So, people! Tell me about you and books. I have endless book-related curiosity. I like spying on other people's bookshelves, for example, because I am terrible like that (so if you wanted to post photos of your bookshelves I would totally not sadface about it, if you get what I'm saying). I love hearing what people enjoy reading and why. Who are your favourite authors? What do you look for in a book? What do you look for in reading as an experience?



Me and books:

For a start, I have a lot of books, and my partner has a lot of books, and we permanently have a lot of books at home from the library. A lot of my books are still at my mother's house in the UK years after I moved to Sweden for good, but even without them our bedroom is basically full of books. (?7 book cases, I think. And a little one.) This is basically what happens when one is related to librarians, antiquarians, journalists and one designer of book layouts. I'm not even sure how many languages we have books in, but probably more than we can read. (I'm certain that it includes: english, swedish, french, german, japanese, latin.) The whole thing is pretty silly, but we have a really hard time getting rid of books, because we're also research fiends. There's a lot of "but SOME DAY I might want to write a thing about [thing x] and then I would totally have use for [book y] which we would otherwise never ever ever want to read!"

But at the same time I'm probably less sentimental about books as objects than a lot of people. I write in my books and I will totally throw books away if I'm completely convinced that I'll never have a use for their contents. I don't have any oh no doom feelings about ebooks although they're probably not quite at the level of functionality that I would like yet.



Me and reading:

When I was a teenager and probably when I was a younger kid too I read a lot. I read super-fast and indiscriminately. I went through books at a terrifying rate. Oh yes, I was that kid who sat down and read Lord of the Rings cover to cover in a day or so.

I really don't read like that any more, and I think that's mostly because I read different things and I look for different stuff from my books. I kind of miss the kick I used to get from reading like that, in huge quantities, sometimes - but I guess I've /done/ that thing now, basically. (If you've managed to keep doing that thing indefinitely past the age of 20, do tell me how. ;;; ) I used to read for stories, a kind of what-happens-next, and I can still occasionally do that, but I mostly read for ideas and for language. I used to read mostly genre fiction, especially fantasy, and not really get that much from more mundane stories, and then at some point it flipped over completely. (Tho I do still read some fantasy & sci-fi, it doesn't make up the bulk any more.)

None of this is value judgement, by the way. I do think there are a lot of different ways of reading and a lot of different reasons to read. I don't actually think any of them are better than the others. But I can only do some of them myself. So when I say I don't get anything out of the vast majority of detective stories, I am seriously not looking down my nose at the theoretical person who reads almost nothing but detective stories, because I'm sure they get tons of stuff out of them which they love/find valuable. That just means they're a different kind of reader.

For me, reading at its best is actually a pretty unconfortable experience, because it's about challenging myself and poking at issues that I have, sometimes issues that I didn't know I had.

The very, very best books in my world are a paradigm shift. That goes for non-fiction too.



My favourites (pared down selection):

Virginia Woolf. Her books kind of root through my brain and turn shit over and make a mess, but then I find stuff I never knew was in there. The first two I read were Orlando and Mrs Dalloway, and for serious, I was so pissed off - people had been telling me for years that Virginia Woolf was great, but no-one had bothered saying why, and no-one had mentioned how completely queer her books are. MAN. Hide all the genderfuck and lesbians, why don't you world. Anyway, those two books basically are probably the ones which changed the way I read, which was kind of a "the right book at the right time" thing. I suspect I wouldn't have enjoyed them two years earlier. They also seriously improved my close reading of texts; if you just follow the actual words then not much happens, and if you read between them then there are worlds in there.

Tove Jansson. Much more simple, but in a really powerful way. Has this ability to thread together snapshots of life until at the end you look back and realise you've got something bigger than all the bits which I think is completely stunning. Beautiful, clean, pared back language. And quietly funny, and quietly dark, both in a creeping sort of way that you might miss at first glance. This is true of both her books for kids, the Moomin books - especially the later ones, Moominpappa at Sea and Moominvalley in November, which are little psychological masterpieces - and of her books for adults.

Haruki Murakami. He's sometimes kind of a creep, in complete fairness. But he also writes these dream-like unexplained stories that can have a really really strong impact on me. I'm a fan of undercurrents in books, and oh how he's got them. I remember reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which contains some really freaky shit, and getting totally creeped out (in a good way) by the main character hanging around at home, making pasta, listening to the radio and ironing shirts before anything had even happened. At his best his books can be really really gripping while nothing seems to be happening at all. It doesn't always work though.

