Hey all, I need some major advice on a reading list. Alright so I've only just turned 16 and I like to think that my reading level is fairly high. I don't know what my lexile score is, but I never have much trouble with reading shakespeare or old english works like The Federalist Papers(of which I've read excerpts), although they are undoubtedly fairly challenging. Anyways, I've read books ranging from Les Miserables, Bleak House(many of Dickens' books actually), Don Quixote, Crime and Punishment, the Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, etc. But I've read only a few of those books more than once, and although I definitely understood the text I won't pretend to have obtained most of what those books have to offer. I've also recently noticed that there are many types of authors I haven't read like kafka, Joyce, and many many others. I am also frantically trying to better myself in the field of literature right now, but I don't have much time until college. Thus, I am asking all of you much more experienced readers if you could compile a list of must reads for me that will greatly better me as a reader of different types of literature. If possible, and this would be a dream come true, could you compile a list with an order? Please don't just put your favorite book and say reading in in of itself will better me. I've already been addicted to harry potter. Thanks
I don't have a list right now, but I strongly recommend All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, American Pastoral by Philip Roth and Atonement by Ian McEwan.
Well some people consider the Lord of the Rings to be "higher" reading, so you could try those if you haven't already. I'd also suggest The Count of Monte Cristo [Alexandre Dumas], The Importance of Being Earnest [Oscar Wilde], 1984 and Animal Farm [George Orwell], and anything by Edgar Allen Poe or Agatha Christie. I may think of more later, but that's it for now for what I think you're looking for. [and if you're looking for "less challenging" things, I'd recommend Vince Flynn or Tom Clancy or a bunch of other writers of the thriller genre, which is my favorite]
Google "The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction". It was compiled by Charles W. Eliot, LLD (1834-1926), Harvard University president.
Quite honestly, it's very hard to come up with this sort of list since there are thousands of books in all of world literature that are important/influential. Just do a search on google and follow a list of books that you think works well for you (depending on your taste, for example). Also, I wouldn't worry about trying to read all those books before college. After all, that's what college is for. And even then, chances are you're going to miss a lot of important books no matter how many English/Literature courses you take.
If you want to head down a path towards learning about lit, the best thing to do is try to find an author or movement or period that interests you and read in depth, rather than broadly. If you go on to study lit, you'll be given reading lists and things anyway, but if you want to develop a kind of expertise, you need to have a great knowledge of one area rather than a small knowledge of lots of different areas.
Read for enjoyment. Don't make it a chore. Pick books that you're actually interested in otherwise, you're reading for the wrong reasons. Most of the classics that I've read, I had to read for school, and while they're great, most of those books aren't the reason why I love reading. Anyways, the banned book list is a favorite of mine, as well as the most controversial book lists. It's probably one of the easiest ways to get a broad overview of the culture, mindset, time period, history of our time.
I'm 33 and got Moby Dick in the mail a few days ago. But other than that, I won't even pretend to be interested in any of the others. And the only reason I wanted Moby Dick was because I woke up one day with really strange urge to read it. No idea why. :redface: There are so many authors out there and so many new ones showing up every year that it's almost impossible to make a list of all the "best" authors and read every single book by all of them. I'm not even going to try. What I do is pick a book in a genre I like and read the back of the cover (or the overview, if shopping online). If it sounds interesting, I'll read it. If I liked it, I'll read more from the same author. It usually doesn't matter if other people say they like it or not. I have had books recommended to me (thanks, cute girl in bookstore) and ended up enjoying them, but I have had books recommended to me that I hated. Not to mention I have about 500+ books in my library, and my family hate every single one of them. You should read books you enjoy. Want to be a better reader? Read more. If you liked Harry Potter, you might want to give House of Night a try. In many ways it's very similar to Harry Potter, except the cast is mostly female, um, vampires. I know... :redface: But the whole vampire-thing isn't that important after book one, and it feels far more like a grown-up version of Harry Potter. Plus, it's very well written, too. It's one of my top three series of all time. The other two are Dragonlance and the Eddie Chase/Nina Wilde-series by Andy McDermott. You won't find any of them in any "must read" lists, but I love them all.
I have to agree with Velox. The Lord of the Rings is a good choice. And, of course, The Hobbit. If you liked Harry Potter, I'm pretty sure you will like these. Tolkien is one of my favorite writer's.
