Recommended reads..?

Question

I am 14, and i've always been a reader, but in this past year, i haven't been reading so much as i haven't found any interesting books..

When i was 12, i read books by Torey Hayden, Jane Elliot, Dave Pelzer, and more. Basically books on child abuse, i like the way they make you empathise for them [if that makes sense].

When i was 13, i read books basically by Dean Koontz, and stuck by that author for a year or so, his work is so gripping and jaw-dropping. I like murder/thriller/psychological books. I don't really enjoy fictional books with vampires and werewolves.

I didn't do so well in my SATs english (level 5), so i want to myself back on track by reading a lot in year 10 and year 11. I'm looking for some books which are sad/sympathetic/thriller/horror/gore, but i welcome different genres. I am also looking for some good literature reads [if that makes sense!].

Many thanks.

Answer 1

FableHaven by Brandon Mull is great!

I also just finished Isaac's Storm  by Erik Larson its NonFiction but it reads fictional.. wow

Answer 2

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Here's the blurb so you can see what it's about (also note: It's one of the top 20 books in the bookstores at the moment and one of the top 50 books in 'books you can't put down' list): also, please read all of this. I know it looks like HEAPS of writing, but it’s relevant!

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks, and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.

What Bella doesn't realize is that the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And it might be too late to turn back...

Deeply seductive, and irresistibly compelling, the book 'Twilight' is an extraordinary love story that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

Stephenie Meyer is a fantastic author! (Harry Potter and Twilight are tying with me at the moment!). Her story is really funny and she thinks of really smart lines. Here are some of my fave quotes:

Stupid shiny Volvo owner

Note: this is a note they're writing to each other in class (it goes Bella, Edward, Bella, Edward etc.):

So let's say my bad luck did crash the plane. What exactly were YOU going to do about it?

Why is the plane crashing?

The pilots are passed out drunk.

Easy. I'd fly the plane.

Okay, both engines have exploded and we're falling in a death spiral toward the earth.

I'd wait till we were close enough to the ground, get a good grip on you, kick out the wall, and jump. Then I'd run you back to the scene of the accident, and we'd stumble around like the two luckiest survivors in history.

hehehe. Love those quotes! Anyway, the reason they're so popular is because most girls fall in LOVE with Edward Cullen. He’s absolutely dreamy and a gentleman (gentlemen are hard to find these days). He’s constantly looking out for Bella and has her best interests at heart. It’s also helps that he’s astonishingly gorgeous. This is how Stephenie Meyer describes him: breathtaking crooked smile...silken irresistible voice...  And he’s so romantic!

It’s a really good book!

Answer 3

hi there.

Sad - French lieutenants Woman by John Fowles, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Of Mice and Men by John Steinback.

Sympathetic - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, A Town like Alice by Nevil Shute, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Thriller - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The 39 Steps by John Buchan, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

Horror - the Monk by Geoffrey Lewis, Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

Gore - Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis.

Hope this helps, all very readable and across genres.

Enjoy, Steve.

Answer 4

I'm with Mom Knows Best and a few who have followed her, there are some classics of English literature that even at fourteen you might enjoy.

When I was 14, (so that's grade nine for me) I read To Kill A Mockingbird as one of the English (subject) books.  We also read The Diary of A Young Girl, (Anne Frank).

If you've not read Anne Frank I think you'll enjoy her, based on what you've written about your reading so far.

You read Dave Pelzer when you were twelve?  I suppose that's sort of the age he was writing about eh, I'm pleased you were able to empathise with those characters as it is a useful skill in both a reader and a writer.

(I used to teach English and Humanities in a school in South-Eastern England so your level-5 in SATs interests me.)

I imagine then you're not too pleased with Shakespeare?  There's some great stuff in his stories, but thou needest to get paste ye Elisabetheane language, forsooth...so I can see how that might be a problem.  It's worth persuing though, I performed in a few of his plays when I was at University and had loads of fun with the language and the imagery...some of it is quite cheeky if you get behind ye olde wordes.

Whatever you find, have fun!  Reading (and writing about reading) is a great thing to do.  Best of luck with it...and with your GCSEs!

:-)

Answer 5

Try some of these!

The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Neffenigger

Last Chance by Sarah Dessen

Best of Fathers by Anne Baker

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Cell by Stephen King

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Before I Die by Jenny Downham - very sad!

Swimming with the Fishes and Swimming without a net by MaryJanice Davidson

Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funkt

Ingo series by Helen Dunmore

Jane Eyre

Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift

Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Lord of the Flies and The Inheritors by William Golding

No! I don’t want to join a Book Club by Virgina Ironside

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir......and her other books

Eragon series

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

The Arthur Trilogy by Bernard Cornwall starts with Winter King

Mr McGreggor, The Last Lighthouse Keeper, Animal Instincts, Only Dad, Rosie, Love and Dr Devon all by Alan Titchmarsh

Anything by Stephen King, John Saul, John Connolly, James Herbert and Alexander McCall Smith

The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind starts with Wizards First Rule

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King starts with The Gunslinger

All the Harry Potter books

Answer 6

If you can finish Dean Koontz and come out of it okay, which is very impressive for someone your age, you'd probably really like Yearly Harvest by Ryan Callaway.  It is more of a mystery/suspense/horror story, but it is an amazing story, and the characters are great.

Answer 7

Where Are The Children by Mary Higgins Clark.

Misery by Stephen King.

Needful Things by Stephen King.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.

Hideaway by Dean Koontz.

Suffer The Children by John Saul.

Strangers by Dean Koontz.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin.

Answer 8

Dripfeed, it's a debut novel from this new author Lami Okrekson

Answer 9

Here are some of my favorites classics that I think everyone should read;

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Oliver Twist  by Charles Dickens

Wuthering Heights  by Emily Bronte

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

The Other by Thomas Tryon

They all have some suspense elements, and the last one is truly scary in parts.  Each one has something different to recommend it, and the first two, especially, are considered "literary", and are works you ought to know about.

Answer 10

twilight saga

omg there all amazing

YOU HAVE TO READ THEM

Answer 11

This is a list of my favourites:

Fiction:

Confessions of a Justified Sinner - Justin Hogg

1984 & Animal Farm - George Orwell

The Way the Dead Live - Will Self

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Nice - Jen Sacks

An Instance of Fingerpost - Iain Pears

The Midwich Cuckoos & Day of the Triffids - John Wydham

The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills

Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

The English Passengers - Matthew Kneale

Death & the Penguin - Andrey Kurkev

The Way we Live Now - Anthony Trollope

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

The Brief & Frightening Reign of Phil - George Saunders

Non-fiction

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China - Jung Chang

The World We're In - Will Hutton

Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser, the scariest book I have ever read.

The Riddle and The Knight - Giles Milton (anything by him)

Answer 12

Try reading Christopher Paolini's book, Eragon its a brilliant book  

Answer 13

john saul has an intresting twist

james patterson is another

Answer 14

I'm 14 too and by your taste, I recommend the Twilight series if you want some pleasure reading and NOT if you want to improve your English or writing skills. I loved the Twilight series by the way.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte is a good classic - the main characters were quite evil though

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte --> I really liked it, but you have to be patient as the good bit comes way later on. Its a romance btw

Snakehead - Anthony Horowitz --> It was pretty sad for me, the best in the Alex Rider series

Power of Five series - Anthony Horowitz - I guess it'll classify as horror(more or less), thriller (maybe), gore (slightly) and fantasy

Scared to Death - (I forgot) - But its a tiny book with the words Scared to Death written on them in red Oxford font. I think it'll fall into all your categories except sad or sympathetic

Sorry, that's all I came up with. Enjoy!