Alison Bechdel. She writes comics, and one in particular, Fun Home, is so completely brilliant that I want to buy it for everyone I know. This is the comic that made me realise you could do whole other things with comics (and I mean, I love comics). Starry-eyed doesn't even cover my reaction, heh. I could describe the story, but what one really has to do is see how it's actually built up.

Italo Calvino. Meta-fiction, oh god, how I love meta-fiction. Invisible Cities is the one I love best of all. Stories about stories and stories about cities in one. !

I only really read picture books until sixth grade, when my mother bought me Goosebumps #1. After that, she faithfully bought me each one as it came out, up until #48.

Around that time, I started reading young adult books, sometimes two or three in a weekend.

I will read pretty much anything. If I can't find anything good to read, I will read complete garbage. In fact, I kind of enjoy writing scathing reviewsscathing reviews of terrible books. I like an easy read, and I confess that I enjoyed the Twilight saga, despite (or maybe because of) all the parts that weren't intended to make me laugh.

The books I get obsessed with always seem to be fantasy series. Dragonlance, then The Sword of Truth, and now A Song of Ice and Fire. I also love Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Survivor...).

My bookshelf isn't very big, but it's crammed with books, three layers deep. I passed on pretty much all of my older books (such as my Goosebumps books, regrettably) to my younger cousins. Most of the books I have at this point are pretty books--hardcovers and artbooks and such. My prized book (a set, really) is my Complete Calvin & Hobbes.

The main reason my bookshelf hasn't really grown is that I got an ereader. Since moving out of my mother's house eight years ago, I've moved a six times, and packing up boxes upon boxes of books sucks. I'm completely in love with my Nook, use it pretty much every day, read manga on it all the time, and only buy hard copies of books when I think they'll look particularly pretty on my shelf. For example, I recently bought a leather bound anthology of fairy tales.

So, yeah, books are cool.

I used to be one of those kids who would read a great quantity of material in a short time. This kind of ended when I started to get my really terrible eye headaches, which eventually was diagnosed by my going cross eyed when I read. I've had bifocles ever since. ANYWAYS when I was little, I read everything. I didn't care. Non fiction, fiction, mystery, fantasy, anything. I wasn't really picky.

By about. . . high school I think I was pretty firmly into the YA category. I like the supernatural or fantasy stories. I love Tamora Pierce and Levine. I read Howl's Moving Castle and loved it!

Now that I've been through college and grad school, I still don't read a whole lot of "adult" books. I have a handful of mysteries, and several romance novels. I read a LOT of academic articles and textbooks, so I get kind of sick of reading a lot of really dense material. So, now when I look for a book, I want it to be able to take me away from academia, including the writing style. I like fantasy novels, but I find a lot of them are very dense and written a bit like a textbook, much like the Tolkien style.

Confession: Tolkien puts me to sleep. I haven't finished The Two Towers, in book form or in movie form. I understand why people love him, but I cannot get through those books.

Now though, I need to re-kindle the love of books. It helps that I have an e-reader on my phone so I can have some books with me at all times. I still like reading things that aren't so heavy, so YA and romance novels work very well for that.

I enjoy any stories that can challenge gender norms and behavior. I do really enjoy GBLT literature, though I wish there were more about there. I really enjoy a lot of books that are based on fairy tales, which is my biggest obsession. I also like supernatural or fantasy books, though I tend to swing more toward modern supernatural stories. Vampire books tend to do very well for me for that reason, because they usually have other supernatural elements in them.

Confession The Second: I have read most of the Twilight series. I stopped in the middle of the third one and I cannot get past them now.

For non-fiction, I tend to stick to books about disease, evolution, and the Middle Ages. Mostly because I love to study the Black Death and basic disease ecology. My parents bought me several books about the plague as my souvenir from England. (They know me so well!) I also like books about the supernatural from a cultural perspective. I have several from my one anthropology class that I need to finish up.

Heee, thanks for talking about your book stuff, guys! *gleeful*

Zaithat wrote:

By about. . . high school I think I was pretty firmly into the YA category. I like the supernatural or fantasy stories. I love Tamora Pierce and Levine. I read Howl's Moving Castle and loved it!

Aww, sounds like my middle school/high school reading! I was such a fan of Tamora Pierce and Diana Wynne Jones.

