Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by GingerReadsLainey. For more information on this meme, visit the Goodreads group. This week’s topic:
Favorite required reading
Like everyone else, I hardly liked any of the books that my teachers assigned but there are a few that I couldn’t help but love. Below, I’ve listed 5 books I liked when I read them for class.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Of course this is first. If you familiar with my posts then this is no surprise. This is my favorite classic novel. I love the story and the prose and have reread it a few times. I was surprised that I liked it when I read it the summer before 11th or 12th grade. I usually hate those summer reads. (Goodreads)
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman
I was surprised when this was assigned to me in high school. I thought the teacher was so cool because she assigned comics for us to read so this was easy to enjoy. (Goodreads)
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Another shocker. This one was an assigned reading for a college Caribbean Lit. class. I disliked all the books we had read before this one that I wasn’t enthused to read this so both me and my fellow classmates (and the professor) were surprised that we completed this one quickly and had lots to say about it. (Goodreads)
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
This one of all was a shocker because I’m not a huge fan of poetry. I like a few, don’t understand most, and can’t be bothered with others. But I love this poem. AND I just bought a copy of it in the Penguin black classics edition. It’s on its way. I can’t wait! 🙂 (Goodreads)
Linden Hills by Gloria Naylor
I had to read this for a college class that I forgot the name of but I enjoyed this story and loved the class discussions. Actually, I loved the discussions so much that I even got upset with students who didn’t do the reading, which was a first for me. What I liked most was the setting of the story, which is structure to resemble Dante Alighieri’s hell from Inferno. (Goodreads)
And there you have it. There really aren’t many books I liked when I read them for class but there are a handful that became favorites or appreciated when I reread them. Do you have any favorite assigned reading? Go ahead and share them below.
Zezee with Books 
I love Oscar Wao so much! I read it once on my own, and then read it with a book club – it’s such a good one to discuss. I’ve never heard of Goblin Market, but I’ll have to check it out! (I love that edition, too).
When I was in school, the biggest surprise to me was how much I loved Walden. I need to re-read it sometime soon to see if I still enjoy it as much as I did back then.
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Oh my lord! Walden was a battle for me. I warred against that book. I thought it was so boring. The class was boring too so I wonder if that’s why I disliked the book. I’d like to revisit it.
Yes! Please take a look at Goblin Market. It’s such a wonderful read.
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I never finished reading walden, thought it a bit boring too.
I listened to an audio version of it and that was better.
I loved his three chair philosophy,
One for solitude, two for company, and three for society.
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