Books?

[tanteva]

I was trying to decide what to read next yesterday ... ended up with a true crime book in Swedish ... but it got me thinking. I've read many books by American authors, but mainly books like Sandra Brown, Janet Evanovich, Karen Kingsbury, Sidney Sheldon, Robyn Carr, Iris Johansen. Not sure what to call it, but "entertainment" kinda easy reads. But tell me ... what are the classics in American literature? I mean those books they force you to read in school. Tell which one's I should read ... and which I should avoid.

The only one's I've read (at least I think so) are:
To Kill A Mockingbird (great!)
Sula by Toni Morrison (ok)
Ragtime by Doctorow (boooooooooring)

Let me know what to read

 

[petey111]

I've never even heard of Ragtime...and I was an English major!

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Scarlet Letter
The Great Gatsby
Red Badge of Courage
Of Mice and Men
Grapes of Wrath
Fahrenheit 451
Walden
Beloved
Catch 22
Gift of the Magi
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Lottery
Call of the Wild
Death of a Salesman
Bartleby the Scrivner
Edgar Allen Poe (Any of his short stories and poetry)
Emily Dickinson's poetry
Catcher in the Rye
Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Slaughterhouse Five
Color of Purple
Streetcar Named Desire
The Awakening
O Pioneers
My Antonia
Little Women
Gone with the Wind

I could go on and on. And some of these authors have several good novels, but I just picked one. (Like Hemmingway, Twain, Conrad...well, I cheated with Twain, but you can list one without the other!)

I'll put authors on these too. After I eat dinner.
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison comes up a LOT, but I hated, hated, hated all 475ish pages of it!!

 

[clarabear]

I am always a sucker for The Outsiders by SE Hinton

 

[tanteva]

I've never even heard of Ragtime...and I was an English major!

Lucky you!
It was a part of my English class at the university, so I had to read it.

Oh, and I've read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn too. Me and son did that for home school. And I've read some short stories of Poe too.

 

[faerywings]

Any of the Orwell classics- 1984 and Animal Farm etc he was American right?

Nope- I just googled him and he was British.
Guess i should leave the Lit to the professionals LOL

 

[tanteva]

Any of the Orwell classics- 1984 and Animal Farm etc he was American right?

Nope- I just googled him and he was British.
Guess i should leave the Lit to the professionals LOL

LOL
I thought he was an American too. Haven't read any of the books though.

Oh, Lord of the Flies - have read that one. Is that American? Off to google.
Nope ... he was British too LOL

 

[tanteva]

Well, since I already was googling - I checked. Doctorow is American. At least I got that one right

The book though (Ragtime) was from 1975, guess it's hardly could be called a classic then? Stuff must be older than me to be classic - basic rule LOL

 

[petey111]

I love the Outsiders too, but I considered that more of a "children's" book...and LORDY...if you got me started on CHILDREN'S classics....we'd be here all day!!!

I did have to check on Orwell too, but I was pretty sure he was British.

I forgot to come back and put authors. Do you need them Eva??

 

[tanteva]

No I can google those

 

[tanteva]

Finally had the time to look through this list properly, and I have like half of the books. Either in paper or ebook. Now I just have to finish the book I'm reading right now - still the same as I mentioned in the first post (thick one, and really not an easy read, so I'm not getting through it fast).

Just wanted to share a link:
http://www.manybooks.net/
Great if you have an e-book reader.

And if you want to read a really nice book:
http://www.manybooks.net/titles/lagerlof1435614356-8.html

 

[Bush Girl]

Not American but Australian, I can highly recommend all Kate Morton's books as modern classics. "The House at Riverton" is one of the best books I've ever read.

 

[SueCummings]

A little off topic...

I liked Tanteva's link ...the books are free! YEAH! Thanks Eva!
I just bought a colorNOOK! and I am looking for some free books
to read...any other sites out there with free ebooks!?

 

[tanteva]

Not American but Australian, I can highly recommend all Kate Morton's books as modern classics. "The House at Riverton" is one of the best books I've ever read.

I'm comfused now - The Shifting Fog - is that the same book? I'm not sure if it's one book with two titles or if it's a book in two parts?

Anyway - The Shifting Fog is translated to Swedish AND it's available at my local library :thumb:

 

[dlhoffer]

A little off topic...

I liked Tanteva's link ...the books are free! YEAH! Thanks Eva!
I just bought a colorNOOK! and I am looking for some free books
to read...any other sites out there with free ebooks!?

Sue!! I just got a Nook Color in June for my birthday too!!

I found this site that lists free & inexpensive books for them: http://the-cheap.net/2011/07/22/welcome-to-the-cheap/

In that post I linked, it has links to their facebook accounts too - They have a general page & then pages for teen books, kids books, etc.

And then I'm guessing you know that B&N does Free Fridays where each Friday they have a different book available to download for free?

Those are what I have found so far - but if anyone has others I'd love to know

 

[tanteva]

A little off topic...

I liked Tanteva's link ...the books are free! YEAH! Thanks Eva!
I just bought a colorNOOK! and I am looking for some free books
to read...any other sites out there with free ebooks!?

Christian Books have some free e-books:
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=928515&sp=110934
Probably more bookstores that have that.

http://www.smashwords.com/ have some free e-books too. This is mainly un-known authors - anyone can publish here. Needless to say - lots of crap here

And just google free e-books, and you'll find many sites.

 

[VickiStegall]

don't look at me.... i only read trashy romance

 

[tanteva]

don't look at me.... i only read trashy romance

Nothing wrong with that Love that too. Have you read Robyn Carr's Virgin River series? Really liked those.

 

[faerywings]

don't look at me.... i only read trashy romance

LOL

I read quite a bit of that too- Nora Roberts is my fav author for that

 

[tanteva]

LOL

I read quite a bit of that too- Nora Roberts is my fav author for that

Have you read Robyn Carr? She's kinda like Nora Roberts.

 

[faerywings]

I don't think so Eva- I'll have to check her out!