Books I Had to Read in School and Liked

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Today's topic: Books I Had to Read in School and Liked

I've been an avid reader since I learned my ABC's while watching Sesame Street. I feel the need to confess that I was the kid who brought a book to read on the bus ride home from school. I read so many books during my school years, I don't remember which were required any more.

However, I do remember a few that I was not thrilled about being forced to read. Afterward, I was so grateful because these books were really enjoyable for me. So, I'll share those with you.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

My 6th grade reading teacher, Miss Dries, was definitely a Tolkien fan. She raved about this book for days before we actually started our reading assignments. I don't remember why, but I wasn't all that thrilled about reading an adventure story about a hobbit. What was a hobbit anyway? Like a troll? A goblin? I read about goblins. I had already read The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald one my own and loved it. But, a hobbit?? I mean, I was more Sweet Valley Twins girl at that point in my reading career. I had no idea what an impact The Hobbit would bring to my life, or The Lord of the Rings trilogy which I would read later.

A great modern classic and the prelude to The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I read this in high school. It was one of those (groan) classic literature books with the really long sentences and boring descriptions and the strange dialogue that made no sense. I was so wrong. It started a little slow in the beginning, but it wasn't long before I was swept into the story and earnestly interested in what happened to the characters. I won't give away any spoilers, but if I remember correctly, I cried by the end.

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I'll add this here, too. I fell in love with this story so much that I still read it and watch the movie every year (the version with Patrick Stewart is the best in my opinion). There is something so magical about the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge that tugs at my heart. That a person such as Scrooge can turn himself around to become a better person gives me the belief that we should keep Christmas in our hearts all year long.

Ebenezer Scrooge has no time for the poor or the wretched. And it's "Bah, humbug!" to anyone who wishes him a Merry Christmas. But when he turns in for the night one cold, fateful Christmas Eve, his past, present, and future converge. Three haunting guests are about to show him that the time has come to change his miserly ways - before it's too late. 

Hamlet by Shakespeare

This was required 12th grade reading and yes, I had to memorize and recite the To Be, or Not to Be section to pass the class. By this time in my life, I realized that volunteering to go first (or at least in the top 5) was much better than waiting with sweaty palms and sickening dread every day. I think I was the third to volunteer. I had to do it no matter what, so it was better to just do it and get it over with. For the next week of classes, I got to sit back and relax while I watched my fellow students sit at their desks paralyzed with fear of standing in front of everybody and stumbling through the lines.

Anyway, I had heard a lot about Hamlet and our 12th grade English teacher, Mr. Jones, by this point in my school career. None of it was good. To my surprise, I really enjoyed this class. Mr. Jones was an old fashioned professor type, but he was extremely knowledgeable about literature and made me think about the stories we read in the class. And Hamlet was such a story! So much was involved, all those little details that led up to the tragic ending. It was an interesting reading experience and one I'm glad to have had.

One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother's infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet's feigned madness, Ophelia's death and burial, the play within a play, the "closet scene" in which Hamlet accuses his mother of complicity in murder, and breathtaking swordplay are just some of the elements that make Hamlet an enduring masterpiece of the theater.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Okay, okay. This was not exactly required reading. I'll admit it. I chose this to read during my 9th grade English class. Mr. Palamar gave us time to read a book of our choosing and we had to pick out several words that we didn't recognize in each book and then look up the definition of each word. I chose The Three Musketeers because the movie was being released that year and I wanted to read the book before I watched the movie.

The book was so much better than the movie. I had no idea what I had been missing by reading classic literature. This was a bit of a turning point for me. Up until then, I dreaded most of our required reading lists, but if the teachers would just choose books like this, I'd be thoroughly entertained. And, although this exact title wasn't required, I had already learned the names of those authors that kids were forced to read. Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, etc. These were names I dreaded, until I read Alexandre Dumas. After reading this book, I decided to give classic literature a more open mind. Maybe my teachers were onto something and I might actually enjoy the books they forced us to read.

Young nobleman d'Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment's most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it's the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.

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