Originally Posted by siaasgn

A recent class college I took on science fiction focused on sci fi written by women and the two I really liked were - Tea From an Empty Cup and Parable of the Sower

Oh I love Tea from an Empty Cup, I read that years ago. I forget who wrote it though.

Originally Posted by FinalBlackMage

Books I hated: There's really only one, and I complained about it for weeks and have decided when I grow up I will not let my children go to a school in which it is taught. I am refering to The Catcher in the Rye. To begin, it needlessly has swearing every other word (which some people don't mind, but when you are a person who doesn't swear on a regular basis, it really gets to you the way a movie with lots of swearing does). There are contradiction with the main character, but instead of being sutile and grey, they are black and white and obvious. There's no reading further into this book, it's something a grade six could read and figure out, but the language makes it only sutable for high schoolers. Lastly, the author himself thinks its crap and wishes people knew him for his other brilliant work, like his short stories (which I have read a few of and I have to say, it surprised me that such awesome work came from the same author)

I enojoyed Catcher in the Rye for several reasons, but it is by no means my favorite Sailinger. Or really my favorite book, even. But I do enjoy the character study. I think you're selling it far short by saying there's nothing to read into it. In fact, the swearing itself has a meaning apart from just pushing the page number back (especially my favorite quote "If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the "F--- You" signs in the world.". That kind of sums up his character, really).

And Salinger doesn't hate the book. He resented that its success drew attention away from his other work and onto himself, since he was rather a nutbar recluse (he got really, really weird later in life), not to mention the constant barrage of movie offers.

I do hope you're exaggerating about not letting your children attend a school in which the book is taught. Don't you think it might be better to let them see what they can find in it? In the best of hands, even the most layered and cryptic of books can become clear and fun. :)

Mainly every playright we read.
and Hemingway books. xD

I hardly ever had assigned reading before college. Sad, I know, but I live in one of the most illiterate cities in the nation. Also, teachers seemed to think that since I'm a girl, I'm automatically going to like stuff by Judy Blume. No thanks.

I read The Giver in elementary school for one class and LOVED IT. I still pick it up and read it occasionaly. I read The Hobbit in middle school...but it was assigned to a different class that I wasn't in, so that doesn't really count.

High school we mostly read short stories or plays in class, though my senior year we had to do several critical essays. I liked all the books I did mine on - The Bell Jar, A Clockwork Orange, and Catcher in the Rye. Out of the stuff we read for class (the plays), I liked Extremities, Biloxi Blues (I played the whore in this one 8) ), and Antony & Cleopatra.

College...so far the only book I've really enjoyed so far was The Dain Curse, which was a 20s mystery novel.

EDIT: Also, college was when I started reading Hawthorne's short stories. He is, by far, my favorite romantic writer. We also read "The Yellow Wallpaper" in my English class, and I loved that too. "An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" is another good short story.

The Great Gatsby
everything I've read by the lost generation was pretty good, but this has to be the best :3

I really loved reading The Giver. It was a phenomenal book and while everyone else hated it, I loved it. It gets you thinking about how a communist perfect society isn't so perfect after all. I totally recommend it as a read. :3

Originally Posted by omgwut

I really loved reading The Giver. It was a phenomenal book and while everyone else hated it, I loved it. It gets you thinking about how a communist perfect society isn't so perfect after all. I totally recommend it as a read. :3

I LOVED THE GIVER TOO!! that was a rather spectacular book =D i really enjoyed it!
Another one that i finished today was Tale of Two Cities. Its sometimes hard to understand but in the end everything is woven together and you fall in love with some of the characters you didn't think twice about 5 chapters before! Its so elaborate!

Omg, TUCK EVERLASTING! IT ROCKS! xD I love Tuck Everlasting! It's very original and Sci-Fi/Fantasy at the same time! <3 I just love the figuretive language. ^^

Scarlett Letter: Had to read this last year, at the time was very painful to read, and I didn't like it too much, but it was better then reading Huck Finn. That book, I'd like to burn a bit, no offense to anyone who liked it of course.

Lord of the Flies: This year. Was better in my opinion then Slaughter-house Five, more interesting and I liked the detail put into it.

Macbeth: Was alright...my teacher made it easier to understand.

1984 was an amazing book that I actually enjoyed. And reservation blues was ok, it wasn't amazing but at least I didn't fall asleep. I sort of liked the bluest eye too.

We are reading 'speak' and it is really good so far.

I liked reading Night and To Kill A Mockingbird in my freshman and sophomore English classes, but I think that may have been because our teacher enjoyed them, too.

We're currently reading Macbeth in English right now and I'm liking it.

Hmm well the books that I remember I liked, and actually occasionally pick up and read again

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

The Scarlett letter

The great gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

We just started reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and I'm enjoying myself more than I thought I would. It's about a sailor, Marlow, who tells the story of how he traveled through the darkness of the Congo in search of Kurtz, a fellow adventurer who disappeared in the jungle. As he's confronted by the utter wildness of the animals and the natives and the jungle itself, Marlow is forced to sort of reconsider his own humanity as well as his society's. Though the first four pages or so are really, really boring (the narrator lays out the scenery, and it's not exactly riveting, although admittedly scenery can be riveting), as soon as Marlow starts his own narration, the story begins to get interesting. ^^ Pretty cool novel thus far.

I've liked The Kite Runner, Much Ado About Nothing, A Tale of Two Cities, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Night, Lord of the Flies, The Odyssey, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf and most likely many more that I just can't remember.

Originally Posted by Glamour lies

Hmm well the books that I remember I liked, and actually occasionally pick up and read again

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

The Scarlett letter

The great gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

I did not like Fahrenheit 451 at all, I thought that the entire plot was boring and surreal. In fact, when we took the test for the book, half of the class failed..and we were in honors too.

I liked THe Hobbitt- JR Tolkein

I liked Julius Ceasar by Shakespeare


Ummm so far my one college class we are required to read Foucault's Discipline and Punish The Birth of the British Prisons...

A very very interesting look from the ancient days of torture to our now modern system of prison reform.

To Kill a Mockingbird, I think that's pretty much the only one. xDD
I like Lord of the Flies too, but not sure if I can count that, cause I read it on my own in 8th grade and I know it'll be a required next year >>
Oh and east of eden, which I also read in 8th grade and I recently found out will be a required next year xDD

The Giver and To Kill A Mockingbird were pretty good.

The Great Gatsby was sorta boring for me..

Ahh, I enjoyed The Giver too.
but then again, like so many of the others, I read it before I found it would be a future requirement, so not sure if I can count it D<

I remember The Giver pretty well, probably because of a huge packet and essay we had to write.

same, not because of essay and huge packet, but because of the multiple times I've read it, combined with in depth class discussions x3

To Kill a Mockingbird and The Lord of the Flies. We're doing TLOTF in class right now, but I took it home and read it, it was that good.
TKAM was pretty decent, as well. It helped that as I was reading it, I was able to go see it in theatre, which helped me visualize the characters and places. It's a good read on it's own, though.

Almost all the books I have been assigned I enjoyed.

1984, Lord of the Flies, Alas Babylon, The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Romeo and Juliet were really good.

The only ones I didn't really care for were Fahrenheit 451 and Julius Caesar. x_x

I really enjoyed the Quiet American, a few others I liked were the Catcher in the Rye, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird and all the Shakespear I had to read, like Merchant of venice, Mcbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.