Top Ten Tuesday topic is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten Books I Was “Forced” to Read, whether it is from required reading, a book club, or just an extreme amount of peer pressure! This week’s list is no particular order.
Required for School
When I saw that Crime and Punishment was part of my required SUMMER reading for AP English my senior year of high school I’m sure I was thinking, really?! What surprised me though was how much I really liked it. Sure, nearly half of the book could have been omitted (especially the subplot with his sister’s drama) but the story of redemption in it is powerful to me. I even did a video project in college based on this book.
I read The Picture of Dorian Gray the same summer as C&P, and enjoyed it as well. Oscar Wilde’s commentary of his society is filled with wit and it was easy to understand, even if I didn’t know much about the time period and place. Also, the ending’s a kicker.
I read The Crucible my junior year in high school and it really made an impact on me how the characters stood up for themselves, disregarding what others said of them and even disregarding that they could be put to death.
I read Rebecca my sophomore year of high school and found it so much more intriguing and suspenseful than many of the other books I had to read for school! And you know it has to be good when Alfred Hitchcock, master of suspense himself, adapted it to film. Let’s just say that the film I made off this book for my English class was no where near as good…
I’m pretty sure I read To Kill a Mockingbird my sophomore year in high school as well, but unfortunately I have a little more book amnesia with it. Of course I remember the main themes and that I did enjoy it, but I definitely need to revist it sometime, especially now that I am older and can look at it with new eyes.
The Importance of Being Earnest
I read this play my senior year of high school and again, I just loved Oscar Wilde’s wit. If you need a light read that feels intellectual at the same time, this is a perfect fit.
I read Night my junior year of high school and found this story of a Jewish Holocaust survivor powerful. I had read The Hiding Place previous to this, so I was not unaware of concentration camp horrors (I would highly recommend it as well, by the way), but I always like hearing someone else’s story about what happened to them during WWII. It’s an important reminder of a dark time in history.
I read The Hobbit in eighth grade I believe, and admittedly, I actually remember very little of it (let’s say when I saw all those dwarves in the movie adaptation I was completely surprised). However, I think this book was unknowingly a turning point for me. I didn’t think there was any way I could like this book, but I did, and I think that it might have helped me down the road be more open to different genres than what I had been reading.
Due to A Movie, Multiple Recommendations, and the Whole World Reading It
Thanks to some junior high aged girls at church, two friends, and Lionsgate, my interest in The Hunger Games got picqued to the point where it could not be ignored. FINE, I’LL READ IT! Clearly, I’m glad I did. Not only did I love it and the entire trilogy, but it got me back into reading after quite a hiatus, and it re-introduced me to the YA market, which was booming with some great content.
Book Club
I am in a blogger’s book club and we have read one book so far, What’s Left of Me. As mentioned in previous posts, I had the chance to get my book signed by Kat Zhang and get the sequel Once We Were early as well, so I felt compelled to buy and read it as well. Thankfully, I enjoyed both!
What books were you “forced” to read but ended up really enjoying?
