What's the best school related book you have read

[NightmareWarden]

The Giver and Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I look back fondly on The Giver after reading some of Ayn Rand's works although I had some trouble understanding certain concepts when I first read it. My class read Hatchet and watched the movie on a school trip so I ended up reading the whole series. I think that book started my interest in fictional survival books.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I normally averaged one book a year. Junior year it was Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Craddle.
(Technically I listened to it as an audio book).
But that book was great.

John Gardener's Grendel (Senior year) was also really good and I actually read that one. I thought it was a little better than The Stranger.
Not sure if it counts, but for the last book Senior year we got to choose are own. I chose Fear and Loathing: in Las Vegas. It wasn't as complicated as I had hoped but it was a really interesting and fun read.

 

[Wafflepunk]

While it seems that everyone else has already said it, I have to go with 1984. I read that and Brave New World in the same class, and it was interesting discussing how different the two views are. Besides those, I would add The Odyssey and For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I read Lord of the Flies in high school, and everyone in the class agreed that I reminded them of Piggy. I didn't like the comparison, but I had to admit that they weren't wrong...

 

[Stasisesque]

You guys got to read some brilliant books. We did not. Though we did get to read Tuck Everlasting, and every single one of us fell in love with Jesse.

Almost all the books mentioned in this thread I have read, but I had to read them of my own volition. If I had relied on what my school handed us to read, I wouldn't have gone on to do a BA in English Literature.

 

[Jmurray21]

Frankenstein.

Was an amazing book and completely different to what I thought the story was. The language used was fantastic and I felt so immersed. One of the best books I have ever read.

 

[eternal-chaplain]

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I am reading it through again for pleasure, presently.

 

[In Search of Username]

Frankenstein. I studied it for GCSE, for A Level, and it looks like I'm going to study it again at university. And it's just such an incredible book, brief enough never to get boring, with enough going on on every single page to never drag, and I love the whole message behind it.

 

[Dags90]

You guys got to read some brilliant books. We did not. Though we did get to read Tuck Everlasting, and every single one of us fell in love with Jesse.

Almost all the books mentioned in this thread I have read, but I had to read them of my own volition. If I had relied on what my school handed us to read, I wouldn't have gone on to do a BA in English Literature.

Really? My brother and I both hated that book. While it touches on some neat concepts, it's a slow read.

It seems they're either hit or miss, and pretty much everyone is going to have to sit through some painful books. Another one I'd add the "enjoyed" column, is Running Out of Time. Really neat premise for the grade level.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Surprised nobody mentioned Catcher in the Rye, that was the only book that really interested me all throughout highschool.

 

[Frission]

"To kill a mockingbird" or "L'Etranger" definitely.

Becoming educational material is almost always the kiss of death.

 

[Frission]

Surprised nobody mentioned Catcher in the Rye, that was the only book that really interested me all throughout highschool.

I remember. The problem is that you spend so much time analyzing it that it becomes anathema to read it. I think it's Pavlovian conditioning.

 

[MortisLegio]

V for Vendetta. Sophomore year was awesome.

Wait, wait: Were you assigned this, or did you get to pick a book to read? My teacher let me read V For Vendetta a an independent book, but it wasn't a class book.

OT: I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby. I also seem to be alone on this, because literally every other person I've talked to who has read the book hated it.

Assigned. I had to analyze it and deconstruct the themes of the story. I also wrote a satirical essay on why economically it is a good idea to eat old people. Loved that class.

PS: I REALLY hated the movie but love the book.

 

[Fijiman]

That's a tough one considering I don't remember half the books I've had to read over the years for school. Some of my favorites (that haven't been mentioned half a dozen time already) include: Anthem, The Great Gatsby, The Good Earth, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and that's all I can think of right now. There were a couple of books, such as Lord of the Flies and Great Expectations, that I didn't like, but that was mostly due to the fact that we had to read them in a way that just took all of the fun out of it and I'm almost certain that if I were to try and read them on my own time I would be able to enjoy them.

 

[Kapri]

1984, Brave New World, Cat's Cradle, and To Kill a Mockingbird. The *only* books I read start to finish, otherwise I read every other chapter and/or used Sparknotes.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Shakespeare and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I was pretty good at reading on my own though. I read most of the classics long before they came up in class.

 

[NoOne852]

Two that stand out are "Of Mice and Men" and "Lord of the Flies". Even though most of my classmates disliked them, I found them to be quite enjoyable.

One I was unable to read (wasn't in the class), but heard was good from a friend is "One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest".

 

[Astoria]

Two that stand out are "Of Mice and Men" and "Lord of the Flies". Even though most of my classmates disliked them, I found them to be quite enjoyable.

One I was unable to read (wasn't in the class), but heard was good from a friend is "One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest".

One Flew over the Cookoo's Nest is really good once you get used to how bizzare some of the descriptions are. I also really like Tess of the D'Urbervilles even though it's incredibly depressing.

 

[mrhappy1489]

Oh jeez, I dunno, Wide Sargasso Sea was pretty fantastic.

That depressing thing, well hey to each his own. On a slightly ironic point, the best book I read was Brave New World. It's still one of my favourite books, as sad as it is.

 

[ManimalR]

Of Mice and Men, fantastic book, but I can no longer stand the sight of it due to having read it at least 4 times in class and having done countless essays

 

[SanguineScale]

Surprised nobody mentioned Catcher in the Rye, that was the only book that really interested me all throughout highschool.

This, about a thousand times. Also, the Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I ate that novel up like Christmas.