book recommendations??

Question

for a high-school senior.

Answer 1

"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
"The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
I read all of the above in a women's literature course in college and was deeply moved by each of them. None of them felt like required reading.

"Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold
An amazing book that tackles a harrowing subject with great sensitivity and thoughfulness.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" by Mark Haddon
A 'mystery' novel whose narrator (and 'detective') is a kid with autism. It's moving and funny and sad and astonishingly insightful. A real page-turner.

Answer 2

What do you like?

Science Fiction:
David Weber

Horror:
Stephen King
John Passarella
Christopher Golden
Anne Rice

Fantasy:
Laurell K. Hamilton
Jim Butcher
Melanie Rawn

Action/Adventure:
Clive Cussler
Tom Clancy

Thriller/Suspense:
Harlan Coben
Mary Higgins Clark
Erica Spindler
Wendy Corsi Staub

Other:
John Grisham
James Patterson
Vince Flynn
Dan Brown
Mike Lawson
Lawrence Sanders
Daniel Silva

Answer 3

Have you read the Phillip Pullman trilogy His Dark Chronicles? (Northern Lights, The Amber Spyglass and The Subtle Knife) The heroine is a 10 or 11-year-old girl but the journey she undertakes, the characters she encounters and the obstacles she must work through are spellbinding. Pullman's work has been compared to Milton's Paradise Lost or Dante's Divine Comedy. I couldn't put the books down (and it has been decades -- sigh -- since I've been in high school).
If you want something a little less intense and laugh-out-loud funny (at times), I recommend Rebecca Wells' Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (don't go by the movie!).
Enjoy!

Answer 4

From YA:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. And the sequel New Moon.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

Pride & Prejudice by Austen
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Answer 5

Check out "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

"The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker."

It's one of the best books I've read in the last 5 years, I highly recommend it.

Answer 6

Helouise and Abelard.

It is in two volumes and it is an amazing true story of tragic French lovers. Everyone has elaborated on it. Even Alexander Pope wrote an epoch poem about it.

You will adore it! The movie is fantastic as well. It is called "Stealing Heaven." You'll never forget it! It is a bit racey though so if you do manage to find it anywhere... Ask your parents first...

Answer 7

Jane Auston - Emma or Pride and Predjudice are both good reads.

Life of Pi was indeed awesome. I really loved it.

Neil Gaiman is incredible. Try Stardust or Neverwhere.

Browse your local library. Check stuff out you think looks like it might be good, and if after 4+ chapters you don't like it, return it. Your libraians probably have some suggestions for you, as well.

Answer 8

King Fortis the Brave

Answer 9

Fire Starter by Stepen King
The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
Vison Qwest by Terry Davis

Answer 10

'Saint Maybe' by Anne Tyler (Highest recommendation!!)
'Their Eyes Were Watching God' by Zora Neale Hurston
'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole