List of high school books read for English class?
April 28, 2010 3:51 PM   Subscribe

List of high school books read for English class?

Most of the books assigned to be read in English class for high school were really good. Can we make a list? I am looking for good reading material.

From what I can remember:

The Chrysalids
Lord of the flies
The Catcher in the Rye.
To kill a mocking bird
House of spirits
The stone angel

What else do you have?
posted by abbat to Society & Culture (37 answers total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Great Gatsby
The Sun Also Rises
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hunger of Memory
1984
posted by leedly at 3:57 PM on April 28, 2010


This is a pretty good list of reading material for grades 9-12.
posted by alligatorman at 3:57 PM on April 28, 2010


Lots of schools have reading lists online these days.
posted by box at 3:58 PM on April 28, 2010


My high school puts out a lengthy summer reading list every year and I think it's pretty good.
posted by phoenixy at 3:58 PM on April 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


As I Lie Dying
The Canterbury Tales
The Great Gatsby
Tom Sawyer
Bless the Beasts and Children
The Scarlet Letter
Ethan Frome
The Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men
posted by firei at 3:58 PM on April 28, 2010


The Chosen
Separate Peace
Old Man and the Sea
The Pearl
Of Mice and Men
posted by Some1 at 4:10 PM on April 28, 2010


during the summer go to a big bookstore (like barnes and noble) - ask to take a peek at what's behind the shelf. they will be holding the high school reading list (and the right translations) back there.
posted by nadawi at 4:15 PM on April 28, 2010


Hamlet
Slaughterhouse-Five
Brave New World
Metamorphosis

Those are the good ones, off the top of my head.
posted by NoraReed at 4:18 PM on April 28, 2010


The Quiet American
Demian
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
On the Road
Howl and other Poems
The song of Roland (Awesome - seriously awesome)
Beowulf
Gilgamesh
Oedipus
The Divine Comedy
Heart of Darkness
Sir Patrick Spens
The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner
Watership Down
Death of a Salesman
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:19 PM on April 28, 2010 [1 favorite]


not sure if these have been mentioned yet:

Romeo and Juliet
Julis Caesar
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Outsiders
The Crucible
posted by inertia at 4:20 PM on April 28, 2010


The Crucible
The Bean Trees
Beowulf
Hamlet
The Great Gatsby
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
The Odyssey
Death of a Salesman
Gulliver's Travels
Native Son

My self-designed senior reading list included Ulysses. In hindsight, probably not the best choice for high school reading.
posted by rachaelfaith at 4:27 PM on April 28, 2010


In addition to many of the ones mentioned, we had The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. Also one Shakespeare play per year (a comedy, a history, two tragedies).
posted by frobozz at 4:33 PM on April 28, 2010


Previously.
posted by likedoomsday at 4:35 PM on April 28, 2010


For two intense, back-to-back reading experiences, pair Great Expectations with Mister Pip, a Booker short list title by Lloyd Jones.
posted by Elsie at 4:50 PM on April 28, 2010


I'm a high school junior; these are some of the books I've read in high school so far.

Ishmael
Jane Eyre
Ceremony
King Lear
Heart of Darkness
The Scarlet Letter
Life of Pi
Three Cups of Tea
Beloved
Life and Times of Michael K
Sophie's World
The Kite Runner
posted by kylej at 4:53 PM on April 28, 2010


The Woman Warrior
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Jane Eyre
Pride and Prejudice
A Rumor of War (technically I got this one in honors US Government, but)
A Tale of Two Cities
Cry, The Beloved Country
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 5:05 PM on April 28, 2010


Here's what I (remember) reading (1996-2001)

One Hundred Years Of Solitude
Cat's Cradle
Not Wanted On The Voyage
Jane Eyre
Everyman
The Physicists
Brave New World
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
A Midsummer Nights Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
posted by yellowbinder at 5:21 PM on April 28, 2010


Your list is mostly what I read in High School, and it is actually not that bad of a list.
posted by ovvl at 5:47 PM on April 28, 2010


Things Fall Apart
Cat's Cradle
A View from the Bridge
Bartleby, the Scrivener
posted by Ouisch at 5:55 PM on April 28, 2010


although i've never heard of the book being read in other schools, i read Looking For Alibrandi in grade 10 at my high school. it was well-liked by everyone in the class, even the boys (it's sort of female-centric).

please don't be scared away by the hideous cover - the versions we had were much less gaudy!
posted by gursky at 6:07 PM on April 28, 2010


The Awakening
The Things They Carried
posted by dpx.mfx at 6:17 PM on April 28, 2010


To Kill A Mockingbird
One Hundred Years Of Solitude*
Things Fall Apart*
Mythology (Edith Wharton)-
Waiting For The Rain-
Ender's Game*
Inferno (Dante)
Hamlet*
Macbeth*
Walden
Candide
Faust
Odyssey
Anthem*
Heart of Darkness
Madame Bovary
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man-

*I especially liked these
-I especially hated these

I went on to read a lot of other Orson Scott Card after Ender's Game. You may fall into this as well.
posted by Night_owl at 7:14 PM on April 28, 2010


