Great Book Lists
If you only read what you are assigned in school, you will never be a very good reader, writer, or thinker. Read more!
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (Scroll down for the current and past lists, and be sure to check out all of the links on the left side of the page; there are dozens of different lists)
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/best-fiction-young-adults
Smithtown High School West "BookSpace"
http://cmasrour.wix.com/shswlibrary#!untitled/c1jm9
Modern Library: 100 Best Novels
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
The 25 Essential Books for the Well-Read Explorer
http://www.outsideonline.com/1928591/25-essential-books-well-read-explorer
National Book Awards
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014.html
If you only read what you are assigned in school, you will never be a very good reader, writer, or thinker. Read more!
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (Scroll down for the current and past lists, and be sure to check out all of the links on the left side of the page; there are dozens of different lists)
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/best-fiction-young-adults
Smithtown High School West "BookSpace"
http://cmasrour.wix.com/shswlibrary#!untitled/c1jm9
Modern Library: 100 Best Novels
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
The 25 Essential Books for the Well-Read Explorer
http://www.outsideonline.com/1928591/25-essential-books-well-read-explorer
National Book Awards
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014.html
101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers
The numbers next to each book are the Lexile ratings; the higher the number, the "harder" the book. Some of the books that don't have ratings are plays or epic poems, but some are novels and essays.
college_board_recommended_books.pdf | |
File Size: | 51 kb |
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Mr. Jackett's Suggested Books (Movies and Music, Too!)
suggestedbooksmoviesmusic13.doc | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
File Type: | doc |
2013 BEST-OF LISTS! (Sorry this hasn't been updated; you can check all of these sites for their 2014 lists, too!)
The Best Book I Read This YearThe Atlantic's editors and writers share their favorite titles—new, classic, or somewhere in between—from a year of reading.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/the-best-book-i-read-this-year/282018/
100 Notable Books of 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2013.html
Notable Children's Books of 2013 (includes Young Adult; that's you!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2013.html
The 17 Best Fiction Books of 2013
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/01/the-17-best-fiction-books-of-2013.html
The Best Book I Read This YearThe Atlantic's editors and writers share their favorite titles—new, classic, or somewhere in between—from a year of reading.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/the-best-book-i-read-this-year/282018/
100 Notable Books of 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2013.html
Notable Children's Books of 2013 (includes Young Adult; that's you!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2013.html
The 17 Best Fiction Books of 2013
http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2014/01/the-17-best-fiction-books-of-2013.html
The Academic Word List
The list below contains the 570 words appearing most frequently, and across the broadest range, in academic texts. These are not part of the basic, general 2,000-3,000 words that every English speaker knows, nor are they highly-specialized words that only apply to a certain field. You will know many of them; you should learn the rest. Start by trying to incorporate these words into your writing and speech in your classes. There are also many websites that offer exercises; search "academic word list." This site looks pretty good:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/
academic_word_list.docx | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Notice & Note Signposts and Anchor Questions
literatureanchorquestions.pdf | |
File Size: | 194 kb |
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Character Response Sheet
charrespsheetwilhelm.doc | |
File Size: | 23 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide-by Lois Tyson
criticaltheorytodaytyson.pdf | |
File Size: | 6883 kb |
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Additional Literary Theory Resources:
Bloom's Literary Reference Online (Library Database): http://library.smithtown.k12.ny.us/
Kristi Siegel (brief overviews): http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm
virtuaLit: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical.html
Critical Theory (WSU): http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/lit.crit.html
Purdue OWL: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/01/
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Bloom's Literary Reference Online (Library Database): http://library.smithtown.k12.ny.us/
Kristi Siegel (brief overviews): http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm
virtuaLit: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/critical.html
Critical Theory (WSU): http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/lit.crit.html
Purdue OWL: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/01/
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The Best Poetry Sites
Academy of American Poets
http://www.poets.org/
Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Poetry Out Loud
http://www.poetryoutloud.org
American Poetry Review
www.aprweb.org
Rattle
http://www.rattle.com/poetry/
Academy of American Poets
http://www.poets.org/
Poetry Foundation
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Poetry Out Loud
http://www.poetryoutloud.org
American Poetry Review
www.aprweb.org
Rattle
http://www.rattle.com/poetry/
American Literature
http://www.americanliterature.com/twenty-great-american-short-stories
East of the Web
http://www.short-stories.co.uk/
Narrative Magazine (FREE account)
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/
The New Yorker (Fiction Podcast: these are short stories read aloud; I think you can find the text of some short stories on the site, too, but you may need a subscription; you can also go to the library)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/podcast
http://www.americanliterature.com/twenty-great-american-short-stories
East of the Web
http://www.short-stories.co.uk/
Narrative Magazine (FREE account)
http://www.narrativemagazine.com/
The New Yorker (Fiction Podcast: these are short stories read aloud; I think you can find the text of some short stories on the site, too, but you may need a subscription; you can also go to the library)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/podcast
Great Essays (More to Come!)
