Kristin Lavransdatter Author(s): Sigrid UndsetTranslator(s): Tiina Nunnally I am delighted to see a popular edition by Penguin Classics of one of the world's greatest woman writers settling itself to be in print for any foreseeable future. Read more about Kristin Lavransdatter
The Ballad of the White Horse Author(s): G.K. Chesterton(Gilbert Keith Chesterton) Includes copious synopses and notes (pages 175-231) Read more about The Ballad of the White Horse
Uncle Tom's Cabin Author(s): Harriet Beecher Stowe There are a plethora of resources for you to find out the plot of this book out on the web and in the bookstores (eg. Cliffs Notes!!). Many contain "spoilers". And this is OK — after all it's a classic. Moreover, the book is good even if you know what is going to happen. I had the enjoyable luxury of reading this book without having run across the spoilers and with no real knowledge of the plot. I was not required to read it in school — oh happy fault. Read more about Uncle Tom's Cabin
Fahrenheit 451 Author(s): Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 is on the reading list of almost every high school in America, and with good reason. It is thought provoking and hip. There are reasons to love this book and reasons to worry about it. It is Bradbury's reaction against censorship and the blossoming of television. Some of the things he writes about have come true in our time, which makes his story all the more intriguing. Read more about Fahrenheit 451
To Kill a Mockingbird Author(s): Harper Lee This modern classic, set in the segregated South of the 1930s, is the story of two young children who learn about life and the great character of their father, Atticus Finch, as he struggles with a difficult case in which he must defend a black man wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. Read more about To Kill a Mockingbird
Brave New World Author(s): Aldous Huxley Free love, birth control, test tube baby factories, cloning, mutants, and sex, sex, sex. There are good reasons to have your mature students read this book, but you must do YOUR homework and read it first. Read more about Brave New World
The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown Author(s): G.K. Chesterton(Gilbert Keith Chesterton)Martin Gardner (notes) As an avid Chestertonian, I am frequently asked which G.K. Chesterton title I recommend for young people to read. The best and by far the most understandable "first" book of Chesterton's would be The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown. Read more about The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown
