Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Top 6 Books that Should be Required Reading

1. Fruits Basket: This series is one that I'm sadly sure will never be taught at schools but I really think it should. Fruits Basket is really just bout broken people who end up helping each other fix themselves while learning to also love each other but more importantly accept themselves. This series is one that sounds shallow but is actually incredible deep with having almost every character having a backstory reveal and the fact that about half of the major characters personalities are more or less defense mechanism that they developed at a young age to hide how broken they are. I love that while most of the characters have a sad past and a lot are trapped in a life where they have few choices and most of them think very poorly of themselves, I love that the series is about the characters growing and learning to like themselves and learning how to form meaningful connections with people. I just really love this series and I feel that reading the series makes your life better, I know that sounds a bit dramatic but I feel like it's true. I also feel like this series is well written and could lead to a lot of class discussions and I have wrote an essay on this series before so I think that there's a lot to be learned from this series.
2. Perks of Being a Wallflower: This is another book that means a lot to me and I feel like this would be a good book to be taught in school because I feel like a lot of people could relate to Charlie's struggles to find himself in high school. I also think that reading this book for class would be a good idea because Charlie is such a kindhearted person that I think he'd be someone that people could easily root and be invested in. I feel like a lot could be written about this book because it deals with a lot of issues and that also makes for good discussions as well.
3. Perfect: I think that Perfect would be a good book for students to read because in high school a lot of people are motivated by expectations whether they'd be their own or other people's expectations they feel they have to live up to some ideal and often times people standards are to high to be met which leads to distress. The book Perfect is about four teens who deal with the concept of perfection with what it means to them and how they feel the need to live up to being perfect and the desperate measures they go to trying to achieve the impossible. I think this book would be one that students could relate to which would make them more interested in the book considering that almost all required books are about adults from long ago it's no surprise that students aren't interested or understanding the stories fully. I think this book could lead to some much needed discussions and there's a lot of issues to be talked about.
4. Looking for Alaska: This book is a coming of age story that deals with death and I feel that it's one that is very well written and could be a book that students would enjoy reading and on some levels could relate to. But on other levels I feel that the students could learn much from this book and much could be discussed and written about it as well.
5. Thirteen Reasons Why: This book deals with suicide and it shows that it can be caused by simple everyday actions that seem harmless at the time and I think that this book being taught in schools would lead people to be more thoughtful about how their actions could affect other people.
6. Linger:  This may seem like a weird book to put on this list but this book really spoke to me and if you've read my Top 10 Book moments list you know how much I loved it. I really loved how this book dealt with Sam's uncertainty that his cure was real and how he didn't really know how he was suppose to feel now that his curse was lifted and I love that he's still broken from all went through in the past and is still working through it, I just kind of love Sam's storyline in this book because I felt like it was dealing with the whole what happens after happily ever after. I also really loved Cole's mission to get away from himself and I love that he hates himself for being basically what one thinks of as a bad boy because those people are actually awful people and he knows this but doesn't seem to know how to be anyone else so he'll settle for getting out of his own head. I also really loved Isabel's whole thing with feeling guilty about her brother's death and how she wants to start a self destructive relationship with Cole. I think this book has a lot going on in it and I feel like there's much to discuss and write about.

9 comments:

  1. So many wonderful contemporary YA books. Why do we continue to stick with the old favs?

    I don't think we have enough on our lists that appeal to the male mind. I need to work on that, I think.

    Here are my thoughts on the Best Required Reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea why schools stick to the same books especially considering that a lot of them have really outdated themes when it comes to girls and are almost always about adults no wonder why teenagers have a hard time relating since they're you know about twenty years younger the main characters in most assigned readings.
      I think people in general put to big of an emphasis on girl and boy books but if a male narrator is a must I should mention that both Perks of Being a Wallflower and Looking for Alaska are narrated by guys and Perfect, Linger and Thirteen Reasons Why are narrated by both male and female characters so they should be able to appeal to guys if guys actually want to read a book in the first place and aren't just using there's no guy books as an excuse as to why they aren't reading. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete
  2. Interesting choices - although I don't know about Linger. It was just so much "I can't live without you" type drama ... but then again - same thing with Wuthering Heights!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting, I actually think that saying Linger is just about romance is a very shallow way of looking at the story because there was a lot going on in the characters heads that wasn't about that such as the things I already mentioned in the list. Some moments I really loved in Linger was when Sam went out in the snow and for the first time was able to believe that he gets to stay in his own skin and to me Sam's desire to remain human was also a key part to his character. There was also the moment when on his birth Sam was remembering his parents and how he remembers how careful they were with him before they decided that he needed to die and how part of him misses them and how he doesn't feel like he can talk to anyone about this because of course no one could understand why he would miss them.

      Then also there's Cole's whole storyline about how he has this tendency to destroy people's lives because he's selfish and self-destructive which is something that I find very interesting and really doesn't have a thing to do with romance. There's also the thing with Isabel feeling guilty about killing her brother and having a desire to be self destructive as well and while she does see Cole as a way to do that I also think that this doesn't quite fall into the "I can't live without you" drama because she isn't looking for a fairytale she's looking to forget.
      Anyways I don't think this book is really about "I can't live without you" drama because of the things listed above are some of my favorite parts of the book the parts that spoke to me and they don't really fit that category. I know a lot people look at this book as such but I think that you're missing out on some great character moments when you do.

      Delete
  3. I think Looking for Alaska is great. Fruits Basket! I loved that manga too. It is deeper than it first appears. Interesting list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting, So glad to hear you're a fan of Fruits Basket it's my favorite series of all time and yeah it's so much deeper than I could imagine it being. Also glad to hear your a fan of Looking for Alaska as well.

      Delete
  4. I was lucky enough to find a ton of the Fruit Basket series at the used bookstore I go to. My daughter has read all of the ones we have so far, and she watches the show on Netflix. She loooves that series. I'm looking forward to reading it as we have similar tastes in books. :)

    I totally agree with Perks and Thirteen Reasons. I haven't read the other books yet, but those two books I have read would make great reading for students!

    Thanks for visiting my My TTT @ Donnie Darko Girl! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting, Your daughter has great taste if she's a fan of Fruits Basket. I'm so happy to hear you're willing to give Fruits Basket a try since it's my favorite series of all time. I'm curious how many volumes do you own since there's 23 volumes in the series.

      Perks of Being a Wallflower is another favorite of mine glad to hear you share that opinion. Also I've been meaning to mention I love Donnie Darko as well and I think it's a cool blog name.

      Delete
  5. I loved Looking For Alaksa and Perks of Being a Wallflower :)
    It's been a few years since I read Fruits Basket (you mean the manga, right?) but I really liked it. It was funny and deep at the same time and I really fell for and felt with the characters.
    Thanks for checking out my list on Tuesday, and sorry I took so long getting back to you!

    ReplyDelete