Annotated Reading List
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
This is a fun book to read because the main character gives everything in his perspective (with a lot of colorful swearing). It is a classic novel of maturation that is detailed and entertaining. It is the story of one boy's struggle to find himself in the adult world which he does not desire to be in.
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
Of the Three Musketeers trilogy (there is a trilogy), this is the most interesting. It has a strong, but easily understandable plot, about how the young D'Artagnan comes to meet the Three Musketeers. Their detailed journey is full of adventure and battles.
The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas
On the contrary to The Three Musketeers , this book is dark and depressing (at least in the end). Personally speaking, it wasn't worth it to me to read such a lengthy book for such an ending. But for those of you who need to know the outcome of the Three Musketeers, this is a necessary book to read.
1984 by George Orwell
To put it plainly, this is a book that really made me think. It follows the adventures of a government employee in a completely controlled world who uncovers the truth about his government's intentions. By the end of the book I was questioning everything about our world. I definitely advise anyone to read this.
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
Though the movie of this was very poor, the book was actually pretty good. It follows the training of futuristic Mobile Infantry soldiers and their days in battle. It is easy to follow (the way its written), but readers should not let the movie bias their perception of the book.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
This is the classic novel of survival. Robinson Crusoe becomes stranded on an island and must fight all of the odds of nature (as well as some savages). It is actually based on a true story (I was surprised to find this out), and is pretty interesting to read. It's one of the necessary classics.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This ranks up there with 1984 as one of the novels which really makes you think. It is the description of one "fireman's" rebellion against a society which denies knowledge. The title recounts the common Nazi practice of book burning. If you enjoyed 1984, this would be a good book to follow up.
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Patton
Cry, The Beloved Country is a powerful book dealing with the troubles of a minister in apartheid South Africa. The problems of the characters, especially for the minister's son, make you realize the hardships which apartheid brought up. The novel is highly detailed, but at times hard to follow (it involves a lot of symbolism). It was hard book to read.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Samuel Clemens
This a fun book to read (as all of Mark Twain's novels are) because it is full of authentic Southern dialogue and description. It follow the adventures of Tom Sawyer, and his friends (including Huck Finn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), which are full of excitement. This was an easy book to read, for it lacked to heavy description that such authors as Dickens use.
Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose
This is a realistic (non-fiction) description of the battles of World War Two. It relates the real stories of the situations and soldiers of the battles from D-Day to the Bulge, in realistic battlefield description. I would definitelty advise anyone who enjoys this type of stuff (war), to read this book.
The Giver by
This is the story of an utopian society and the one person (and his apprentice) who creates the utopia. It follows the apprentice as he learns of the truth about utopia and then must escape it. This was a book that made me think about our society, although I thought the end was depressing.
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
This is a well written adventure novel that does not bore the reader with excess description or unnecessarily complex vocabulary. It follows the adventures of a Briton fleeing through England from a Martian Invasion. It is the same tale which horrified the public when Orson Welles read it over the radio on October 30, 1938. Definitely a good book to read.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
This is a very descriptive and symbolic novel which has become a staple of American literature. It is the tale of a sailor on a whaling ship, the Pequot, which is forced by Captain Ahab on a perilous hunt of the elusive white whale. It is very descriptive and interesting, so if you don't have to read it for school, I would advise that you do anyway.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
This is a novel which details the lives of a group of characters whose entire existence revolves around the construction of a cathedral. It is contemporary, and relatively easy ready (although it is long). I disliked it for its habit of killing the characters which I happened to like.
Master & Commander By Patrick O'Brian
This is a detailed and sophisticated story of life on a British man-of-war in the 1700's. I enjoyed it for its detailed explanations, but it was rather hard to read. It is the first book in a long series by Patrick O'Brian, so if you are into this sort of nautical history novels, or would like to read the series, this would be the book to start on.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
This is the novel which led to the movie, but personally, I liked the movie better. While the book had more action in it, the movie lacked all of the boring scientific fact which I skipped over. It is the Sci
Fi tale of the recreation of dinosaurs through genetic engineering and the chaos that occurs when man tries to play God.
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
This is the semi-interesting sequel to Jurassic Park which recounts the chaos effect scientist's journey to a new, but unknown, dinosaur infested island. While you could tell that the book was written for a movie, the book was better than the movie, which seemed a little over done.
Congo by Michael Crichton
This is the story of a jungle expedition which stumbles on an ancient mining city only to be driven away by berserk apes. Of all of the Michael Crichton books, I liked this one the best because of its easy to understand, detailed explanation that was not that unbelievable (the movie was another story). If you are going to read a Crichton book, I would advise this one.
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
This was one of the earlier Crichton novels which had a different type of suspense from your normal suspense book. It is the story of some CDC scientists who investigate an extraterrestrial disease. The suspense of this novel was not that of a rush against an evil, but more of a rush against time. This is an interesting example of Crichton's earlier work.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
This book has the essence of suspense, a tactic that A. Conan Doyle mastered. It follows Dr. Watson and his friend, the great Sherlock Holmes, on an adventure to discovers a mystery dog which has been killing the folks on the English countryside. The book is written in a way which keeps the reader guessing at every turn.
