Tag: School Reading List

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Posted June 28, 2020 in Reviews // 4 Comments

When I read this book in high school, I remember two things very distinctly. Firstly, I remember really enjoying it. Second, I remember believing fully that Phineas loved Gene. These are the memories I took away from this book, and I haven’t touched it in fifteen years. But I wanted to read it again. And now I think… I think A Separate Peace is a great book and I enjoyed it. And, try to look for LGBTQ+ undertones as I might, I don’t think there are any. There is so much to unpack in A Separate Peace. There’s a lot of underlying […]

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Posted December 13, 2019 in Reviews // 2 Comments

Watership Down is one of those books that was required reading in high school, and thus has a bit of stigma attached to it for that reason alone. I’ve been thinking about rereading it for a time – for me, this was Freshman English in 2003, half my lifetime ago! I didn’t remember much about it other than a lot of discussions about allegory and metaphors, and Richard Adam’s supposed conversations about politics and society within the rabbit communities. All that made me chuckle, because re-reading it, it opened with a note from Adams about how Watership Down came about, and […]

THE WORST SUMMER READING EVER – or – “Dune”, My Memories

Posted August 19, 2017 in Reading // 10 Comments

Summer reading can be THE WORST. Have you ever had a summer reading assignment for a class starting in the fall that you just HATED? Okay, so most people don’t like being told which books they MUST read, but I’ve always been a reader and picked up a lot of books willingly. Most my summer reading books (which, yes, I did do! #bibliophile) were okay books, ones that I don’t remember specifically. There is one I DO remember. Dune. It was for the Science Fiction & Fantasy English Honors class, and I WAS SO EXCITED FOR THIS CLASS OH MY […]

1984 by George Orwell

Posted February 13, 2017 in Reviews // 4 Comments

I think this book is better approached by an adult than a high school freshman. The philosophical undertones are much more difficult to relate to as a hopeful 14-year-old than a cynical adult. I’m glad I revisited this one. George Orwell paints a believable picture of what sometimes feels like a quickly approaching future. Characters You have three characters that really matter: Winston, Julia, and O’Brien. None of them are likable – Winston is the perfect vision of a disgruntled middle-aged man; Julia is a sex-crazed, flighty young woman; and O’Brien is a shadowy figure who is utterly deluded. While […]

Feed by M. T. Anderson

Posted September 6, 2011 in Reviews // 0 Comments

I simply cannot express how much I love this book. These are the reasons why: It’s a dystopian novel. I have a weak spot for dystopian novels. The characters feel real to me. Not an adult trying to write a teenager. I never doubt Titus as a character, never second-guess his motives. Perfectly crafted. The language. This is a pitfall for many people, but for me, it just ropes me in closer to the story. The questions it asks about technology and our dependence on it. And on instant gratification. I can see where this novel would be immediately […]