 |
ACS Reading list
|
|
Introduction
The ACS academic program encourages continuous learning, and reading plays a vital role in this process. The ACS Summer Reading Program has been established to help you develop your reading skills and to foster the delights of reading.
We are providing you with a considerable list of recommended books, both fiction and non-fiction. You are expected to read three titles by different authors from this list before you return to school in August. If you are new to ACS this fall, take a minute to discuss the list with someone who could advise you on what to read: a librarian, teacher, or parent.
Buy your books whenever possible. During the first semester your reading will be evaluated by your English teacher, and having the books will allow you to do your best work.
You should make notes about your books as you read and record them accurately. You will be required to show these notes to your teachers when you return to school. This preliminary note taking will help you complete accurate and interesting assignments during the first semester.
If you are fluent in a language other than English, you can read one of your books in that language.
Please note that you must read three books by three different authors.
Please choose your titles according to your interests and maturity.
Please note that titles marked with an asterisk (*) are reserved for students who are enrolled in the Student Resources Program.
Make sure that you are reading titles that you have not read before, since an important goal of summer reading is to enlarge the scope of your knowledge.
Reading List - Fiction
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
Things Fall Apart |
Achebe, Chinua |
Watership Down |
Adams, Richard |
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
Adams, Douglas |
A Death in the Family |
Agee, John |
The House of Spirits |
Allende, Isabel |
In the Time of Butterflies |
Alvarez, Julia |
Bless me, Ultima |
Anaya, Rudolfo |
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings |
Angelou, Maya |
Daughters of Memory |
Arnold, Janis |
The Dollmaker |
Arnow, Harriet |
Fantastic Voyage |
Asimov, Isaac |
The Handmaid's Tale |
Atwood, Margaret |
The Lone Man |
Atxaga, Bernardo |
Timbuktu |
Auster, Paul |
The Book of Illusions |
Auster Paul |
Every Man for Himself |
Bainbridge, Beryl |
Pere Goriot |
Balzac, Honore |
Regeneration |
Barker, Pat |
Union Street |
Barker, Pat |
*Lillies of the Field |
Barrett, William |
The Victim |
Bellow, Saul |
City of Light |
Belfer, Lauren |
Little Big Man |
Berger, Thomas |
Orri's Story |
Berger, Thomas |
Evening Class |
Binchy, Maeve |
Lorna Doone |
Lackmore, R.D. |
*Girl Goddess Number 9 |
Block, Francesca |
Ficions |
Borges, Jorge Luis |
Century's Son |
Boswell, Robert |
Any Human Heart |
Boyd, William |
Armadillo |
Boyd, William |
Brazzaville Beach |
Boyd, William |
Stars and Bars |
Boyd, William |
The Tortilla Curtain |
Boyle, T.C. |
Farenheit 451 |
Bradbury, Ray |
The Illustrated Man |
Bradbury, Ray |
Red Sky at Morning |
Bradford, Richard |
Theory of War |
Brady, Joan |
The Postman |
Brin, David |
Hotel du Lac |
Brockner, Anita |
Jane Eyre |
Bronte, Charlotte |
*Hammerheads |
Brown, Dale |
Angels and Demons |
Brown, Dan |
The Da Vinci Code |
Brown, Dan |
Before and After |
Brown, Rosellen |
The Good Earth |
Buck, Pearl |
The 39 Steps |
Buchan, John |
Earthly Powers |
Burgess, Anthony |
Malayan Triloy |
Burgess, Anthony |
*The Incredible Journey |
Burnford, Sheila |
Cold Sassy Tree |
Burns, Olive Ann |
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain |
Butler, Robert Olen |
The Rule of Four |
Cadwell, Ian and Dustin Thomason |
Life is a Dream |
Calderon Barca, P |
The Outsider |
Camus, Albert |
The Plague |
Camus, Albert |
In Cold Blood |
Capote, Truman |
Short stories |
Capote, Truman |
Ender's Game |
Card, Orson Scott |
The Education of Little Tree |
Carter, Forrest |
