<p>^Gatsby is a great book, but I don’t understand people’s obsession over it.</p>
<p>Frankenstein</p>
<p>It was good and not what I expect because I was anticipating something closer to a pop culture Frankenstein. The book didn’t really change my views on think or teach me a real lesson like The Kite Runner did (I read that earlier this summer). I swear Shelley could have accomplished the same thing in a 8 page short story, though. Page after page of “I could not tell of my creation to a soul. For I was the most wretched creature to walk the earth and am doomed to despair in agony” really drives ya nuts.</p>
<p>“The Film Club” by David Gilmour</p>
<p>It’s about a guy who lets his son drop out of high school as long as they watch 3 movies a week together. Sounds interesting, right? It is, for the first 10 pages. Then it devolves into a confused memoir that serves as a guide to bad parenting, teen angst, and obscure movie trivia – but mostly the first two. I want to burn this book purely because of unrealized potential. I hate it more every time I think about it. It’s a quick read, but one of the most unsatisfying and frustrating books I’ve ever read.</p>
<p>Last book I read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, but I was just rereading my favorite parts because I was sick in bed yesterday.</p>
<p>The ‘real’ last book would be Paper Towns by John Green. It was pretty satisfactory, I mean, one of the better recent teenage fiction books (oh boy has anybody read some of the utter rubbish teen fiction).
Actually I wanted to recommend it to my brother but he’s studying for UMAT.</p>
<p>Bart Simpson’s Guide to Life: a wee handbook for the perplexed. :D</p>
<p>^^The Book Theif is amazing! And I know this because my mom liked it even though it’s marketed as a kid’s book. It so isn’t.</p>
<p>Siddhartha on the AP Lit Reading list.</p>
<p>It was full of empty cliches and a boring read at best.</p>
<p>The book I finished last night was And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks by William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. The book itself (a two-day read, one if you’re tenacious) and the 25-page afterword were extremely interesting. First off, the book is a fictionalized account of the Carr-Kammerer murder, which captivated the beatniks and is often partially credited for inspiring the entire Beat Movement. It is narrated by fictionalized versions of Burroughs and Kerouac. I am very interested in the Beat Movement, but was only recently introduced to their works. If you are interested in studying the Beat Generation, this book is a great starter, as fictionalized accounts and mentions of the same murder appear over and over again in the works of Beat authors, particularly Kerouac and Ginsberg. Second of all, one of the things I found most interesting is that the book was originally rejected by the publishing company in 1946 and remained unpublished until 2008, long after the deaths of both authors, and shortly following the death of Lucien Carr (his own request). I just found it interesting that the most boiled-down story of what is considered by many one of the greatest inspirations of the Beats was the last work of their generation ever to be published.</p>
<p>Oh the book thief is cool (I don’t know why but I want to recommend the dolphin people for people that like the book thief, I guess it’s just the humor and nazis).</p>
<p>Woooh, just finished up equal rites. I’ve been reading a bunch of books since work is so boring.</p>
<p>I read The Glass Castle for AP Lang. It was very good, I read it in one sitting.</p>
<p>Now, I’m reading Siddartha for giggles. It’s Buddhism-y, what a surprise</p>
<p>The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell for AP Language. I really liked the book, and it’s kind of making me consider studying economics in college.</p>
<p>Now I’m reading Hardball by Chris Matthews for AP Gov and I think I might kill myself.</p>
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<p>Haha, I had to read that when I was still unfortunate enough to be a high school student. <em>shudders</em></p>
<p>Never again.</p>
<p>Im reading Paper Towns by John Green and it is sooo good.</p>
<p>I agree with the other people about The Book Thief! I’m currently reading it for the fifth time, and I still love it. It definitely appeals to more than just kids. My mom and about 3 or 4 of her coworkers have read it, and they all loved it.</p>
<p>The last book I read was Splendor by Anne Godbersen. It’s the 4th book in The Luxe series. They’re kind of like a Gossip Girl or The Hills type of thing (drama, cattiness, etc.), but it’s set in NYC during the late 1800s/early 1900s. This series is more of a guilty pleasure for me. Lol.</p>
<p>Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The novel was thoroughly entertaining.</p>
<p>@porkperson, ohmigosh (if you see my post) I read it too. I didn’t expect it to get onto the level it went on, and I think Agloe is pretty neat.</p>
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<p>ahah CasaAtreides, your phraseology is quite endearing. I can certainly relate (although I hated The Things they Carried), I was quite dismayed by the hatred for Heart of Darkness that is present on this forum</p>
<p>Just finished Frankenstein. It was interesting.</p>
<p>I just finished Sophie’s World. It struck me as a book that needs to be read in parts and not rushed through; unfortunately, I did the latter. So I didn’t retain much of the philosophy lesson that the book was written to be; however, I plan to revisit it. </p>
<p>I also read Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky lately. It was probably one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and I’m really excited to delve into more Russian literature. I want to read The Brothers Karamazov or Anna Karenina next, but I just need to find those Volokhonsky translations everyone raves about! I see them on amazon, but I’m pretty parsimonious.</p>
<p>**Slaughterhouse-Five FTW!!! ** :)</p>
<p>I started to read 100 Years of Solitude…I gave up after 18 pages (the first chapter). It was SUCH a bad book 
I moved on to the Scarlet Letter 
I really like it so far - although I kind of detest the authors way of writing. Same with Jane Eyre - she used WAY too much detail to describe the simplest things. </p>
<p>I read Frankenstein too!!! I REALLY liked it But, you know what I realized, people got things so wrong. Frankenstein was the creator, not the actual monster So, next time you decide to be Frankenstein for halloween, remember, he was the doctor, not the monster :)</p>
<p>But, so far, out of all the books I’ve read this summer (Madame Bovary, Frankenstein, Slaughterhouse-Five, the Age of Innocence, the War of the Worlds, and Lolita) Madame Bovary was definitely the best :)</p>