<p>tresfleur- I can't wait to pick that up! I saw Hosseini speak at a book signing in sf, brilliant.</p>
<p>I second the Namesake</p>
<p>Also...</p>
<p>Jesusland (excellent!)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (my all-time favorite)
Crime and Punishment (if you don't have to read it for school)
The Poisonwood Bible (BY FAR the best Kingsolver)</p>
<p>Along the Rushdie line, try 'Midnight's Children' and 'The Moor's Last Sigh'; they'd fulfill your wish for something that can get a little 'hard' to read.</p>
<p>If you like magical realism, you could do much worse than start off with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "100 Years of Solitude" and so on...</p>
<p>purpoise-No I didn't get into tasp (yet...) i'm a rising junior. So I'm going to apply next year and when/if I get an interview, I want to seem knowledgeable and cool. I saw the namesake movie and LOVED it, and I'm just realizing I should totally read the book (i've heard it was even better than the film)</p>
<p>thanks for the recommendations.</p>
<p>I hope everyone enjoys this, i thoguht it would be useful to have "CC's reading list"</p>
<p>I have to second Giantredlobster's recommend of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. Honestly, it's kind of depressing, but it's a perfect look into a part of history that a lot of Americans tend to ignore. A great read, especially if you've seen Hotel Rwanda.</p>
<p>On top of that, I want to recommend:
--The Elegant Universe...if you're interested in science/physics, I consider this a must read.
--Life of Pi...quite honestly my favorite book of all time. I can't think of anything better.
--The Stand: Uncut...the most all-encompassing book I've ever read. A long read, but it's such a pageturner, you can finish it quickly.</p>
<p>Prep (strangely satisfying)
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
On The Road
One Hundred Years of Solitude</p>
<p>i suggest everyone take a break from their very serious books and take up some light reading as a break, (i dont mean harry potter!)</p>
<p>re-read the berenstein bears. tell your disapproving parents that the berenstein bears are actually a mockery of the materialistic and futeristic complexes of humans, or whatever. </p>
<p>read twilight. best. romance. book. ever. edward cullen is by far the most attractive boy i've ever come across a book. (my friends debate edward vs. mr. darcy)</p>
<p>ok scratch that above. i'd rather run off with edward cullen than mr. darcy, but P&P is still the best!</p>
<p>the new HP!!!</p>
<p>Books required for school/the summer program I'm attending:
Crime and Punishment
Farenheit 451 (re-read)
Huckleberry Finn (don't remember if I've read the proper version already or just a kids' version)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (re-read)
The Bluest Eye
Lolita (re-read)</p>
<p>The first one's for AP Lit, and the last five are for a class I'm taking about banned books, their role in society, etc. I'd definitely recommend Lolita, so long as you are willing to read about that sort of subject matter. Lolita is my absolute favourite book, is amazingly well-written, and the plot/storyline is more complex than they typical book. At first it's kind of creepy reading a book narrated by a pedophile/murderer/kidknapper/rapist, but you get used to it pretty quickly as long as you keep in mind that Humbert's views aren't necessarily the author's.</p>
<p>As for reading on my own:
Ulysses
something by Oscar Wilde, but I don't have anything specific chosen
same applies to Vladimir Nabokov
Sylvia Plath's poetry
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (already started)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
Emma
I'd like to try reading something in German, but I've only completed three years of study, so I'm doubtful that I'd be able to read anything more advanced than children's books or perhaps basic news articles.</p>
<p>Some recommendations...:
1)Jane Eyre
2)The Time Traveler's Wife
3)Poisonwood Bible
4)Kite runner
5)Cider House Rules</p>
<p>Planning on reading this summer:
1)Lolita
2)[started already] Gone with the Wind</p>
<p>I plan on reading or have already read:</p>
<p>Dubliners
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (original text)
something by P.G. Wodehouse
Ubik
Watership Down
The Frogs</p>