Short Cuts |
Carver, Raymond |
Any short story collection |
Carver, Raymond |
My Antonia |
Cather, Willa |
Short stories |
Cather, Willa |
Don Quixote |
Cervantes, deM |
La Gitanilla |
Cervantes, deM |
The Cid |
Cervantes, deM |
N.I.K. |
Chambers, Aiden |
Farewell, My Lovely |
Chandler, Raymond |
The Big Sleep |
Chandler, Raymond |
Wild Swans |
Chang, Jung |
Falling Angels |
Chevalier, Tracy |
Girl wih a Pearl Earring |
Chevalier, Tracy |
The Lady and the Unicorn |
Chevalier, Tracy |
Any title |
Christie, Agatha |
The House on Mango Street |
Cisneros, Sandra |
The Hunt for Red October |
Clancy, Tom |
Patriot Games |
Clancy, Tom |
The Life and Times of Michael K |
Coetzee, J.M. |
The Master of Petersburg |
Coetzee, J.M. |
The Moonstone |
Collins, Wilkie |
The Woman in White |
Collins, Wilkie |
Any title |
Conrad, Joseph |
The Prince of Tides |
Conroy, Pat |
The Great Santini |
Conroy, Pat |
*The Lords of Discipline |
Conroy, Pat |
*The Water is Wide |
Conroy, Pat |
*After the First Death |
Cormier, Robert |
*The Chocolate War |
Cormier, Robert |
Jurassic park |
Crichton, Michael |
The Great Train Robbery |
Crichton, Michael |
*I Hear the owl Call My Name |
Craven, Margaret |
All Families are Psychotic |
Coupland, Douglas |
Girlfriend in a Coma |
Coupland, Douglas |
Miss Wyoming |
Coupland, Douglas |
The Red Badge of Courage |
Crane, Stephen |
Kiss, Kiss |
Dahl, Roald |
*Someone Like You |
Dahl, Roald |
Captain Corelli's Mandolin |
deBernieres, Louis |
Born Confused |
Desai Hidier, Tanjua |
Paris Trout |
Dexter, Pete |
The Red Tent |
Diamant Anita |
Any book |
Dickens, Charles |
Seven Gothic Tales |
Dinesen, Isak |
Ragtime |
Docorow, E.L. |
Daughter of the Sea |
Doherty, Berlie |
Any book |
Donleavy, J.P. |
Any book |
Dostoevsky, Fyodor |
Any book |
Doyle, Roddy |
The Count of Monte Cristo |
Dumas, Alexander |
The Three Musketeers |
Dumas, Alexander |
The House on the Strand |
DuMaurier, Daphne |
My Cousin Rachel |
DuMaurier, Daphne |
Rebecca |
DuMaurier, Daphne |
*Jin the Boy |
Earley, Tony |
The Name of the Rose |
Eco, Umberto |
Foreign Studies |
Endo, Shusaku |
Love Medicine |
Erdrich, Louise |
Like Water for Chocolate |
Esquivel, Laura |
High Five |
Evanovich, Janet |
One for the Money |
Evanovich, Janet |
To the Nines |
Evanovich, Janet |
Playing for Time |
Fanalon, Fania |
The Singapore Grip |
Farrell, J.G. |
*April Morning |
Fast, Howard |
Birdsong |
Faulkes, Sebastian |
The Hamlet |
Faulkner |
The Reivers |
Faulkner, William |
Cimmaron |
Ferber, Edna |
Giant |
Ferber, Edna |
Any book (except The Great Gatsby) |
Fitzgerald, F.S. |
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe |
Flagg, Fanny |
Madame Bovary |
Flaubert, Gustav |
Accidental Death of an Anarchist |
Fo, Dario |
Pillars of the Earth |
Follet, Ken |
Hornblower series, any |
Forster, C.S. |
Lady's Maid |
Forster, Margaret |
Day of the Jackel |
Forsythe, Fred'k |
The French Lieutenant's Woman |
Fowles, John |
The Magus |
Fowles, John |
Alas, Babylon |
Frank, pat |
The Corrections |
Frantzen, Jonathan |
*Mrs. Mike |
Freedman, Bend't |
Terra Nostra |
Fuentes, Carlos |
The Old Gringo |
Fuentes, Carlos |
Blood Wedding |
Garcia Lorca, Fred |
Love in the Time of Cholera |
Garcia Marquez, G. |
100 Years of Solitude |
Garcia Marquez, G. |
China lake |
Gardiner, John |
Any book |
Gaskell, Elizabeth |
The Fat Man |
Gee, Maurice |
Victory over Japan |
Gilchrist, Ellen |
July's People |
Gordimer, Nadine |
Road Walkers |
Grau, Shirley Ann |
Ordinary People |
Guest, Judith |
She |
Haggard, Ryder |
Archangel |
Harris, Robert |
Enigma |
Harris, Robert |
Fatherland |
Harris, Robert |
Pompeii |
Harris Robert |
Catch 22 |
Heller, Joseph |
A Farewell to Arms |
Hemingway, Ernest |
The Sun Also Rises |
Hemingway, Ernest |
Short stories |
Henry, O. |
Hiroshima |
Hersy, John |
The Childbuyer |
Hersy, John |
Tales of the Master Race |
Hershmann, Marcie |
Steppenwolf |
Hesse, Herman |
Beneath the Wheel |
