As an English teacher, and life-long avid reader, you can imagine I have LOTS of opinions when it comes to literature. My concentration is English lit, but I read a little bit of everything. Now and again, I share a book review. Depending on the book, I enjoy contacting authors and doing author interviews! I have a FULL home library that would make any bibliophile’s heart skip a few beats.
I am a classicist. I dare say, maybe even a bit of a literature snob. However, as with many bookworms as myself, I could not possibly ever pick favorite books. The following list is some of my favorite books or pieces of literature by grade range. The end boasts more genre specific lists
Children’s/Elementary Literature:
Where The Wild Things Are- Maurice Sendak
The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carl
The Kissing Hand- Audrey Penn
Stellaluna- Janell Cannon
The Critters (series)- Mercer Mayer
Little Bear- Suzanne Collins
Mr. Carp- Dr. Seuss
The Magic Treehouse Series (All of them, I love them all!)- Pope Osborn
Dear America- Multiple Authors
Princess Diaries- Multiple Authors
Hatchet/The Other Side of the Mountain- Gary Paulsen
Charlotte’s Web- EB White
Middle School/High School:
Diary of Anne Frank- Anne Frank
The Outsiders- S E Hinton
Catcher in the Rye- J D Salinger
Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
Brave New World- Aldous Huxley
The Awakening- Kate Chopin
The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
The Great Gatsby- F Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies- William Golding
Little Women- Louisa May Allcott
The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins (recognize this name!?)
To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
Harry Potter (Series)- JK Rowling
Classics-
Beowulf
Henry V- Shakespeare
Merchant of Venice- Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing- Shakespeare
Midsummer Nights Dream- Shakespeare
Hamlet- Shakespeare
The Canterbury Tales- Geoffery Chaucer
Dracula- Bram Stoker
Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
The Importance of Being Earnest- Oscar Wilde
Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table
Poetry:
Emily Dickinson
Edgar Allen Poe
Sylvia Plath
The Lady of Shallot- Alfred Lord Tennyson
Robert Frost
Academic:
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human- Harold Bloom
Henry VIII- Allison Weir
Steel My Soldiers’ Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam- Col. David H. Hackworth
Lies My Teacher Told Me- James W Loewen
The Nurtured Bee 