Quote :

Now that I've been through college and grad school, I still don't read a whole lot of "adult" books. I have a handful of mysteries, and several romance novels. I read a LOT of academic articles and textbooks, so I get kind of sick of reading a lot of really dense material. So, now when I look for a book, I want it to be able to take me away from academia, including the writing style.

Actually, this is exactly how I felt when I was an undergrad!

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Confession: Tolkien puts me to sleep. I haven't finished The Two Towers, in book form or in movie form. I understand why people love him, but I cannot get through those books.

Haha, I can understand! They have big pacing problems.

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I enjoy any stories that can challenge gender norms and behavior. I do really enjoy GBLT literature, though I wish there were more about there.

This is an area in which I can rec stuff! Just so you know!

Ah, books ... I could go on all day about this.

I'm one of those people that will pick up a 1000 page book and read it in a day. According to my mom I taught myself to read really young, so I've always been the type to devour books. Although I'm not especially picky, my favorite genres are fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction. I also like it when they blend, and their subgenres.

Like Zait, though, the Father of Fantasy puts me to sleep. Taking twenty-some pages in the Fellowship of the Ring to describe a battle of all things ruins the feel of it. To be entirely honest, I love the Hobbit, but I can't stand the pacing of the actual series. (And while I'm on the part about not enjoying it, I have another supposedly great book to add - I didn't care for Lord of the Flies, either.)

I've also recently gotten into another series, although unintentionally. Has anyone else here heard of Rogue Angel? Reincarnation of Joan of Arc, and it blends historical and mythological fiction into modern day surprisingly well. I have two books of a who-knows-how-long series.

A few of the other series I've read:
First three arcs of Warriors (the second was my favorite).
Guardians of Ga'Hoole.
Harry Potter.
Twilight (cannot unread, even if it was only the first half ... Bleh. )
The Squire Trilogy.
Chronicles of Narnia.
Dragonriders of Pern.

So ... What about everyone else?

A Series of Unfortunate Events books 1-8 I need to finish the series which is 13 books total.
Harry Potter.
The China Garden.
Interview with a Vampire.
The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need.
Sexstrology.
The Kurt Cobain Journals.
The Origin of Dreams and Nightmares.
Flowers in the Attic.
If there be Thorns.
Petals on the Wind.
Seeds of Yesterday.
Garden of Shadows.
Go Ask Alice.
Decoding Body Language.
I know I've read a lot more than these I need to start keeping a log.

I am a *huge* book nerd. My favorite author is Vladimir Nabokov (known best for Lolita) but I'm fond of Russian authors in general.

Some of my favorites:

Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle - Vladimir Nabokov
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García
Yume Juuya (Ten Nights of Dreams) - Natsume Souseki
Kokoro (Heart) - Natsume Souseki
In'ei Raisan (In Praise of Shadows) - Junichirou Tanizaki
The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov

Recently I've been working through books about Mormon Fundamentalist polygamy by Carolyn Jessop, and Amy Chua's "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother".

It helps that I work across the street from a HUGE library As for my books at home, I think I have about a bookshelf's worth that I own, but mostly I just rent from the library. I don't make enough money to buy all of the books I read, LOL!

Kitty - I was using LibraryThing to track my reading, & will go back to it as soon as I get around to shelling out the (admittedly v. modest) fee to get more slots for books. GoodReads is more popular for tracking, I think. I just find LibraryThing more satisfying for my inner cataloguing nerd, and better at dealing with titles not in English.

I'm still keeping a log on my personal journal in the interim. I find it pretty helpful!


Elly - I'm pretty heavily library-dependent as well. Fortunately I know librarians who are v. nice about ordering stuff in for me! And there's an amazing library in Stockholm which is just for comics - strip albums, manga, superheros, indie stuff. I can't buy many books, but since so many bookish people exist around me a lot of books end up wandering into my home anyway.


Most recently finished books:

Grabben i graven bredvid (The guy in the grave next door) by Katarina Mazetti, which I read for my course and hated. Romance! Between a culture lady and a farmer dude! Who are both entirely stereotypical and entirely unprepared to shift an inch in their world views! Also: pathologizing the female body, two viewpoints presented as equally valid of which one is wildly homophobic, flat-out bad writing. Bah. Actually I'm being overly harsh on it because I'm pretty sure it's a fairly good example of what it's trying to be, but waaaaagh. Not my thing. And goddamn those snide little homophobic barbs, yeah, they REALLY made my day. Or not.