Hesse, Herman |
Strange Meeting |
Hill, Susan |
Skinwalkers |
Hillerman, Tony |
The Blessing Way |
Hillerman, Tony |
The Fly on the Wall |
Hillerman, Tony |
Lost Horizon |
Hilton, James |
*Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
Hilton, James |
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow |
Hoeg, Peter |
Any short story collection |
Hoffman, Alice |
The Light Years |
Howard, Elizabeth |
Les Miserables |
Hugo, Victor |
The Blackboard Jungle |
Hunter, Evan |
Their Eyes Were Watching God |
Hurson, Zora Neale |
Ghosts |
Ibsen, Henrik |
A Prayer for Owen Meany |
Irving, John |
The Remains of the Day |
Ishiguro, Kazuo |
The Haunting of the Hill House |
Jackson, Shirley |
We Have Always Lived in the Castle |
Jackson, Shirley |
The Turn of the Screw |
James, Henry |
Platero and I |
Jimenez, Juan R. |
Waiting |
Jin, Ha |
Three Men in a Boat |
Jerome, Jerome K. |
Middle Passage |
Johnson, Charles |
Metamorphosis (story collection) |
Kafka, Franz |
Andersonville |
Kantor, MacKinlay |
Up the Down Staircase |
Kaufman, Belle |
Lake Wobegon Days |
Keillor, Garrison |
Any collection |
Keillor, Garrison |
Schindler's List (or Ark) |
Keneally, Thomas |
Ironweed |
Kennedy, William |
On the Road |
Kerouac, Jack |
*I'll Love You When You're More Like Me |
Kerr, M.F. |
The Poisonwood Bible |
Kingsolver, Barbara |
Shoeless Joe |
Kinsella, W.P. |
A Separate Peace |
Knowles, John |
Out of Ireland |
Koch, Christopher |
Darkness at Noon |
Koestler, Arthur |
*Confess-O-Rama |
Koertge, Ron |
Being There |
Kosinski, Jerry |
Death and the Penguin |
Kurkov, Andrey |
Any book |
L'Amour, Louis |
I Know This Much Is True |
Lamb, Wally |
Tao Te Ching |
Lao, Tzu |
Unheard Melodies |
Leamon, Warren |
A Perfect Spy |
LeCarre, John |
Call from the Dead |
LeCarre, John |
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold |
LeCarre, John |
*Prelude |
L'Engle, Madeline |
Dusty Answer |
Lehmann, Rom'd |
The Best Little Girl in the World |
Levenkron, Steven |
The Boys from Brazil |
Levin, Ira |
Main Street |
Lewis, Sinclair |
Dearly Beloved |
Lindbergh, Anne |
*Call of the Wild |
London, Jack |
The Seawolf |
London, Jack |
White Fang |
London, Jack |
Fuente ovejuna |
Lopa de Vega |
Jewel |
Lott, Brett |
*The Giver |
Lowry, Lois |
A River Runs Through It |
Maclean, Norman |
The Naked and the Dead |
Mailer, Norman |
The Natural |
Malamud, Bernard |
Buddenbrooks |
Mann, Thomas |
Death in Venice |
Mann, Thomas |
Bill and Other Stories |
Mansfield, Katherine |
Christy |
Marshall, Catherine |
Life of Pi |
Martel, Yann |
In Country |
Mason, Bobbi Ann |
Short stories |
Maupassant, Guy |
When She Was Good |
Mazer, Norma |
Ferris Beach |
McCorkle, Jill |
All the Pretty Horses |
McCarthy, Cormac |
The Group |
McCarty, Mary |
Lovey |
McCracken, Mary |
Member of the Wedding |
McCullers, Carson |
Atonement |
McEwan, Ian |
Enduring Love |
McEwan, Ian |
Anything for Billy |
McMurtry, Larry |
Horseman, Pass By |
McMurtry, Larry |
Lonesome Dove |
McMurtry, Larry |
Streets of Laredo |
McMurtry, Larry |
Terms of Endearment |
McMurtry, Larry |
*Daddy Was a Number Runner |
Merwether, Lousie |
Caravans |
Michner, James |
Hawaii |
Michner, James |
Martin Dressler |
Milhouser, Steven |
The Sound of Waves |
Mishima, Yuko |
The Bluest Eye |
Morrison, Toni |
Jasmine, Middleman, and other Stories |
Mukherjee, Bharati |
The Good Apprentice |
Murdoch, Iris |
Fallen Angels |
Myers, W.D. |
Somwhere in the Darkness |
Myers, W.D. |
A Bend in the River |
Naipul, V.S. |
Portrait of Jenny |
Nailian, Robert |
Lisa Bright and Dark |
Neufield, John |
Any book |
Newby, Eric |
Automated Alice |
Noon, Jeff |
Mutiny on the Bounty |
Nordhoff/Hall |
The Country Girl |
O'Brien, Edna |
Two for Zachariah |
O'Brien, Robert |
The Things They Carried |
O'Brien, TIm |
A Good Man is Hard to Find |
O'Connor, Flannery |
The Famished Road |
Okri, Ben |
Peeling the Onion |
Orr, Wendy |
The Shawl |
Ozick, Cyniliia |