Read like a writer! Notice not only what the writer says (the content), but how she/he says it (sentence structure, paragraph structure, overall structure/organization, word choice, figurative language, etc.)
Most of these are opinion and news analysis essays; stick with them rather than straight news reporting articles.
"The Best Magazine Articles Ever" Cool Tools
https://www.dotdotdot.me/Grant-Ross/Kevin-Kelly---The-Best-Magazine-Articles-Ever
"The Opinion Pages"-The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/
"Opinionator-Draft"
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/draft/
Editorials-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/editorials/index.html
"Lives"-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/features/magazine/columns/lives/index.html
"Modern Love"-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/style/fashionandstyle/columns/modernlove/
"The Sidney Awards, Part 1" (I don't have the link here for Part 2, but you can find it)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/opinion/brooks-the-sidney-awards.html
"The 2012 Sidney Awards I" (Again, there is a Part II)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/opinion/brooks-the-2012-sidney-awards-i.html
"Opinions"-The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/
"The Post's View"-The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/the-posts-view/2011/12/07/gIQAoEIscO_page.html
Slate
http://www.slate.com/
The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/
National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/
New Republic
http://www.newrepublic.com/
New Republic: Must-Reads!
http://www.newrepublic.com/must-reads
The Sun
http://thesunmagazine.org/
Aeon Magazine
http://aeon.co/magazine/most-popular/
Pitchfork
http://pitchfork.com/features/columns/
Grantland: Zach Lowe
http://grantland.com/grantland_bio/zach-lowe/
Sports Illustrated: Rick Reilly Archive
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/rick_reilly/archive/
New York Times: William C. Rhoden
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/williamcrhoden/
New York Times: George Vecsey
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/georgevecsey/
Read like a writer! Notice not only what the writer says (the content), but how she/he says it (sentence structure, paragraph structure, overall structure/organization, word choice, figurative language, etc.)
Most of these are opinion and news analysis essays; stick with them rather than straight news reporting articles.
"The Best Magazine Articles Ever" Cool Tools
https://www.dotdotdot.me/Grant-Ross/Kevin-Kelly---The-Best-Magazine-Articles-Ever
"The Opinion Pages"-The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/
"Opinionator-Draft"
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/draft/
Editorials-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/editorials/index.html
"Lives"-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/features/magazine/columns/lives/index.html
"Modern Love"-The New York Times
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/style/fashionandstyle/columns/modernlove/
"The Sidney Awards, Part 1" (I don't have the link here for Part 2, but you can find it)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/opinion/brooks-the-sidney-awards.html
"The 2012 Sidney Awards I" (Again, there is a Part II)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/opinion/brooks-the-2012-sidney-awards-i.html
"Opinions"-The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/
"The Post's View"-The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/the-posts-view/2011/12/07/gIQAoEIscO_page.html
Slate
http://www.slate.com/
The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/
National Journal
http://www.nationaljournal.com/
New Republic
http://www.newrepublic.com/
New Republic: Must-Reads!
http://www.newrepublic.com/must-reads
The Sun
http://thesunmagazine.org/
Aeon Magazine
http://aeon.co/magazine/most-popular/
Pitchfork
http://pitchfork.com/features/columns/
Grantland: Zach Lowe
http://grantland.com/grantland_bio/zach-lowe/
Sports Illustrated: Rick Reilly Archive
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/rick_reilly/archive/
New York Times: William C. Rhoden
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/williamcrhoden/
New York Times: George Vecsey
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/sports/columns/georgevecsey/