Seniors
All rising Dual Enrollment Students are required to read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (blurb about this true story here!)...Then pick two more titles from this list. At least one needs to be by a British author.
All rising English 12 Students are required to read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Then pick one more title from this list.
Any students taking a STEM class are encouraged to select a book from the STEM list (Last category at end of list).
**You may not select a book that you have already read.
Adventure
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
“This is not just another ‘dusty old classic,’ but an exciting tale of adventure across the unknown and often harsh lands of Africa. You can’t predict what will happen next, which keeps the reader captivated and engaged. The characters met along this journey are unique and unforgettable. If you have seen the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this book is the story of the lead character played by Sean Connery. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good adventure tale!”
~ Dr. Johnson
Peace Like a River by Lief Enger
Biography/Autobiography/Memoir
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
"A very informative read to see how civilian life has been impacted in a post-9/11 world. A firsthand account of a girl raised in Pakistan. Highly recommend!"
~Dr. Johnson
A Chance to Die: the Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elizabeth Elliot
“This is a missionary story that changed the way I view missions, love for the lost, and sacrifice.”
~ Mrs. Bautista
Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine
Wallenberg: The Incredible True Story of the Man who Saved the Jews of Budapest by Kati Marton
“This book is about Raoul Wallenberg, a wealthy Swedish diplomat, who saved about 100.000 Hungarian Jews from the Nazi's. His family was considered the Vanderbilts or Rothschilds of Sweden and his story is incredibly brave and tragic.”
~ Mrs. Bautista
Three Houses by Angela Thirkell
Maus (the complete version/both books I-II) by Art Spiegelman
“This graphic novel is a great followup to the Holocaust literature and history studied in sophomore year. Because it is in a different format (comic book style), it is fresh and captivating. If you don’t really like reading OR if you are intrigued by the Holocaust era, this Pulitzer Prize-winning book will not disappoint!”
~ Dr. Johnson
The Glory of their Times by Lawrence S. Ritter
"The story of the early days of baseball told by the men who played it. This is my favorite book on the history of baseball. Want to know what baseball was like in the late 1800's and early 1900's? What were the players like? The fans? The coaches? Go back to a simpler time when every town had a baseball team and the best made their way to the professional ranks."
~ Mr. Adcock
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
Christian Living/Theology
The Insanity of God by Nik Ripkin
Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald
The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“This is, by far, one of the most influential books I’ve ever read. C.S. Lewis is an amazing writer who explains our faith with beauty and practicality. It’s a good, but spiritually challenging, read.”
~ Mrs. Humphries
“One of the all-time classics of Christian literature, famous atheist turned Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis, explains what Christians believe and why they believe it using logic and reason. If you're looking for a casual, easy read, this book is not for you. It will challenge you intellectually, enhance your critical thinking skills, and better equip you to fulfill the biblical command to always be ready, ‘...to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.’"
~ Mr. Pierce
Drama
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
“This might one of the funniest plays I’ve ever read or seen performed. It’s focused on the idea of mistaken identity and pretending to be who you are not. It’s a farcical representation of Victorian England, but the humor transcends time period.”
~ Mrs. Humphries
Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot
Pygmalion / My Fair Lady by George Bernard Shaw /Alan Jay Lerner
Othello by William Shakespeare
Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw
Dystopia
1984 by George Orwell
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Fantasy
The Lord of the Rings (one of the trilogy) by J. R. R. Tolkien
Historical Fiction
Cathedral of the Sea by Idelfonso Falcones
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Down the Common: A Year in the Life of a Medieval Woman by Ann Baer
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
The Island Under the Sea by Isabel Allende
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Jane Eyre by Emily Brontë
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
A Parcel of Patterns by Jill Paton Walsh
Requiem for a Spanish Peasant by Ramon Sender
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton
Ulysses by James Joyce
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (counts as two books)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
TAHN book series (pick 1) by L.A. Kelly
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
“I LOVE this book!!!!!! After reading this, I knew right away that it had to be on our summer reading list. A Southern family moves as missionaries to a village in Africa and bring more than just a religion; they struggle as they try to force their legalistic cultural mores and first-world expectations onto a tribal people and quickly learn that religion bears no single culture. Each chapter is told from a different perspective as the author follows each of the four daughters’ thoughts and experiences as they are ‘dragged’ to a foreign land. A reader is left pondering the philosophical implications of what has happened to each character throughout this wild, and somewhat cynical, tale of a naive missional goal gone awry.”
