Recommended reading for high school. Asterisk (*) denotes traditional classics often referred to in College classes; other books are more recent and are also often referred to in English classes. Books by the same author are equally valid, but for space constraints only one or two for each writer is mentioned. Begin with books that interest you, and over the years you will progress in your ability to read more complex and longer works. Authors from the school year, core readings and those on the summer list are not included, but are obviously recommended.

Achebe- Things Fall Apart
Agee-Death in the Family
*Austen-Pride and Prejudice
Allende- House of Spirits
Angelou- I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings
Anthony- Chimaera’s Copper
Asimov- I, Robot, Foundation Trilogy
Atwood- Handmaid’s Tale, Surfacing
Baldwin- Go Tell It On the Mountain
Beckett- Waiting for Godot
Bellows- Adventures of Augie March, Herzog
Buck- Good Earth
Card- Enders Game series
*Camus- The Plague
Cather- Death Comes for the Archbishop
Charriere- Papillon
Christie- Ten Little Indians
Clancy- Hunt for Red October
Clavell- King Rat, Shogun
Conroy- Prince of Tides
*Crane- Red Badge of Courage
*Dickens- Great Expectations
Dineson- Out of Africa
Dostoevski- The Brothers Karamazov
Dumas- Count of Monte Cristo
Eco- The Name of the Rose
Erdich- Tracks
Ellison- Invisible Man
Frasier- Cold Mountain
Forsyth- Day of the Jackal
Forster- A Passage to India
Fuentes- The Old Gringo
Garcia-Marquez- One Hundred Years of
Solitude
Gordimer- Burger’s Daughter. July’s People
Grisham- The Client
Haley- Roots
Hansberry- Raisin in the Sun
*Hardy- The Return of the Native
Heller- Catch –22
*Hemingway- For Whom the Bell Tolls
Herriot- All Creatures Great and Small
Hesse- Siddhartha
Hong- Kingston- Woman Warrior
*Hugo- Les Miserables
Irving- A Prayer for Owen Meany
James, Henry- Turn of the Screw
Jordan, Robert-Wheel of Time
Kennedy, J.F.- Profiles in Courage

FICTION

Agee, James. Death in the Family
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of Butterflies
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale.
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451
Bronte, Emily. Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights
Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower
Camus, Albert. Stranger
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game
Cather, Willa. My Antonia
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening
Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man
Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain
Gaines, Ernest. A Lesson Before Dying
Haddon, Mar. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Hardy, Thomas. Return of the Native
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22
Hemingway, Ernest. Farewell to Arms
Hemingway, Ernest. Old Man and the Sea
Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha
Hosseini, K. The Kite Runner
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables
Keneally, Thomas. Schindler’s List
King, Laurie. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
LeGuin, Ursula. The Left Hand of Darkness
Lahiri, J. The Namesake.
Maugham, W. Somerset. Of Human Bondage
McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding
McKinley, Robin. Beauty
Malamud, Bernard. The Fixer
Mason, Bobbi Ann. In Country
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick
Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind.
Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko’s Daughter
Morrison, Toni. Beloved
Nordhoff, Charles. Bounty Trilogy
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction
Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country
Poe, Edgar Allen. Complete Tales and Poems
Potok, Chaim. The Chosen
Remarque, Erich. All Quiet on the Western Front
Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye
Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe
Shaara, Michael. Killer Angels
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath
Thackeray, William. Vanity Fair
Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace
Turgenev, Ivan. Fathers and Sons
Uchida, Yoshiko. Picture Bride
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five
Watson, Larry. Montana
Weir, Alison. Innocent Traitor
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome
Wright, Richard. Native Son
Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose

NONFICTION

Allende, Isabel. Paula; House of Spirits
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atkin, S. Beth. Voices From the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories
Baker, Russell. Growing Up
Blais, Madeleine. In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle
Bodanis, David. The Secret Family: Twenty-four Hours Inside the Mysterious World of Our Minds and Bodies
Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking
Clary, David. Rocket Man: Robert Goddard and the Birth of the Space Age
Cohn, Marthe. Behind Enemy Lines
Corwin, Miles. And Still We Rise: Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students
Cox, Lynne. Swimming to Antarctica
Curie, Eve. Marie Curie
Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Edelman, Bernard. Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam
Ehrenreich, B. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting Boy in America
Feynman, Richard. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feyman. (Nobel Prize-winning physicist)
Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes
Hersey, John. Hiroshima
Hockenberry, John. Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declaration of Independence
Ji-Li, Jiang. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement
Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
Karr, Mary. The Liar’s Club: A Memoir
Kennedy, John F. Profiles in Courage
Khanga, Yelena. Soul to Soul: A Black Russian American Family (Russian journalist of African-American and Jewish heritage)
Kincaid. Jamaica. My Brother (Caring for a brother with AIDS)
Krakauer, John. Into Thin air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
Larson, Erik. Thunderstruck
Massie, Robert. Tsar Nicholas Romanov and Tsarina Alexandra.
Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa
McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir
Mehta, Ved. Sound Shadows of the New World (Blind Indian boy challenged by handicap, loneliness, culture shock)
Moody, Ann. Coming of Age in Mississippi.
Mora, Pat. House of Houses. (Growing up as a Mexican-American in El Paso, Texas)
Mortensen, Greg. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time
Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.
Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: the Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiography
Salzman, Mark. True Notebooks (Teacher’s experiences at Juvenile Hall)
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life: A Memoir
Wright, Richard. Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth