<p>Hey guys, yesterday was the last day of school for me, and I am looking to do some reading this summer! Aside from the AP Lit books I have been assigned (As I Lay Dying, East of Eden, The Kite Runner), I'd love some suggestions for books I can read. Mostly for recreation, I'd like to read books that are entertaining. However, I would also like books that will help with the SAT (closing the gap to an 800 on CR). Fiction or non-fiction doesn't matter, anything that you guys like to read or think is enjoyable.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t know if you’ve read these but I would suggest books like Catcher in the Rye, Brave New World, 1984, The Fountainhead, The Great Gatsby, etc. They’re all books I’ve read in school and I liked them a lot!</p>
<p>Just for fun I would do: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and books by John Green. All of them have a kind of coming of age theme that’s usually helpful.</p>
<p>The Kite Runner is fantastic, btw.<br>
Well, I would say Lolita (read at your own discretion haha), INVISIBLE MAN, Animal Farm (my favorite book ever), as well as historic “classics” (IE The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Prince, Beowulf, etc.). I read a lot of foreign policy works, so I won’t recommend any of those… most people find them boring, haha.</p>
<p>So far my list includes:</p>
<p>The Great Gatsby
The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)</p>
<p>I strongly recommend Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The movie was terrible, but the book is rather moving.</p>
<p>Animal Farm is a freshman book at my school and its not the best thing i’ve read. I doubt it helps you on the SAT. but it might entertain you a little or interest you if you like europe</p>
<p>Pat Conroy’s “Prince of Tides” (lots of vocab here!) or “Lords of Discipline” are both great.
For a really interesting book by an entertaining author read “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson.</p>
<p>Darn, both my books were take, but I second Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Brave New World</p>
<p>2 Books I have loved is The Facebook Effect and the Accidental Billionaires the founding of facebook. As you can see I am a Zuckerberg junky</p>
<p>I third Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close! I almost forgot about it! We read it last year over summer break and it was an awesome book. We’re reading The Poisonwood Bible this year but I didn’t mention it before because I’m taking a class for the AP Lang. test not Lit. so I’m not sure if it’s something you want to dip into right now.</p>
<p>The Kite Runner is amazing.</p>
<p>I just picked up Life of Pi because a teacher personally recommended it to me. Looking forward to reading it. The same teacher recommended Half The Sky, but i’m going to wait on that since it’s a part of the course curriculum.</p>
<p>Our English department is also big on The Tiger’s Wife. Still haven’t finished my copy yet, but looking forward to that as well.</p>
<p>I might seriously invest in an e-reader this summer, because i’ve got just enough free time and more than enough summer job money for one…</p>
<p>Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak are both incredible, if you’re into historical fiction. Also Dr Zhivago is good if you’re prepared to put some effort into it, I haven’t finished it yet but think it’s really good.
I second the George Orwell suggestions, and would also add Homage to Catalonia, about his experiences in the Spanish Civil War.</p>
<p>Finally The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg was a fascinating read about the origins and development of the English language.</p>
<p>I guess you got that I’m a bit of a History junky, if you want more similar suggestions I have loads :)</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions guys! I’ve read most of the traditional “school” books in my AP English class (Brave New World, 1984, Animal Farm, etc.). I pretty much love George Orwell. I was skeptical of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close because I didn’t hear the best things about the movie, but I may have to give that one a try. thanks everyone else for the suggestions! I’ll probably end up reading many of the books you suggested. Keep them coming!</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a short, fun read, I’d give Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a shot. It’s really interesting, and you can see a lot of modern narrative tropes in their infancy. Plus, it’s something like 80 pages long, so you can get through it in a couple of hours.</p>
<p>The Kite Runner is rather moving. One of my favorite books. The characters are so unique. I would love to do a character study on them one day.</p>
<p>Anthem by Ayn Rand; Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; Agatha Christie for fun; Read the works of Arthur Miller; The works of Kazuo Ishiguro and Haruki Murakami.</p>
<p>Non-fiction read Sachs’ End of Poverty, Chomsky anything (even if you don’t agree with him the guy writes rivetingly), Hobbes and Mill if you’re philosophically inclined; Paul Kennedy for great analyses of historic events.</p>
<p>Anthem is a horrible book, don’t listen to them! It’s like a (terrible) ripoff of 1984 that happened to get published ten years earlier.</p>
<p>I know some of these were already suggested, but:</p>
<p>The Catcher in the Rye
Lolita
Gravity’s Rainbow (although it may be better to read V. or The Crying of Lot 49 first)
Infinite Jest
Ulysses
Finnegans Wake</p>
<p>That ought to keep you busy. =)</p>
<p>“Red Sky at Morning” is one of my all-time favorites.</p>
<p>To kill a Mockingbird
Catch 22</p>