Norrtullsliggan (published in English as Men and Other Misfortunes) by Elin Wägner. Novel from 190....7? 8? about lady typists working in a super-male-dominated environment while not really being considered to be Suitable for work. Loved it, actually. (Elin Wägner is an icon of Swedish feminism, for reference.)

Even though I'm a not teenager anymore I love to read teenage romance novels. I don't know why I just do. My favorite Author is Sarah Dessen. I really love her books and I love how in all her books she can find past references from her previous books. I also love to read fantasy books like Harry Potter.

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Elly - I'm pretty heavily library-dependent as well. Fortunately I
know librarians who are v. nice about ordering stuff in for me! And
there's an amazing library in Stockholm which is just for comics - strip
albums, manga, superheros, indie stuff. I can't buy many books, but
since so many bookish people exist around me a lot of books end up
wandering into my home anyway.

Here we have an online ordering system! So you login with your ID number, click links to books you want to order, and they ship them to your library for free, and give you a call when they're in. Just yesterday I got 5 new books this way. I feel verrryyyy lucky.

Ooh

Haunted Places in Texas.
Grims Grimmest Fairy Tales.

Zaithat wrote:

Confession: Tolkien puts me to sleep. I haven't finished The Two Towers, in book form or in movie form. I understand why people love him, but I cannot get through those books.

I couldn't get through The Hobbit, and don't want to read the trilogy without reading that one first. I try to like older stuff, I do, but I can't seem to live without the grit that is more prevalent in modern books. I love movies based on Jane Austen books, but the books themselves are too... proper.

Plum wrote:

Zaithat wrote:

Confession: Tolkien puts me to sleep. I haven't finished The Two Towers, in book form or in movie form. I understand why people love him, but I cannot get through those books.

I couldn't get through The Hobbit, and don't want to read the trilogy without reading that one first. I try to like older stuff, I do, but I can't seem to live without the grit that is more prevalent in modern books. I love movies based on Jane Austen books, but the books themselves are too... proper.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying about Austen. I have that same problem. I did listen to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and that was rather interesting. I do hope they make a movie out of it, cause that would be rather amusing to watch.

Synopsis: I don't read much fiction; love nonfiction; inclined toward political and theological subjects.

A little more detail below...

I tend to read according to academic demands, meaning I gravitate toward books because they are required reading. I'm not quite certain why that is the case as I do enjoy reading; in some cases I have not read the entirety of a book in a semester, only to return and read it in my spare time. This happened specifically with Ross Terrill's The New Chinese Empire, a book I didn't take the time to indulge in during my Politics of the Far East course. I nevertheless found it enriching once I read through the entirety of the book. In general I prefer to read without the pressure of studies looming overhead. Mary Through the Centuries by Jaroslav Pelikan was one of the exceptions. I would highly recommend that for anyone interested in a strong introductory book to Marian theology.

I must admit that outside of maybe short stories or manga, I barely read fiction. The last fiction novel I vividly recall reading was The Natural by Bernard Malamund. Among the nonfiction I have read, I do have favorites, with two books in particular which stand out:

What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer
I picked up this book completely on a whim. It's a +1,000 page account of the 1988 US presidential election. Cramer focuses mostly on the primaries: the dramatic collapse of Gary Hart in the wake of the Donna Rice scandal; Michael Dukakis' steady push for the Democratic nomination; Joe Biden's short-lived quest for the White House; Bob Dole's campaign against then Vice-President George H.W. Bush. The description I give makes the book sound extremely arcane and a mere play-by-play account; however, Cramer delved into the backgrounds of the principal candidates and gave them life, whether it had to do with Michael Dukakis' relatively quiet upbringing or Dole's excruciating road to recovery after he was paralyzed during the Second World War. Cramer managed to pull this off and I still am not quite certain how he did so.

The book is undoubtedly long (though there was no point where I felt it ever dragged), but if I had to provide assigned readings---effectively the best of the best from What It Takes---I'd provide chapter 1 ("The Price of Being Poppy") and chapter 26 ("The Steaming Bouillabaisse"). These two chapters struck me as effectively the heart of modern American politics. Yet Cramer covered the material without coming off as a boorish cynic with a massive axe to grind, even if it's clear that he has an affinity for the underdog in Dole and found the media's handling of Hart to be less than stellar. Cramer was smart enough never to slap the reader in the face, because even if had his own opinions you were still free to form your own based on his account.

