Can anyone recommend some books?

Question

I'd like to pick out a book to read for fun before my English class goes insane with reading assignments. What're some good books you all have read?

I prefer fiction to the other categories (fantasy, nonfiction, romance, etc.). I also can read young adult novels, but I don't like unrealistic or girly ones (though I'm 16 and a girl). I'd rather read about a guy stabbing someone than a girl going to prom. I'm not going to simply ignore you if you suggest any books that aren't strictly fiction. I have found some exceptions to my usual love of realistic stories. For instance, I like the Harry Potter books.

Also, don't hold back just because you think a book is too difficult for me. I always welcome a challenge.

Here are some books I've enjoyed in the past:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
The Killer Angels
The Bell Jar
Catcher in the Rye
The Outsiders
That Was Then, This is Now
Numerous Stephen King books
As I Lay Dying
Harry Potter

Thanks, and happy reading!

Answer 1

~Omg! You're 16 and you have not only read those books but you enjoyed them! You have made my day to know there are still readers of good books out there. Here's some others you might enjoy:

Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garbriel Garcia Marquez
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

If you like poetry, I recommend sampling:

Federico Garcia Lorca
Gwendolyn Brooks
Denise Levertov
Adrienne Rich
Nicki Giovanni
Pablo Neruda (especially the collection: "Full Woman, Fleshy Apple, Hot Moon")

Keep reading...you are giving yourself a life long gift that no one can take from you. Enjoy.

Answer 2

I am a "Thriller" book fanatic and have read a huge percentage thats out there, so here are some excellent choices (I was going to say "page turner" until I heard the joke "why do people say this book is a real page turner--I know how books work!) Jeffery Deaver, Dennis Lehane, David Morrell and Lee Child, in my opinion they are the best thriller writers in the business!! I am a avid reader in this genre and have read Coben, King, Koontz, F. Paul Wilson, Connelly, and many others but none can touch these authors I've listed! The Deaver book I've just finished reading now is "The Sleeping Doll"--a brand new release and has literally keeped me up at nights!! I'm quite sure you'll love his other thrillers as well, such as "The Bone Collector", "A Maiden's Grave", "The Coffin Dancer", "Praying For Rain", "Cold Moon", "The Twelveth Card", "The Vanished Man", "Devil's Tear Drop" et el. For Lehane, start with "A Drink Before War" (don't let the title fool you) then "Darkness Take My Hand", "Sacred", "Gone, Baby Gone", "Prayers For Rain", "Shutter Island" and "Mystic River." For Lee Child, you can start with his first and move forward, but it's Ok if you don't. Some personal favs are: "One Shot", "Trip Wire", "Hard Luck and Trouble"--a new release, "The Persuader"-my personal fav, "The Hard Way", but they are all page turners! Also, last but definately not least is David Morrell. All his books are good, but I especially enjoy his last two releases "Creepers" and "Scavenger" which are guaranteed page-turners. Just finished my first Ed Mcbain book "Fiddlers" and it was both engaging and hilarious! Hope this helps, enjoy, Greg

Source(s):

http://www.leechild.com/
http://www.jefferydeaver.com
http://www.dennislehanebooks.c...
http://www.davidmorrell.net

Answer 3

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz
Invisible Prey by John Sandford
The Traveler and The Dark River by John Twelve Hawks
The Stand and Rose Madder by Stephen King
The Ruins by Scott Smith
The Hobbitt and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Answer 4

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Ray Bradbury
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion
The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
any of Edgar Allan Poe's stories or poems
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Kindred by Octavia Butler
more of fantasy fiction, but The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is great fun, particularly if you've read a lot of classics. Super funny. It is set in an alternate version of the 1980's in which fiction is extremely popular, it even has its own police division, called the Literary Detectives, England is basically controlled by the enormous Goliath corporation, and the Russian Czar is still fighting against Britain in the seemingly endless Crimean War. Thursday Next discovers she can travel inside of fiction and must defeat the evil Acheron Hades before he destroys the classic Jane Eyre by murdering its main character. The series gets funnier as it continues. In the second book, Thursday joins the police force inside fiction and is apprenticed to Ms. Havisham of Great Expectations.

Answer 5

I enjoyed these

The Road - McCarthy
Life of Pi - Martell
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
Brave New World - Huxley
Friday Night Lights - Bissinger
Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Angela's Ashes - McCourt
Speed of Dark - Moon


If you liked catcher in the rye and Bell Jar you might wanna try the following. I haven't read them but they frequently appear in the same reading lists.
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Geek Love
Loser's Club

Answer 6

Many of these (in fact all of them) are a childrens or a girls style of book but I simply copied and pasted a list of my favorites~ Maybe you will like some of them

The Neverending Story
Momo
Alice in Wonderland
Series Of Unfortunate Events
Harry Potter
The Chronicles of Narnia
The City of Ember
The People of Sparks,
The Prophet of Yonwood
Walk Two Moons
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup
Chasing RedBird

Answer 7

Journey Into the Night by Dee Rea
Creepers by David Morrell

Answer 8

I just started reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and they seem really interesting.
Also, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was REALLY interesting...
You should try them. I'm also trying to get some good books before school starts.

Answer 9

These are the list of books i've read that i've enjoyed:
harry potter series by j.k rowling
chronicles of narnia by c.s lewis
inheritance trilogy by christopher paolini
oliver twist by charles dickens
Alexandria link by steve berry
brotherhood of the holy shroud by julia navarro
labyrinth by kate mosse
Geisha by arthur golden
for one more day by mitch albom

Answer 10

although not quite fitting for your past reads...

i think everyone should read the hitchiker's guide to the galaxy books!!

i read them as a teenager and as an adult. (lol - ing) all the way through.

if you saw the movie, forget it and try the books!