~ Dr. Johnson
Mystery/Suspense/Macabre/Horror
The Best of Roald Dahl (Short Stories) by Roald Dahl
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Dark Pursuit by Brandilyn Collins
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka ( free PDF available)
Nonfiction
The Way to Xanadu by Caroline Alexander
Philosophical Fiction
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Space Trilogy: by C.S. Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Perelanda by C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Poetry
The Earliest English Poems by Michael Alexander
The Inferno by Dante
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Women Romantic Poets by Jennifer Breen
Metamorphoses by Ovid (free PDF available)
Realist Fiction
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Romance
Emma by Jane Austen
“Emma Woodhouse is the girl who has everything. She is beautiful, wealthy, and admired by all. But she is also arrogant and manipulative. But despite Emma's flaws, we can't help but grow to like her. Emma's greatest flaw is her tendency to meddle in other people's lives. Though determined never to marry, Emma fancies herself a match-maker and is forever trying to fix up her friends. But her efforts lead to confusion when, despite the advice of her best friend Mr. Knightly, she attempts to set up the young Harriet Smith with the town clergyman. It's only when Emma faces the potential loss of what is dearest to her, that she begins to see that she has some growing up to do.“
~ Mrs. Pierce
Jane Eyre by Emily Brontë
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
“Mansfield Park is one of the less appreciated works of Jane Austen, but I personally think it has been underestimated. I would say that, of all Austen's novels, Mansfield Park teaches the greatest moral lesson. It shows us a heroine who we love not because of her vivacity and wit, but because of her genuine goodness. It also shows us the difference between those who waste and ultimately ruin their lives for pleasure and riches, and those who live for the greater good. In the end, our heroine Fanny Price is rewarded for her goodness and we rejoice that someone with such a high moral character is loved and respected for who she is.”
~ Mrs. Pierce
Persuasion by Jane Austen
“As a fan of Jane Austen's writings, I don't say lightly that Persuasion is my favorite of her novels. Persuasion is the story of a once-engaged couple, Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth, who broke up due to pressure from Anne's aristocratic family. After eight years, they are thrown again into each other's paths when Anne's arrogant father falls on hard financial times. Although it looks like a simple romance on the surface, Persuasion contains elements of mystery and conspiracy. For instance, what is up with Mr. Elliot and the shifty Mrs. Clay? And what really happened to the widow Mrs. Smith? I guess you'll have to read and find out!”
~ Mrs. Pierce
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
“Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters who are forced into a new home and social circle upon the death of their father. Elinor, practical and sensible, tries to take the change in stride and encourage her emotional and dramatic sister, Marianne, to do the same. Sense and Sensibility, though more a novel of sisterly love than romantic love, has enough romantic plot points to satisfy. Over the course of the novel, the two sisters encounter both love and heartbreak. But, in the end, they are stronger as individuals and in their respective romantic relationships.”
~ Mrs. Pierce
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (counts as two books)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Science Fiction
Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
“The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a story about the unsuspecting protagonist Arthur Dent's calling to save the Earth and the galaxy from another destructive race. This satirical, comedic book is about Arthur and his companion's attempt to save all of humanity and find the meaning of life. Dent develops throughout this weird, inexplicable mission and is taken aback by the species and galactic anomalies that he encounters.”
~ Charlie Rizzo, Class of 2015
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (*Do not confuse with Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man)
Space Trilogy: by C.S. Lewis
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Perelanda by C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
STEM
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts by Emily Anthes
The Best American Science and Nature Writing (any year)
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
Free PDF download of the full memoir
Science on the Home Front: American Women Scientists in World War II by Jack Jordynn