Jurassic Park.
This book turned me on to Crichton as a writer, and I've loved every book I've read by him since.

Also Farenheit 451, 1984, Brave New World, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, Dune, etc., etc.

The Giver in eigth grade.
I hate every other book I was forced to read in school. Mostly cuz I'm a rebellious kind of person and hate anything I'm forced to do.

Though, we did watch Freak the mighty in my class one year...I don't remember what class or year....but I remember watching it.
I had read the book previously to that though, so it was kewl.

I don't know what everyone's problem is. I really enjoyed Ferinhight 451. Or anything else by Ray Bradbury, for that matter. He is a little long winded, but people are so in a hurry to get to the point, that they forget to sit back and enjoy the scenery. Bradbury is a master at description. He can paint a picture with words, and make it come to life (much like the inkings on the skin of the Illustrated Man)

Seems as if I read the same things in the same years as the board creator.

Scarlet Letter was fantastic. I just hated Hawthorne's constant 150 word rambling sentences. BAH.

We read a book this year, fairly recent, Peace Like a River, and I found a lot of joy in reading that over the summer for summer reading.

We're reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, and I'm one of the few people in the class that actually enjoys it. It's just the style of writing that keeps me hooked. It's fantastic.

Once and Future King by T.H. White was also a favorite of mine. Long, tragic characters, but a fantastic plot line. You couldn't pay me to read the huge French version of the King Arthur story, though (forget the author at this time. . .).

The Giver and Gathering Blue, both by Lois Lowry, were great reads in 7th and 8th grade. Her style is wonderful, and I love the odd and "utopian" societies.

I don't know what everyone's problem is. I really enjoyed Ferinhight 451.

Um, alright.
Everyone's problem?
Care to look up two posts to see that I also enjoyed Farenheit 451?

To Kill A Mockingbird. :3

I liked Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird from my High School English classes. In college for my education class I liked the books we read, but the only one I remember the name of was Educating Esme.

@Skaudie: Oh wow, I totally forgot that it was assigned reading, but I loved Fahrenheit 451. ^^ A lot of my classmates didn't like it though. I'm the odd one out I guess? I also seem to be one of the few who posted saying they didn't like To Kill a Mockingbird.

EDIT: Oh, and I also liked The Giver a lot too. :3 I forget if that was assigned to us though or one of the optional readings (I also forget what year I read it. ^^;)

Great Expectations is wonderful, and I love Pride & Prejudice. In terms of Shakespeare, my favorite would have to be Much Ado About Nothing. And I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird quite a bit, even though I didn't like it much at first. And I don't think I've ever disliked anything written by the Bronte sisters, Hawthorne, or Poe.

I also just finished Heart of Darkness, which in terms of writing is probably one of the best I have ever read.

Heart of Darkness is by Joseph Conrad, right Boredom?
I never had to read it, but some of my friends did.
They didn't enjoy it.
xD

Yep, it's by Conrad. A lot of people in my grade actually hated it too, and some of them just gave up because it started putting them to sleep every two pages or so. XD But yeah, I agree that it isn't really an enjoyable book--horribly depressing, actually, and I like it more for the pretty writing/structure/obscure references than anything else. Because I'm a geek like that. ^^;;

Originally Posted by CrinkledStraw

[color=red][b]Jurassic Park.
This book turned me on to Crichton as a writer, and I've loved every book I've read by him since.
[color]

Jurassic Park was required reading? o.O Don't get me wrong, I love the books, but I'm curious as to what the lesson plan for that class was, or even what class it was xD The closest I ever came was in a sixth-grade science class when the teacher had us pick out an SF book apiece and do a short essay ... on something. How it was realisitc or unrealistic or something, I don't remember, but we had to draw our favorite scene, I know. Ah, simpler times. I picked The Andromeda Strain, the 4th of my top 5 Crichtons.

I haven't read anything by him since Timeline sent me to the hospital with jaw-breaking yawns, so I missed Prey and State of Fear which looked good, although his new book Next looks godawful. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by Victor Von Doom

I haven't read anything by him since Timeline sent me to the hospital with jaw-breaking yawns, so I missed Prey and State of Fear which looked good, although his new book Next looks godawful. Any thoughts?

I personally feel that his stuff is pretty hit and miss. I enjoy the technical side of his writing and the fact that he knows enough about science and physics to bend the laws to create a believable reality for the most part.

I personally enjoyed both Jurassic Park - although it was never 'required' reading for me - and The Lost World. Timeline was OK, though it's one of the few times that I liked the movie better than the book, this one just had too MANY technical details in it to be entertaining for my mind.

Congo, The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, there are a few others that I truly enjoyed though the only books that I own are JP and TLW - I'm still a little bit of a dinosaur nut here.

As for his next book - I think I'll skip the reading and wait for the movie.

Aside from the Shakespeare and John Donne poetry I have read this year, 1984 by George Orwell was by far the best book I have ever read in my life.

It made me more aware of my surrounding and allot more interested in my society.
One could say the book changed my life.

Then again, others call me strange because I like and understand the concepts of Communism....or in Orwell's case, Totalitarianism.

