Book recommendations?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi</p>

<p>I'm a junior in high school and I'll be taking AP English Lit and Comp next year. I have 3 books that I'm looking to buy, but as for now I can only buy one. They are:</p>

<p>A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce (everyone I've ever talked to said that this book is an excruciating read, is that true?)
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
O Pioneers! - Willa Cather</p>

<p>I started reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and think it's really, really weird and a little difficult to read...but I like it. Something attracts me to it, but I can't put my finger on it. It's kind of mysterious and haunting, in a way. I love anything about exploring, or about rural life in Nebraska. Cather's book looks great, just as Kerouac's does. But I don't know if they're too simple for what I'm looking for? </p>

<p>Any opinions on these books? What would be the most beneficial for AP Lit next year? I just can't decide. </p>

<p>Thanks,
Brooke</p>

2

<p>I’d read some of the books they actually read in AP Lit.</p>

3

<p>Very helpful and informative, thank you!</p>

4

<p>Bump? 10char</p>

5

<p>I agree with OP, read a book or two that you will read in AP Lit (it will help to be familiar with it).</p>

6

<p>I doubt they’re all the same, but in my AP Lit class I know we’re reading:
Othello by William Shakespeare
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Awakening by Kate Chopin</p>

<p>There’s others, but I’m not sure what.</p>

7

<p>The Great Gatsby, obviously.</p>

8

<p>The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Othello by William Shakespeare</p>

<p>and The Yellow Wallpaper, The Most Dangerous Game, The Cask of Amontillado and The Tell-Tale Heart are all good short stories.</p>