Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme which I participate in occasionally. It’s a great meme and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog. Every week a new topic is presented. It’s not only fun to think about my own list, but to read what other people come up with!
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This week the topic is the books I was forced to read. This could mean by teachers, friends, other bloggers, or reviews.
I’ve only been “forced” to read books by teachers. So this is a partial list of books I read in high school. Some of these books became favorites, others I didn’t appreciate at the time, but am very glad I read and others I still don’t like to remember! However, even the books I don’t like I’m glad I read. Some of these books I wouldn’t have read if they hadn’t been assigned in English.
Books I was glad I had to read–both then and now:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Odyssey by Homer
The books I didn’t appreciate at the time, but still think about and appreciate now:
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The books I didn’t like then and still don’t like:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Lord of the Files by William Golding
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What about you–did someone force you to read books? Who was it? What books were you forced to read? After you read the books are you glad you had to read them?
Notes from a Readerholic 
I also have To Kill a Mockingbird on my list. I keep meaning to read The Scarlet Letter and Crime and Punishment. I love Great Expectations too!
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We read so many books in my high school English class. I could have made a much larger list!
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Oh, I didn’t think about the Odyssey! I haven’t read a good portion of these classics which is horrible. I want to get to them some day.
Here’s my Top Ten.
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My high school English class was excellent in that we read many, many classics beginning with ancient literature and finally finishing up with the more modern classics.
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Haha! Crime and Punishment. It was one of those books I was “forced” to read, but never actually entirely read. I was a terrible English student, working my way through that essay based upon what I knew from the little I read. It just wasn’t for me. Plus I think I kept getting confused with all the character names. Not fun.
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I read even the books I didn’t like, because I was afraid I wouldn’t do well on the test…lol. I was definitely motivated by grades! My husband, on the other hand, read a lot of Cliffs Notes rather than the books. And he still got good grades…
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Other than required reading for school–which as an English major, I’ve had a lot of–no one’s ever ‘forced’ me to read anything. I’m so easy when it comes to book, a recommendation is usually enough.
A friend talked me into Helter Skelter, and even though I’m a terrible wimp about scary books, she was so in love with it I did read it. And I was sorry afterwards.
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Ooh, I never read Helter Skelter and am so glad I haven’t. If I had started it I don’t think I would have finished it.
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Oh wow, I was the complete opposite with regards to Grapes of Wrath. I couldn’t stand that book in high school and didn’t get past the first few chapters. *snore*
Sorry!
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I totally understand. We all have different interests. I’ve read many Steinbeck books and like his writing, but I don’t like Hemingway’s writing very well at all.
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