I could read that book over and over again and never get tired of it.
It defiantly beat out the other stories I read.

Lesee,,
In 9th grade,
Brave New World, Hot Zone && Oedipus.

10th grade,,
Lord of the Flies && The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea.
I also read, Middlesex, which is one of my favorite books.
I was allowed to choose it as an outside reading book, so, I'm not sure if that counts.

Then in 11th grade,,
Slaughterhouse 5 && The Handmaid's Tale.

And,,
This year,
Like Water For Chocolate.

-EDIT-
I also LOVED Where The Red Fern Grows, way back in 4//5th grade.
And, in 6th grade, Tale Of Two Moons, I think. It was a good book, but, I'm not sure of the [email protected]@;;

This is kind of funny, but I absolutely loved reading Bridge to Terabithia in sixth grade. When I saw that a movie was coming out for it, I bought the book and reread it before going to see the film...<3

To Kill A Mockingbird.
I'd allready read it, but it was required and I liked it so I'll add it.
I can't really think of anything else.
I guess Lord of the Flies.
And we haven't read Animal Farm for school yet, but I like it and I know we have to so does that count? :)

Required reading? Well, the first time I was required was during 6th grade maybe? I really have a bad memory. ^-^;; I don't remember what book, so I must not like it. 7th grade, it think there were two. I can't remember those either. Then 8th grade, our teacher made us read every quarter. For two quarters it was one book and a report. Then quarters 3 and 4 he made us read at least 3 books to get an A and we had to present them while filling out a form. 8th grade books we got to choose ourselves, so I'm not sure if thats "required" or not. But, my favorite book came from 8th grade reading. :3

I had to read the outsiders and that was really good

Ooo. I like a lot of books I've had to read; I've also hated a lot.

Lord of the Flies is amazing. Definitely a brilliant read. My class split up into teams of trial lawyers & made up cases around the book, trying to prosecute or defend the lead kid.

To Kill a Mockingbird isn't my favorite book ever (many of my friends adore it), but I liked it. My school has never been too bad about forcefeeding us books simply because they're politically correct; To Kill a Mockingbird is wonderful because it gets its point across with humanity.

The Crucible is just... yeah. I love it. All the guilt and betrayal and things. Prior to reading it, I had a stint in the seventh grade where I was wacky about the Salem witch trials, and I was very impressed that the play stayed generally so spot-on, except when it deviated on purpose.

Fahrenheit 451 is a great book; the prose is wonderful, often I wish I could combine it with Brave New World because the first book is just such a lovely read but it's not incredibly inventive; in the second Huxley is really inventive and forward-looking but his prose is certainly lacking. I love both books but there are definite flaws in each.

On the Beach was a good book. It really does show just how convinced people were that the world was going to end very, very soon. Sometimes the characters were a bit off for me, but at other times John and Mary's predicaments were just heartwrenching.

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a book I read for AP World History; it's awesome. People make a big deal out of how much of the book is conjecture, but I think that's the entire point. It is conjecture, but it's amazing just how much of the evidence fits together if you look at it from Diamond's perspective.

The World That Trade Created is another book I read for AP World History. It tries to explain the course of human history from 1490 to the present simply through trade and does a damn good job of it. The beginning of the book is rather dry and hard to get into so I began on the chapter on drugs. The book condenses a lot of information into some 250 pages with lots of interesting nuggets of information. The book is also surprisingly balanced; I always think Guns, Germs and Steel tries to be PC, but The World That Trade Created isn't PC or biased in any way. It's simply a book about the world, not all the continents get completely equal coverage, but there isn't a huge difference in the way the book treats civilizations. It isn't interested in people, it's interested in trade, and through that it remains balanced.

year seven and eight i had the most fantastic teacher. I love you Mrs Timmins!

Anyway, she actually gave us interesting reads. The Hobbit, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, this novella I'd never heard of called Wyrd... way better than all the crapola we did year nine and ten.

But the absolute zenith was the Power of One, first term year eight. The beautiful, amazing, moving novel by Bryce Courtenay... oh momma. I cried so many times reading it! It completely changed my outlook on not only English, but writing itself. I adored that book, and I still do. It was what made me go "I am going to write".


I liked The Outsiders, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird. This year in Extension we've done The Crucible and Dracula, both good.

6th Grade: Tuck Everlasting.

I freakin' loved that book to death! Especially since that was around the time
Disney had made the movie adaption.

8th Grade: KING'S BUCCANEER'S by Raymond E. Feist.

I went to private school, so you probably won't be required to read this at your school, since it was my English teacher who got to personally pick the books. [he's head of the english department].
But this book is great! It was so good, that I literally went bought the 10 other
books or so this man published because of it. LOL

to kill a mockingbird. i am reading it next year... i think

and i read the prince and the pauper by mark twain in middle school.. i love that book. but i couldn't understand the old english :shock:

Originally Posted by noirette

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a book I read for AP World History; it's awesome. People make a big deal out of how much of the book is conjecture, but I think that's the entire point. It is conjecture, but it's amazing just how much of the evidence fits together if you look at it from Diamond's perspective.

You got to read that for class?

Wow, I'm jealous...