If I can remember far back enough:

To Kill a Mockingbird
A Separate Peace
The Wars
Frankenstein
posted by fso at 7:16 PM on April 28, 2010


Related to school reading lists, if you cannot get the list from the school a local bookstore like b&n or borders surely has copies.
posted by dstopps at 7:19 PM on April 28, 2010


Volpone
Barthelomew Fair
Heart is a Lonely Hunter
The Physicists (ok, I read it in German class. Still good)
Beloved
Black Boy
Siddhartha
posted by eleanna at 8:29 PM on April 28, 2010


Things we read that I don't see mentioned or mentioned only once:
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Catch-22
The Things They Carried
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Dubliners
Darkness at Noon
An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge
posted by deludingmyself at 9:01 PM on April 28, 2010


I remember reading mostly short stories. Did not encounter that many great novels until university. We read Shakespeare, a play a year (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and I think Julius Caesar) and in Grade 9 a novel called 'Cue for Treason' that is like a pre-Shakespeare and features the bard himself as a main character. Novel-wise, I remember Catcher in the Rye, Chrysalids, Stone Angel and Lore of the Flies like the OP. University otoh was great. I was a lit major and we read a ton of great stuff. But high school was mostly 'novel plus Shakespeare play plus short stories' as far as English class went. I am jealous; sounds like some of you did way cooler stuff!
posted by JoannaC at 9:07 PM on April 28, 2010


the handmaids tale
posted by freddymetz at 9:36 PM on April 28, 2010


I know that at least one of my local high schools has assigned My Name is Asher Lev. I didn't read this in school, but read it several decades later, and can vouch for its awesomeness.
posted by marsha56 at 9:41 PM on April 28, 2010


Native Son
Invisible Man (Ellison)
Winesburg, Ohio
Animal Farm
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Scarlet Letter
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
The Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank)
The Grapes of Wrath
Lord of the Flies
The Illustrated Man
Fahrenheit 451
The Old Man and the Sea
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (novella - had to read it several times, for some reason!)
posted by Paris Elk at 11:58 PM on April 28, 2010


moon palace.
posted by bruinbruin at 12:14 AM on April 29, 2010


In Cold Blood
The Sound and the Fury
All the King's Men
T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets
Crime and Punishment
Cry, the Beloved Country
Angela's Ashes
posted by weskit at 12:15 AM on April 29, 2010


I had to read The Pearl. It was a decent book, but we studied it for like 2 years so I hated it by the end. (Yes, it is possible to study a novella for 2 years straight. You just have to analyse it word by word, line by line.)
posted by Xany at 1:08 AM on April 29, 2010


I can't remember everything we covered, but here's what comes to mind.

Freshman year:
- Jane Eyre
- Romeo and Juliet
- To Kill a Mockingbird

A ton of short stories (The Lady or the Tiger, Most Dangerous Game, The Necklace, The Gift of the Magi...)

This class had a reading list that we chose one book from each quarter and wrote a short research paper on... I remember choosing the following:

- Oliver Twist
- A Tale of Two Cities
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (this quarter was free choice)

We also had to do a longer research paper on an author, for which I chose Lewis Carroll and read Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Hunting of the Snark, and Sylvie and Bruno.

Sophomore year:
- Wuthering Heights
- Wide Sargasso Sea
- Edith Wharton's Mythology
- Much Ado About Nothing
- A Doll's House

Selections from: The Canterbury Tales, The Tale of Genji, and Emily Bronte's poetry.

Junior year (World Lit):
- An Enemy of the People
- Hamlet
- a book about a woman in India that now I can't remember the title of
- O Pioneers!

Many short stories and poems.

Senior year (AP English):
- Catcher in the Rye
- Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Macbeth
- Hamlet
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- The Stranger
- The Scarlet Letter
- The Odyssey
- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- Dubliners
- Heart of Darkness

Lots and lots of poetry, and many many short stories.

As well as a research paper (10 pages, which at the time seemed enormous!) on an author we could choose off of a list. I chose Margaret Atwood, and read The Handmaid's Tale, The Edible Woman, Cat's Eye, and Bodily Harm.
posted by emmling at 7:20 AM on April 29, 2010


I'm a junior; here's what I've read so far:

Freshman year:
To Kill A Mockingbird
Julius Caesar
The Odyssey (we got to book 10 before our teacher got bored)
A Prayer For Owen Meany

Sophomore Year:
The Oedipus Trilogy
Les Miserables
Richard III
The Metamorphosis
Romeo and Juliet
A Tale of Two Cities
Dante's Inferno (but we read like, three cantos, so I don't think this really counts)
"The Waste Land"

Junior Year (AP Lit):
Crime and Punishment
Sense and Sensibility
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Crucible
Death of a Salesman
Othello
King Lear

And a wide selection of poetry and short stories.
posted by Bleusman at 12:01 PM on April 29, 2010


Hm, apparently my link above just broke. Here is a link to the Google cache of the reading list.
posted by phoenixy at 3:20 PM on May 5, 2010


(Augh, I cannot link to anything correctly, how about this.)
posted by phoenixy at 3:23 PM on May 5, 2010


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