This week’s theme is Top 10 Contemporary Books That Would Be Great Paired With A Required Reading Book (like Perks of Being A Wallflower with Catcher in the Rye) OR Top Ten Books That You Wish Were Taught In Schools. FYI - This was my suggestion and I did an incredible geek dance when I saw that they used it :) I actually posted these last October during a "Free" top 10 week.
Here are my top 10. If I could think of a good classic "pair" I included it.
Here are my top 10. If I could think of a good classic "pair" I included it.
1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger)
3. A Time to Kill by John Grisham (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (1984 by George Orwell)
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank)
6. Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte)
7. Exile by Richard North Patterson (Mila 18 by Leon Uris)
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Beloved by Toni Morrison)
9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Kossini
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Confession time - I haven't read "1984", "Jane Eyre" or "Beloved". I paired those based on summaries. Also I don't know if "Mila 18" can really be called a classic, but those two book read together give an incredible perspective of why the situation in the Middle East is what it is. Making this list actually made me add a couple classics to my TBR pile.
Anyone have any suggestions for classics to pair with my last 2 contemporary reads? Any contemporary reads you think would be great additions to curriculum?
I think everyone should read The Book Thief!
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend it a lot!
DeleteI totally agree with your Speak/Scarlett Letter pairing. I can understand the The Perks of Being a Wallflower/Catcher in the Rye. Pairing The Book Thief/Anne Frank is a bang on great idea. I wouldn't really pair the Hunger Games with 1984 but that's only because I haven't read the Hunger Games. Great list.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
Thanks! I may not like pairing 1984 with The Hunger Games once I read 1984, but hey if it will get me to read the classics its all good right?
DeleteGood pairs! (Especially 1,2, 4, and 5!) The Help is a great book but I unfortunately haven't read Beloved yet. I really need to add that to my TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT
I still need to finish Beloved (I have it on my Classics Challenge this year). Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThe Book Thief should definitely be required reading! :-) Great list!
ReplyDeleteI read 1984 recently and, to be honest, it didn't live up to my expectations at all. I really need to read The Book Thief!
ReplyDeleteBooks of Amber
Hopefully I like it once I actually read it (soon)!
DeleteThis is like the 3rd list out of 4 blogs I visited that have had The Perks of Being a Wallflower on it. I really need to read that book.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT List
Perks and Hunger Games are on my list too i haven't read the rest on your list yet..
ReplyDeleteMy Top 10 Tuesday
Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
I love all your pairings! They all make total sense to me, and I would be encouraged to read those classics if you pairings were the exact same pairings our teachers would require us :)
ReplyDeleteMy Top 10 Tuesday
Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Mila 18 is among the numerous Leon Uris books I own, but I have to admit that, as much as I loved the book, John Hersey's The Wall is probably a better-written account of the Warsaw Ghetto and its uprising. Mr. Uris really did like his heroes larger than life and his storylines soap operaesque, something which Mr. Hersey didn't get into.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to check out "The Wall"! Uris definitely leans towards soapy, but he generally keeps it just on the acceptable side of the line for me.
DeleteOur lists share a lot of similarities!!!
ReplyDeleteNew GFC follower :)
http://littlesqueed.blogspot.com/2013/09/top-ten-tuesday-what-im-reading-and.html
I love John Grisham, but haven't read A Time to Kill yet. I need to get on that. Great list!
ReplyDeleteAgreed you absolutely do! I think it's his best work!
DeleteThese are really great pairings! I too have not read all the books I did pairings with haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE that Hitchhiker's is on your list because it absolutely should be taught in school! Not only do we need more sci-fi/fantasy in our curriculum, but it's so funny! And how many funny books did we get to read in school?
Putting together a few contemporary novels with classics I hadn't read inspired me to add those classics to my TBR list. That's why I finally read "To Kill a Mockingbird".
DeleteHitchhiker is funny and ironic. Everyone needs more irony!