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
This actually won a Pulitzer Prize, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have at least heard the book's title in passing. Wright also did a televised presentation on Al Qaeda based on what he wrote in the book. With that said, Wright covers Al Qaeda and its progression along with the response (or lack thereof) of American intelligence all the way through the 9/11 attacks. Once again, the description sounds dry, but I would most certainly recommend this book. It's the closest I have come to understanding why 9/11 occurred as opposed to how. It's a difficult book to read in that its story is a tragic one shown in slow motion. There is something both informative and harrowing about what Wright details.

So I'll stop writing my Amazon book reviews material here.

Zaithat wrote:

Plum wrote:

Zaithat wrote:

Confession: Tolkien puts me to sleep. I haven't finished The Two Towers, in book form or in movie form. I understand why people love him, but I cannot get through those books.

I couldn't get through The Hobbit, and don't want to read the trilogy without reading that one first. I try to like older stuff, I do, but I can't seem to live without the grit that is more prevalent in modern books. I love movies based on Jane Austen books, but the books themselves are too... proper.

Yeah, I can see what you're saying about Austen. I have that same problem. I did listen to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and that was rather interesting. I do hope they make a movie out of it, cause that would be rather amusing to watch.

Noooo Jane Austen isn't at ALL proper! That's the beauty! *scandalised* But I guess since they are old and v. v. v. British it's kind of easy to only see the formality of the language. I mean, they're super-bitchy social satires!


Mercury - I've definitely had periods like that too! I do also read a lot of non-fiction, though my particular areas of interest are gender, sexuality and basically any kind of history focusing on groups outside of the usual straight-white-dude narrative. I love the stories that don't get told as often. Oh, and literary history & analysis. And biography! Some of the non-fiction I've read lately, hmm...

Not actually a recent read but Strangers by Graham Robb is a beautifully written history of homosexuality in the 19th century, focused on literature and specific cases from Europe and the US. Includes such gems as gay coding in Sherlock Holmes and how Jesus was a gay icon for a while there. It's a really informative and sometimes funny book.

Islamofobi (Islamophobia) by Mattias Gardell unpacks the bullshit around people's fear of Islam and muslims, traces its history, compares it to other religious intollerance and takes a good hard look at the actual statistics for violence connected to different religions. (Hint: Islam is basically unremarkable.) Seriously refreshing to read in the general political climate of terribleness that exists across Europe right now.

En riktig kvinna (A real woman) by Sara Arrhenius examines what she calles "biologism", that is to say, pseudo-biology grounded in assumptions, and how we use it to reinforce our ideas of men and women as inherently different in our world views and abilities. It's a circle of dubious assumptions and bad science! It just goes on and on! Men and Women must see the world completely differently because science said so, and science said so based on anecdotal evidence. Etc etc. Also looks at the practical ways that thinking influences and then is reinforced by our surroundings.

Right now I'm reading through "Nurtured by Love" by Shinichi Suzuki. English language edition, translated by his German wife.

Shinichi Suzuki is famous for having developed the "Suzuki Method" of music learning. Most people who have studied a difficult instrument like cello or violin have probably heard of it. Anyway, the guy believed that all children were capable of learning anything, and were utter products of their environment. So the more you enriched your child's environment and the more pressure you put on them to learn, the better they would turn out.

My son is three years old and I am thinking of enrolling him in piano lessons (his request) and am considering putting him with a Suzuki Method teacher, so I thought it was well worth my time to investigate the philosophy behind it. So far I agree! Very interesting book about nature vs. nurture in education.

Bwahahaha! Tranströmer won the Nobel prize for literature! AWESOME.

He's a Swedish poet & does seriously truly great stuff. Everyone is feeling kind of hysterical here I think. XD

I just discovered a "Young Adult" series that is rather on the more adult side.

The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima.

It's a series following two main characters, a princess, and an ex thief who live in completely different worlds. It takes place in the Seven Realms, 1000 years past the Breaking. The Breaking was a war between the people, mostly the non magical clans, and the wizards who migrated there as time went on. These magical immigrants eventually ruled all seven realms and abused their powers. A breaking point was reached when one daring queen broke the chains placed on her and defeated the most Evil wizard who was going to force her to marry him.

