<p>To improve my vocabulary and reading skills, I've been reading a lot of competent college-bound novels - like Great Expectations, Sherlock Holmes, Huckleberry Finn.</p>
<p>I'm about to finish with Great Expectations (only 50 pages left), and I'd like some suggestions for more classics that are good for SAT level reading and have, at the same time, a competent vocabulary. I want YOUR opinion on books you have actually read. Don't just link me to the CollegeBoard competent reading list.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading this!</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>PS - Oh, and I don't really have the time or patience to, at the moment, read lengthier books like War and Peace or the Lord of the Rings. Try to keep them to 300 pages or less.</p>
<p>The Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)... it's somewhere near 300 pages. Tough Read, Good Vocab. I also recommend Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.</p>
<p>TC, did you like Great Expectations? I read the first chapter, and was not very pleased. Does it get dramatically better?</p>
<p>As for an SAT-calibur book, read The Three Musketeers by Dumas. The vocabulary is varied and complex, the story interesting, and the characters are awesome. :)</p>
<p>I would recommend Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer. It is a national bestseller although Jon certainly takes some lengthy liberations that really alienates me. He uses two chapters to talk about his self-righteous feats when the book is supposed to be a biographical outlook on another person's life. </p>
<p>It's funny to see how speculative and outrageously absurd he can get though, really.</p>
<p>
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did you like Great Expectations? I read the first chapter, and was not very pleased. Does it get dramatically better?
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</p>
<p>To say the truth, I hated it at parts, but I mostly love it. The quality of the story makes up for its length.</p>
<p>It's very slow, and gets pretty boring at times. For example, Chapters 21-38 are painfully long and dull - but then Chapter 39 comes with such an enormous surprise that it covers up for the annoying hours you spent reading about Pip's transformation from a naive little boy to a pompous, but still good-natured, gentleman.</p>
<p><a href="SPOILERS">b</a>** Then there's also Estella. Though she's a very amazing and peculiar character, Dickens drags on and on about Pip's feeling for her till you don't really care. Then, something enthralling happens... making up for that lapse of interest.</p>
<p>So I'd say that it's like studying for a 2300. You struggle through agonizing hours of ennui, but in the end... it's worth it.</p>
<p>Though I wouldn't suggest it if you're the type of person who likes a read that's filled with equal exuberance throughout.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone's input, keep it coming! :D</p>
<p>Tale of Two Cities is similar to Great Expectations as well. The first part introduces people, not too exciting, not too dull....... Part 2 comes with a whole lot of events and yadayadayada..... boring..... Then Part 3 shocks you. SO it's a good overall story but boring.</p>
<p>Oh boy, you're going to love Tale of Two Cities! As I stated, it was a tough read, but a surprising and an AWESOME ending. Dickens is amazing with his endings.</p>
<p>Errrr, I just finished A Tale of Two Cities. It was good. It isn't a tough read [except maybe the first couple of chapters]. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was a really good suggestion. </p>
<p>Forget about time/patience and read Don Quixote. It has a ton of intense vocab and it's really entertaining and insightful. And long.</p>
<p>Lol i thought Tale of Two Cities was tough. Frankenstein is great. Also, I would recommend Romantic poetry (by Percy Shelley and more). That's because many romantic poems (and poems in general) are very insightful about life and have deep meanings (which can basically fit with a lot of SAT prompts). You know how you love books which are about many ideas like "greed etc etc love etc," well, Poetry can be like that too. You just gotta understand it and it's shorter too. I think it's a great idea to use poetry as an example on the SAT.</p>
<p>Great Expectations was a book that you must invest in. I loved this book, once I appreciated it. I shoved it aside until I realized what a great book it was.</p>