Top Ten Tuesday: Ranking 10 Books I Was Assigned to Read for School

Top Ten Tuesday is a tag hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's prompt is "Books I was Assigned to Read in School". 

My mom made me start keeping a reading journal when I was ten. I disliked it at the time, but I have since come to enjoy it–and it's very useful when we have Top Ten Tuesday topics like this which require looking back at books we read a long time ago! (I'm realizing as I type this that most people probably use Goodreads. What can I say, I'm old school 😉.)

It was hard choosing just ten books for this! I picked out ten that I remember having strong feelings about, whether I remember exactly what they were about or not. Here we go, from least to most favorite:

10. Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (Tenth Grade)

"Daniel Defoe relates the tale of an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades. An ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances, Robinson Crusoe wrestles with fate and the nature of God." (From Goodreads)

I know this book is beloved by many people, but I simply hated it. 

9. Orlando, by Virginia Woolf (eleventh/twelfth grade)

"Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Constantinople, awakes to find that he is now a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women." (From Goodreads)

This was just weird.

8. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes (Eighth Grade)

"Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence – a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon. As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?" (From Goodreads)

This book scarred me for life. Honestly, I don't feel like I was ready for some of the content at the tender age of thirteen (I was a very sensitive reader until just a few years ago). It's definitely stuck with me, and I guess that's any author's goal, right? However, I do have beef with the back cover of the copy I read, which touted Flowers for Algernon as a "modern classic". Bro, there's no such thing, and I will stand by that opinion.

7. Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis (Tenth Grade)

"In this timeless tale of two mortal princesses- one beautiful and one unattractive- C.S. Lewis reworks the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche into an enduring piece of contemporary fiction. This is the story of Orual, Psyche's embittered and ugly older sister, who posessively and harmfully loves Psyche. Much to Orual's frustration, Psyche is loved by Cupid, the god of love himself, setting the troubled Orual on a path of moral development." (From Goodreads)

I feel like I should like this book, but I just don't. I first read it in 2015, and according to my reading journal I reread it in August 2017, which makes me think that the second reading must have been the one for school. I can't see myself reading it again unless I had to.

6. The Erasers, by Alain Robbe-Grillet (Eleventh/Twelfth Grade)

"The narrative spans the twenty-four-hour period following a series of eight murders in eight days, presumably the work of a terrorist group. After the ninth murder, the investigation is then turned over to a police agent, who may in fact be the assassin. Both an engrossing mystery and a sinister deconstruction of reality, The Erasers intrigues and unnerves with equal force as it pull us along to its ominous conclusion." (From Goodreads)

I remember really liking this and thinking it was so cool and experimental. Time for a reread?

5. Animal Farm, by George Orwell (Eighth Grade)

"A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible." (From Goodreads)

Blew my mind.

4. A Parcel of Patterns, by Jill Paton Walsh (Tenth Grade)

"'A parcel of patterns brought the plague to Eyam. A parcel sent up from London to George Vicars, a journeyman tailor, who was lodging with Mrs. Cooper in a cottage by the west end of the churchyard.' So begins Mall Percival's account of how her village of Eyam struggled against the plague. " (From Goodreads)

I have no idea why I liked this so much, since it's literally about the black plague and *SPOILER* almost everyone dies *END OF SPOILER*, but I remember loving it. Tenth grade was (mostly) a great reading year.

3. Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes (Ninth Grade)

"Johnny Tremain, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught up in the danger and excitement of 1775 Boston, just before the Revolutionary War. But even more gripping than living through the drama of Revolutionary Boston is the important discovery Johnny makes in his own life." (From Goodreads)

I actually read this for school twice, once when I was seven or eight and my mom read it to me (the same year we read The Witch of Blackbird Pond) and again in ninth grade. I really enjoyed it both times, which I think is a testament to the timelessness of the story!

2. Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff (Tenth Grade)

"Hollis Woods is the place where a baby was abandoned is the baby's name is an artist is now a twelve-year-old girl who's been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they'll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won't let anyone separate them. She's escaped the system before; this time, she's taking Josie with her. Still, even as she plans her future with Josie, Hollis dreams of the past summer with the Regans, fixing each special moment of her days with them in pictures she'll never forget. Patricia Reilly Giff captures the yearning for a place to belong in this warmhearted story, which stresses the importance of artistic vision, creativity, and above all, family." (From Goodreads)

I really loved this story. So much so that I actually wrote a Middle Grade novel that has a similar vibe to it. I should probably reread this at some point.

1. Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Engdahl (Tenth Grade)

"Elana, though still a first-year student at the academy of the interstellar Anthopological Service, is elated by the chance to take part in her father's perilous mission to the medieval planet Andrecia, which is being invaded by colonists from a young starfaring Empire. How can they drive the Imperials away without revealing their own alien origin? The key to the plan is a woodcutter's son named Georyn, who believes the menace beyond the forest to be a dragon. To him, Elana is an enchantress who can give him magical powers that will enable him to defeat it. But she soon finds that this role is no mere pretense and that her feeling for Georyn is deeper than she ever expected it could become." (From Goodreads)

Okay, I know I've been saying I need to reread a lot of these but I really mean it with this one! I really love the concept of this story and while I'm not usually that into sci-fi, this felt like the perfect mix of sci-fi and fantasy to me, with a very thoughtful premise.

I'm curious to see how many of these are the same on other people's lists! Drop your TTT link below so I can go visit your list and say hi on your blog, or feel free to comment with some memorable books you were assigned in school!