I have a huge list of 140 books to read before I go to college. Some are actually quite boring in my opinon but they are suppose to be literary genius.
Does anybody have any good books( college bound or just plain old entertainment) that I might not have on my list.
Feel free to tell me the titles and what you thought about them.
Here are some of the books that I have already res:
Beowulf
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Awakeningby Kate Chopin
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Adventures of Huckalberry Finn by Mark Twain
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
The Diary of Anne Frank
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Fountain Head by Ayn Rand
The Story and Life of Helen Keller
I've tryed to read Jane Austen Books but I just can't get into it. The same thing happened with Nataniel Hawthorne and many many other authors.
I've shyed away from those kind of books and have moved on to some that where more foer entertainment like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Nicholas Sparks books and others. And I love the Harry Potter books.
Is there any old literary greats that are just as entertaining? By the way I cant get into books that have that old English language. Sometimes it just confuses me.
Suggestions Please!!!
Okay, if the whole Old English thing semi-relates to old poetry a lot of my recommendations, but these are the books I have had references to in classes that are good to know:
Dante's The Divine Comedy (at least Inferno, but the others are good too)
Homer's The Odyssey
Anything Shakespeare you can handle. Try The Tempest for an easier read that comes up constantly. Please go beyond Romeo & Juliet and Julius Ceasar. I would also say try Much Ado About Nothing, A Mid Summer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and Titus Andronicus. Read and watch a good movie version because it helps understanding (at least it did for me).
Big Elk Speaks
Oedipus Rex Trilogy
Little Women
Swiss Family Robinson
If you have a Barnes & Noble near by, check out their BN Classics display. It is a good bet that those are the books that are good to know in college. Most of them have been brought up in at least on of my classes. Plus, they are uber cheap (but just making a list and hitting the library is a good bet too).
Good for you for pushing to be ultra-literate!
Think about it...
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For something more modern, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child books are good, as are F Paul Wilson books. If you like mysteries, the Alex Cross series by James Patterson is pretty good, and the first two in the series were made into movies with Morgan Freeman (Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls).
~C
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Hmm...
I really liked Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's The Illuminatus! Trilogy. A bit hard to get into, but it's one hell of a book to read.
The Hot Zone is simply incredible. It's non-fiction, so be warned that it has a lot of info. But it's a really good read. Kinda scary, too.
But my overall greatest recommendation would be to read Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. If you could only read one more book, read that one. Then read the sequels. Do not be surprised if that book completely changes your life, and how you view your life and your world. It is the best book I have ever read.
-TerranCoder
I would recommend anything by C.S Lewis the most popular of his books would definitly be the Narnia books but the one I'm really into right now is the Screwtape letters. Go to any discount price book store and you'll find them pretty cheap
There are some good plays that you will probably have to read once you are in college. Those include Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Crucible, Death of a Salsemen, and The Miracle Worker. Also look into short stories especially 20th century.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711