Jean de Florette |
Pagnol, Marcel |
Manon of the Springs |
Pagnol, Marcel |
Stories |
Parker, Dorothy |
An Instance of the Fingerpost |
Pears, Iain |
Remembering the Good Times |
Reck, Richard |
Dona Perfecta |
Perez Galdos, B. |
The Shell Seekers |
Pilcher, Rosamond |
Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance |
Pirsig, Robert |
My Name Is Asher Lev |
Potok, Chaim |
The Promise |
Potok, Chaim |
Accordion Crimes |
Proulx, E. Annie |
The Shipping News |
Proulx, E. Annie |
The Fountainhead |
Rand, Ayn |
Under an English Heaven |
Radcliffe, Robert |
The Last of the Wine |
Renault, Mary |
The Bridesmaid |
Rendell, Ruth |
*Friedrich |
Richter, Hans P. |
Scarlett |
Ripley, Alexandra |
Goodbye, Columbus |
Roth, Philip |
The Old Man and the Boy |
Ruark, Robert |
Iron and Silk |
Salzman, Mark |
Whisper of the River |
Sams, Ferrol |
*Shane |
Schaeffer, Jack |
Sybil |
Schreiber, Flora |
The Stone Diaries |
Shields, Carol |
Lovely Bones |
Sebold, Alice |
The Killer Angels |
Shaara, Michael |
Frankenstein |
Shelley, Mary |
In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash |
Shepherd, Jean |
Any other title |
Shepherd, Jean |
And Quiet Flows the Don |
Sholokov, Mikhail |
THe Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner |
Sillitoe, Alan |
The Jungle |
Sinclair, Upton |
Any book |
Simenon, Georges |
A Thousand Acres |
Smiley, Jane |
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency |
Smith, Alexander |
Tear of the Giraffe |
Smith, Alexander |
White Teeth |
Smith, Zadie |
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich |
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander |
Cancer Ward |
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander |
Buried Onions |
Soto, Gary |
The Prime of Miss Jean Brody |
Spark, Muriel |
Cannery Row |
Steinbeck, John |
The Crystal Cave |
Stewart, Mary |
The Hollow Hills |
Stewart, Mary |
Dracula |
Stoker, Bram |
The Agony and the Ecstasy |
Stone, Irving |
The Confessions of Nat Turner |
Styron, William |
Sophie's Choice |
Styron, William |
Perfume |
Suskind, Patrick |
*Bless the Beasts and Children |
Swarthout, Glendon |
The Little Friend |
Tart, Donna |
The Secret History |
Tart, Donna |
The American Boy |
Taylor, Andrew |
Let the Circle Be Unbroken |
Taylor, Mildred |
The Road to Memphis |
Taylor, Mildred |
Kingdom by the Sea |
Theroux, Paul |
Mosquito Coast |
Theroux, Paul |
My Secret History |
Theroux, Paul |
My Secret Life |
Theroux, Paul |
The Hobbit |
Tolkein, J.R.R. |
A Confederacy of Dunces |
Toole, John |
Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
Traven, B. |
Any book |
Trevor, William |
Any book |
Trollope, Anthony |
Any book |
Trollope, Joanna |
Short stories |
Twain, Mark |
Any book |
Tyler, Anne |
Pigeon Feathers (or other short story collection) |
Updike, John |
Poorhouse Fair |
Updike, John |
Exodus |
Uris, Leon |
Mila 18 |
Uris, Leon |
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
Verne, Jules |
A Time of Troubles |
Van Raven, Pieter |
The Runner |
Voight, Cynthia |
Slaughterhouse Five |
Vonnegut, K. |
Breakfast of Champions |
Vonnegut, K. |
Any collection of short stories |
Vonnegut, K. |
The Color Purple |
Walker, Alice |
Possessing the Secret of Joy |
Walker, Alice |
Montana:1948 |
Watson, Larry |
The Loved One |
Waugh, Evelyn |
Decline and Fall |
Waugh, Evelyn |
I Can Get It for You Wholesale |
Weidman, Jerome |
What's in it for Me? |
Weidman, Jerome |
Miss Lonelyhearts |
West, Nathanael |
The Day of the Locust |
West, Nathanael |
The Picture of Dorian Grey |
Wilde, Oscar |
Any title |
Wodehouse, P.G. |
The Final Club |
Wolff, Geoffrey |
This Boy's Life |
Wolff, Tobias |
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial |
Wouk, Herman |
Black Boy |
Wright, Richard |
Native Son |
Wright, Richard |
Midwich Cuckoos |
Wyndham, John |
*Loch |
Zindel, Paul |
*The Pigman |
Zindel, Paul |
Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.
