedede

• This year for English, I have to read "The Red Badge of Courage", "Animal Farm", and "Romeo & Juliet". They are all great reads, though Shakespeare is definitely the best!

  Oct 2, 2009 1:44 am
  by saturntv