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
Goldfinger, without a doubt, is the best James Bond film yet. The book, I found to be fast
paced, but very, very, easy reading. The story follows Agent 007 as he hunts down a maniac who desires to corner the world's gold market, by stealing all of the gold at Fort Knox. With the introductions of famed Bond characters Pussy Galore and Oddjob, this is a great book for readers who like films more than books.
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
This is the story of a shipwrecked surgeon who finds himself on all sorts of crazy worlds. These include lands of Lilliputians, of giants, of horses and floating cities. Reknown because Swift used the book as a chance to mock the British government, I found Gulliver's Travels to be very complicated to read, due to the immense amount of symbolism. Still, this is one of the great classics.
White Fang by Jack London
This is a detailed story of Jack London's favorite place, the North American Northwest. It details the story of a dog's integration into the vicious life of the Northern wloves and sled dogs. This was a very easy book to read (I read it in 6th grade), but some readers might find it too easy.
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
I hated this book. The reasons for that are, 1) I had to read it for school, and 2) it was about normal life. This is the story of a friendship of two boys which comes under fire after an incident between the two of them. One of the boys, Gene, must try to find the truth about himself while facing the incident. It had a lot of symbolism to pick through. Maybe if you don't have to pick through all of the symbols, you'll like the book, but if you do, good luck!
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
This is the story of a bunch of plane-wrecked boys, who in an attempt to establish order amongst themselves are regressed into anarchy. Author William Golding is basically saying, that if left alone, human society would crumble. All of this I got from picking this book apart at school. Overall, that novel seemed sort of strange to me (I mean, little kids can't turn violent, right?), but apparently, everything in the book was a symbol.
Mutiny on the Bounty by William Bligh
I liked this story because it is real. It is written in almost a day by day fashion, and recounts the actions of a possibly overly strict sea captain (William Bligh) and his survival at sea, after his crew mutinies and sets him adrift in an 18-foot cutter. It is an easy reading, adventure book, which is gripping with suspense.
Across Five Aprils by
This is the story of one boy's triumphs and battles during the Civil War. I found it very annoying to read (you can probably tell that I had to read it for school), but It wasn't that bad of a book. Though it does not rate with the classic Civil War books, this is a contemporary novel which provides an overview of the war , without actually providing everything. It just touches on all of the aspects.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This was a great book which was written beautifully and told rather well from the point of view of a little girl. It is apparently autobiographical of Harper Lee, and recounts the troubles of a racial court case and all of the affects it has on the Southern town. The great thing about the book was that it had many sub stories besides the main one, which kept the reader really into the book. This is a necessity of American Literature and a very good book.
Johnny Tremain by
Johnny Tremain is the maturation tale of an adolescent during the pre-Revolution period. The boy burns his hand on a silver smith's furnace and becomes part of several revolutionary actions. If I recall correctly, the final chapter has a detailed philosophy of Johnny's view of the war. this is an interesting book to read.
My Brother Sam is Dead by
When compared to Johnny Tremain , this book cannot hold its own. It recounts the tale of a younger brother of a revolutionary soldier who is killed for cattle rustling. While this book seems to pull at the ole heartstrings more than Johnny Tremain , it just is not enough it make this a really good book. However, as contemporary classics go, this one is alright. I don't know, I am undecided on whether this is a great book to read.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
This is the story of a group of farm animals that overthrows their masters and take control of their farm. Apparently, the whole book was symbolic for Europe just prior to WWII, I found it interesting to see what happened to the animals, but I found that the ending was rather depressing. Anyway, for all of those who read 1984, this would be also necessary to read.
Alive by Piers Paul Read
Alive is the true life story of the survivors of a rugby team which crashed in the Andes mountains. The reader shares in the everyday adventure that it is to try to stay "alive" in the mountains. Though one may find the whole eating flesh thing, and the constant death in the story, this is a very interesting book to read.
April Morning by
This was the story of the first days of the battle of Lexington and Concord in the American Revolution. It is a story of maturation of a boy from the town mustering to his realization of war at the end. This book is pretty descriptive, but in the contemporary, 8th grade way. Specifically, this booked annoyed me because it took nine chapters to cover two days of action.
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
This is the famous story of the Civil War and one boy's maturation during that period (there are a lot of books like this). Stephen Crane is a very descriptive, and sophisticated writer and the book reflects this. As this is a classic book, I feel everyone should read (because eventually you're going to have to).
Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
This is the story of three Mohicans, the last of their tribe, and there adventures during the French and Indian War. It is a very deep book, especially if you get into the characters This is very descriptive, even to a fault. That was the only fault, for the main character had several names (Deerslayer, Natty Bumpo, Nathaniel, and Hawkeye). This is also part of the Leatherstocking Tales novel series by Cooper.