At least... that is what the histories say happened. The blood line of that heroic Queen from way back when now stands threatened. Old truths are revealed as these 2 young adults are flung into situations they never thought were possible.

^ That is my summery... trying not to give anything away and couldn't find anything about it online really >.>

Personally, I really really enjoy these books. It's not the most FABULOUS writing, not the most original story plot, but it keeps me hooked and wanting to read more. These are fairly easy reads if you are an avid reader, and for a few hours of enjoyment, the price of 10$ a paperback isn't to shabby.

I'm currently on book 3, and she has one more book planned to come out some time next year in this series.

I wouldn't recommend it to any one below 16 and under.. It has death, lesbianism, talk of sex, birth control.. Nothing REALLY bad, and nothing that bothers me at all, it just isn't something I'd want a 12 year old reading.

Here are some cool links:

https://www.facebook.com/Seven.Realms?sk=info

http://www.cindachima.com/Demon_King/About_the_Seven_Realms.htm

I'm currently reading "Shadow Spinner" by Susan Fletcher. It's a bit of a children's book (ages around 10-14) but it's fantastic thus far. If you're familiar with the Arabian Nights tales, it deals with Queen Shahrazad's story.

Edit: While it is a children's book, it does deal with a little bit of adult themed things. Nothing graphic, just mentioning it and the like. Worth a try!

I read that one! I still have it, actually. I think it was a fourth grade book, although I snatched it off the shelf as soon as the box arrived. *Laughs.* Loved the story, though. If you also like foreign themed stories, I'd also suggest "Mara: Daughter of the Nile" by McGraw.

It's a cute story! And I love foreign themed stories, always have. And I'll have to check that one out! Did you ever read the series as a kid that focused on a princess or equal royalty for that country? I can't remember the titles for anything right now....

I can't think of any titles off the top of my head, but I do have another book suggestion. "The Ghost of Tokyado Inn", by Dorthy and Thomas Hoobler. It's apparently part of a series, which I'd love to find the rest of the books for. The other two books listed in the back cover are "The Demon in the Teahouse", and "In Darkness, Death".

I read "The Ghost of Tokaido Inn" in middle school. It was a great one.

Yes, I still love it. ^^

I also really like "A Murder for her Majesty", too. Have you read that one, Apple?

Currently reading Christian Ethics as Witness (about Karl Barth's theology of ethics) for one of my graduate courses. One chapter and already I've had a bit of a Barthian overload!

Sailor Pluto wrote:

Yes, I still love it. ^^

I also really like "A Murder for her Majesty", too. Have you read that one, Apple?

No, I haven't! I just looked up the description, and I'll have to check that one out!

You'll love it. It's based in a sort of medieval England, although I'm not sure what exact century. It is a kid's book, but a fun read nonetheless. ^^

Being the nerd I am I like to read

Some of the books I've read recently:

A Painted House by John Grisham (It was boring in the beginning but it got more interesting towards the middle)
The Crucible by Arthur Miller (We had to read it for English class.. I couldn't understand the wording he used but Sparknotes helped.. It was a good story but confusing..)
Thirteen Reasons Why (This isn't really recent but it's the only book to make me cry so far)
A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (I'm on scene 4... It's really shocking to read.. I find it horrible that a guy would just so senselessly beat his pregnant wife..)

Just finished The Scarlet Letter in Honors English. Now we are reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Seems quite a bit of people are reading it at the moment. We are also reading Fahrenheit 451. Two books at once=FML xD

LunaOsa wrote:

Just finished The Scarlet Letter in Honors English. Now we are reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Seems quite a bit of people are reading it at the moment. We are also reading Fahrenheit 451. Two books at once=FML xD

The AP English class at my school just finished The Scarlett Letter. They're now reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin. We (English 3 Honors) just finished The Crucible as did my boyfriend's standard class, although they only watched the movie. Hopefully you'll understand it better than I did!! We are now reading different plays in groups of 5 and doing a project with them.

More books I recommend:

House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast (If you're into Vampires and all that)
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. (I'm on Catching Fire right now.. it's so good!!)
Unwind by Neil Schusterman (Very enticing.. leaves you wanting more)
Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelly Armstrong (YA, once again if into all that magical stuff like sorcerers, werewolves and witches)
Wicked Lovely Series by Melissa Marr (Faeries!!!! )