Top Three Books You Read for School

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Whether it was elementary, high school, or post-secondary, what were your favourite books you had to read in school?

[Hailee]

Of the books I had to read for school there were not that many that I really enjoyed (the list of ones I hated is endless!!) but the three favourites that come to mind are:

Jane Eyre
Much Ado About Nothing
Animal Farm

Special mention: Technically I didn't have to read this for school but it was part of a summer holiday challenge that the school library organised in which we had to read all six book set by them and then vote on our favourite. I can only remember two of the six but my absolute favourite was Fire Bringer. I loved this book so much that I still remember it fondly nearly 20 years later. In fact a few months ago I bought myself a copy with the intention of rereading it.

[Bill]

1. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
2. The Odyssey by Homer
3. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

[Ahdam]

Abomination by Robert Swindells- I read this in year 8 I think and basically it was about this girl who lives in a strictly religious and abusive household and in the basement, there is a creature that they refer to as the abomination.

It’s a surprisingly dark story looking back at it and I thought it was interesting

Stone Cold by Robert Swindells- I read this in year 10 and I think it’s one of the better books I read in school since it deals with stuff like homelessness and mental health and I liked the hopelessness of it especially that now I’m getting into social realist stuff.

Macbeth by Shakespeare- it was good that’s about it


In my school people who took English literature would read an inspector calls by JB Priestly (whose from my town) but I never read it in school but I read it later on it’s pretty good and has a cool plot twist if your interested

[Yanique]

OK! So I'm from St. Lucia, so we had some books that are pretty Caribbean specific. So from these my faves were:

A Brighter Sun by Sam Selvon

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

Any poem by Louise Bennett-Coverley

[Maria]

Hailee wrote: "Of the books I had to read for school there were not that many that I really enjoyed (the list of ones I hated is endless!!) but the three favourites that come to mind are:

Jane Eyre
..."

I love Animal Farm! One of my favourites.

We weren't given any interesting required reading in my school, but I read some of my cousin's that were required in her school (lol if that doesn't scream nerd I don't know what does) -

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
And Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban I don't know why they randomly assigned the third book but fun fact: this was my first HP read! I absolutely fell in love with this series after reading this of course. I think it's a good intro to the series. A lot happens, it's very exciting

[Maria]

Also The Devoted Friend short story - it was included in our syllabus. I absolutely love it to this day and it got me to explore other works by Oscar Wilde

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

The Hobbit or There and Back Again
The Moon Is Down
Animal Farm

All three stand the test of time.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

The Canterbury Tales - my favourite work of literature of all time.
Dr. Faustus - this play is just such a classic.
John Donne's Poetry - my favourite 17th-century poet.

Special mention: I read Tolkien on Fairy-stories for one of my elective courses (Fantasy Literature) which I loved. We read The Fellowship of the Ring and then analyzed it using Tolkien's own essays on fantasy. It was such a fun course. :)

[Shae]

For some reason the books I read for primary school evoke much stronger memories than the books read for high school or uni.

1. The King Of Ireland's Son - This gorgeous book was read to my class in lower primary school (I re-read it with both my children when they were class 2). Such a rich story, full of beautiful language and imagery.
2. Ronia, the Robber's Daughter - I read this when I was in class 3 at primary school (and re-read it with my kids when they were similar ages). Written by Astrid Lindgren (who is much more well know for her Pippi Longstocking stories) this is an unusual story with a lot of heart :-)
3. The Silver Sword - I read this in upper primary school and absolutely loved it. I think this was the first story I ever read about WWII from the perspective of a family of Polish children. An important story - frightening yet heroic.

[Brittany]

Oh! What a great question. My three would have to be:

1.

2.

3.


With an honorable mention to Alias Grace and Macbeth

[Barry]

In my country, we don't really have a mandatory book to read for school. The books that I read while before high school were mostly manga. Only when I moved to an international school that I was introduced to a mandatory book to read for school. My favorite of all the books that I read during high school :

1. Fahrenheit 451
Actually, this might be one of the first SFF books that I've ever read, not counting the fairy tales. Definitely a memorable one. It's the book that made me fall in love with SF.

2. The Odyssey
Another early introduction to the fantasy genre.

3. The Catcher in the Rye
Read it at a perfect age, I guess. Might not have liked it that much if I have to read it now.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

1. Castle in the Attic - we read it in the 5th grade and it’s the first book I can remember staying up past bedtime to continue reading.
2. Ender’s Game - not only did I love it, but I also delighted in the fact that my teacher selected a sci-fi instead of classic fiction.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - where I discovered I didn’t loath fiction simply because it didn’t have dragons.

[Frank]

When I went to school, there were no summer reading books that were required.
1) The Oedipus Cycle - 10th Grade English class, what an introduction to the Greeks.
2) Macbeth - 11th Grade my introduction to Shakespeare.
3) The Catcher in the Rye - I discovered that I wasn't the only one that had issues, LOL.

A shout out to the Hardy Boys, discovered in 5th Grade, and started my love affair with books.