Hello! I’m a senior and for my English class this year I have a free-reign choice of a book to read, to which I have to make a case on why it is a good read and why I think it should be read in class and/or on someone’s personal time.
I really enjoy books that get you thinking about themes and topics, and that may or may not connect back to the real world. I also enjoy dystopia books and classics, and I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations on a good read in this kind of area
HOWEVER: I also don’t want to pick one that we’ve already read in school, or one that’s too well known. So here’s a small list of stuff I’ve already read/wouldn’t want to pick:
Already read in class:
Animal Farm (George Orwell), Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), All The Light we Cannot See (Anthony Doerr), Nickel Boys (Colson Whitehead)
Books that I wouldn’t want to pick: 1984 (George Orwell), The Handmaids tale (Margret Atwood), Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Divergent (Veronica Roth), Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
TL;DR, I need a book for English class, I enjoy books that may require some critical thinking to analyze the themes and I’d prefer one that’s not super well known/I’ve already read. Thanks!
by Creepy_Ad57
10 Comments
I would choose something by an author who is a POC, LGBTQ+, or another marginalized community. Too much of what’s taught in school is rooted in colonialism. I would pick something by Percival Everett, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, James Baldwin, Alice Oseman, or Casey McQuiston
The city and the stars by Arthur c
We The Living by Ayn Rand would be a good book to analyze.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_the_Living
Point B by Drew Magary
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell
Underground Airlines by Ben Winters
City of Bohane by Kevin Barry
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
It’s a challenging book and you’d probably have to use some external sources to help guide you as you read, but Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison is an absolutely stunning, thought-provoking novel. I also think Slaugherhouse-Five is an amazing novel that everyone should read at least once in their lives. (Source: I used to teach AP Lit and both these books were on my curriculum.)
Chain Gang Allstars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Flowers for Algernon
In HS my favorite author was Kurt Vonnegut. I read at least a dozen of his books. His most famous and influential book is Slaughterhouse-Five. It’s a unique anti-war sci-fi novel based on him being a POW in WWII when he was in Dresden in Germany and managed to survive one of the largest bombing campaigns because he and the other POWs were locked in a slaughterhouse basement. Besides dealing with WWII, there is also time travel and aliens. It’s great
They Both Die At The End
POC and LGBTQ+ representation, interesting premise in a modern alt universe where people can sign up for a service that lets them know if they die that day. Prompts some interesting questions about death, fate, and morality.