<p>Any recommendations? I'm an incoming junior (nooo junior year is going to be hell-like). My Math and Writing scores are like 700, but when it comes to reading.....BAM 450. I was even born in California. Fail asian. So, what are some books to boost my range of vocabulary that are entertaining at the same time?</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know if it helps SAT score, but certainly one of the best ways I found to begin reading real literature was to read the EM Forster books (Room w/ A View, Howards End, Passage to India ones). They are not overly difficult to understand, are very inspiring, and have more proper English ways of writing which should help you on CR.</p>
<p>Read the classics. I know that reading them might not be the most fun, and that “strategy” is probably done. However, many of them are more difficult to read, so you will be building reading stamina. I would compare to weight training for your brain.</p>
<p>Ones that I enjoy:
Gulliver’s Travels by Swift (this has some humor so it will not feel so much like work)
Jane Eyre by C Bronte (an unwanted orphan tries to make the best of her life and might fall in love along the way- one of my personal favorites)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Dr Victor Frankenstein creates a new human being. Scary in its implications but not like the movies)
1984 by George Orwell (scary dystopia with total control over the people. One of my personal favorites)
Brave New World by Huxley (strange new society. The government gives the people a mega-drug called soma and encourages them to practice free love. This book also makes lots of Shakespeare references so bonus points for that 
)</p>
<p>I hope that you can find some enjoyable books to help you in this.</p>
<p>I hate to break it to you, jess, but prepping for one summer isn’t nearly enough. You really need to have been reading consistently your whole life. But if you do want to try, I’d recommend all the books up there, but also either talk to an English teacher or go online and find an analysis so that you are examining more than just the raw storylines.</p>
<p>^The list above is a good list. “Brave New World” is a little hard to grasp at first, but it’s a really great book. Most importantly, find someone to talk about the books you read. Tell what the book makes you think, feel, realize, etc. Just by talking about the books you read, you will enjoy them more.</p>
<p>I would recommend a ton of practice critical reading sections coupled with vocabulary review. You are not going to become a much better reader over one summer. However, you * can * refine your strategy to score higher.</p>
<p>I recommend the official college board book.</p>
<p>lets see i read kant dostoevsky hemingway gogol etc. however i think that like others have said cr is a lot easier for lifelong readers. altho there are patterns and such that you can orient yourself with to do better on the tests. also dont think too much, my second sat test i didnt obsess as much and got 800 in cr from 680 lol</p>
<p>I would recommend reading some books that you don’t find interesting as well, since you may not find CR passages interesting. So I agree. Read the classics, particularly the ones with complex sentence structure and difficult vocabulary.</p>
<p>If your reading score is 450 you probably can improve decently by reading good books. Lifelong reading is ideal of course, but that’s not an option. Toward the end of the summer and before the test you can do some CR passages to see how you’ve improved and to refine specific skills for the test.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters what books you read (as long as they aren’t kid fluff or trash, like Twilight and whatnot). The key is to read a lot, and the more you read, the more you understand or notice things. You also will end up reading faster and more thoroughly, too. And you’ll build vocabulary. Reading a lot makes you a better writer, so it’s a win-win, I think.</p>
<p>I’m reading Infinite Jest by the late David Foster Wallace this summer, and it’s not just because it’s a 1,000+ page collection of awesomeness, but because it’s not written as one would imagine (a couple hundred extended footnotes are included and meant as part of the story), so it’s not just mindless drivel–you actually have to think when you read it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’ve read Frankenstein and Brave New World. They were pretty good stories. I’m also taking SAT Prep so that should help me a little. Jane Eyre and Gulliver’s Travels sound good. I’ll read those :)</p>