Reading List - History
TITLE |
AUTHOR |
Any book |
Bryson, Bill |
The Devil That Danced...Water: A Daughter's Memoir |
Forna, Aminatta |
The Age of Uncertainty |
Galbraith, John |
Black Like Me |
Griffin, John H. |
Defying Hitler |
Haffner, Sebastian |
Wellington |
Holmes, Richard |
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life |
Isaacson, Walter |
History of the Modern World |
Johnson, Paul |
Rise and Fall of the Great Powers |
Kennedy, Paul |
Mister Clemens and Mark Twain |
Kaplan, Justin |
Walt Whitman: A Life |
Kaplan, Justin |
Woman Warrior |
Kingston, Maxine |
Survival at Auschwitz |
Levi, Primo |
Home Before Night |
Leonard, Hugh |
The Holocaust In History |
Marris, Michael |
Nicholas and Alexandra |
Massie, Robert |
Blue Highways |
Moon, William |
First Flight |
O'Rourke, P.J. |
Give War a Chance |
O'Rourke, P.J. |
Holidays in Hell |
O'Rourke, P.J. |
Cross Creek |
Rawlings, Marjorie |
Ten Days That Shook the World |
Reed, John |
Citizens |
Sharma, Simon |
Berlin Diary: The Nightmare Years |
Shirer, William |
Galileo's Daughter |
Sobel, Dava |
Travels with Charlie |
Steinbeck, John |
English History, 1914-1939 |
Taylor, A.J.P. |
A History of the First World War |
Taylor, A.J.P. |
Lark Rise to Candleford |
Thompson, Florence |
Eats, Shoots and Leaved |
Truss, Lynne |
Distant Mirror |
Tuchman, Barbaara |
The Guns of August |
Tuchman, Barbara |
Autobiography |
Twain, Mark |
Life on the Mississippi |
Twain, Mark |
Night |
Wiesel, Elie |
The Right Stuff |
Wolfe, Tom |
Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.
Reading List - Science/Psychology
The Psychology of Interpersonal Behavior |
Argyle, Michael |
Asimov on Chemisry |
Asimov, Isaac |
Dibs: In Search of Self |
Axline, Virginia |
The Dinosaur Man |
Baur, Susan |
The Second Creation |
Crease & Mann |
The Rise of the New Physics |
D'Abro, A. |
The New York Times Book of Scientific Literacy |
Flaste, R(ed) |
The Interpretation of Dreams |
Freud, Sigmund |
The New Ambidextrous Universe |
Gardener, M. |
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat |
Gribbin, John |
Death Be Not Proud |
Gunther, John |
A Brief History of Time |
Hawking, Stephen |
Screwtape Letters |
Lewis, C.S. |
A Child Called It |
Pelzer, David |
The Lost Boy |
Pelzer, David |
Genome |
Ridley, Matt |
Serendipity |
Roberts, Royston |
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat |
Sacks, Oliver |
Scientific American Readers on Related Subjects |
Scientific American |
Chemistry in the Marketplace |
Selinger, Ben |
The Double Helix |
Watson, James |
A Passion for Science |
Wolpert/Richards |
Top | Content copyright ©ACS 2003-2005 unless otherwise stated.
|
|
|
   |