AP Lit: Bucketlist!

1.)The Art of Hearing Heartbeats-Jan Phillipp Sendker: After reading all that it would allow me to on Amazon, I couldn’t get enough of the style. For the longest time I have wished that I could find a book that reached out and pulled at my sappy heart-strings by how beautifully written it was. The  mysterious love story of a father who disappears without warning leaving his wife and daughter to fend for themselves, and the hope and fulfilling warmth of the heart moments seem to be different then the stereotypical fiction that I have found in book after book. Being set in Burma, this book seems to be unique and just what I have been looking for. I have already bought it and can’t wait to get started!

 2.) Monument 14-Emmy Laybourne: I have always been interested in the “end of the world” apocalypse movies and books, so when I found this one I read all 12 pages that were displayed on Amazon and was absolutely amazed, terrified, engrossed, and repulsed all at the same time. At the very beginning I was in love with this author because instead of the normal apocalyptic book where it takes 3 or 4 chapters to really dive in to the good stuff, this book immediately started out by letting the author know that something was going on by mentioning that there was a gas shortage and within those 12 pages, a hail storm, bus clobbering, explosion, and multiple graphic deaths took place. This will be an amazing page turner!

3.) The Language of Flowers-Vanessa Diffenbaugh: I am in love with beautiful stories that I guess some might think of as mature fairy tales. I think those are some of the best, most pure, books to read though. This book, before I evened read the quick view that is given, I noticed that the cover is lovely and brings a sense of almost peace and happiness to me. After just reading the summary of a girl who is socially estranged after being in the foster system her entire life and can communicate to people by the flowers that she picks out for them, I realized that the plot matched the cover, beautiful. 

4.)  The Secret Life of Bees-Sue Mond Kidd: This has been recommended by many people, so going into it, I figured it would be an interesting book. After reading the summary and some of the reviews, my expectations of what it would be about were quickly shot down. This is not a fru-fru cake book, it involves a dark tragedy from what I have read involving the almost unexplained death of a girl’s mother. Among my list of books, I think this will even out some of the light hearted fairytales and will be a great read.

 5.) The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky: I have been told that this is a great read as well, so I looked into it and am excited to get to this one. Bringing to life the reality of high school and all that goes on through a series of letters, this will definitely give me a little insight to different issues and views. The letters that I was able to read are different than the normal which would be in a fiction book because they seem to be more detailed and in depth, therefore I am glad to have a different style among the other books.

6.) Ordinary People-Judith Guest: Among the happy, heart-warming books that I have compiled, I would like to add this book of grief and healing. After losing one son out of two,  a family must pull together through their pain to heal. The reality of this novel will be great and the experience of reading it wholesome. The reviews have consisted of person after person and company stating that it shows you that your problems are normal and that other people go through the same thing, I can’t wait to see what things I have in common with the people and stories in this  book.

 7.)  The Dry Grass of August-Anna Jean Mayhew: Detailed descriptions of things are what draw me into a book and help me imagine what is taking place. I noticed right away that I love the author’s style and sense of elaboration on some of the simplest things like how detailed she wrote about the sky and the flowered cloth bag. This story about a girl traveling with her family and black house maid from the north going closer and farther south tells the tale of the difference in culture within segregation. This book will definitely contain humor, and realization.

8.)  The Lost Wife-Alyson Richman: If you haven’t already picked up on the fact that I love sappy everything then I will openly state it now. This book combined my love of love and history dating back to the Nazi invasion where two lovers are split up, telling the story of what was encountered. I have always been interested in the holocaust but have never been able to really find a book that has completely captivated me, and I believe that this book has done exactly that.

 9.)  Cather in the Rye-J.D. Salinger: I have heard of this book and have had it recommended to me by several people. I enjoy classics but am not one for old English, so that is why I think this book will be an enjoyable classic for me to read. Looking through it, I want to say that the language is almost crude because I seemed to get the impression that the narrator of this book has many harsh feelings and views. This will definitely be a different read for me, which will add variety to my book list.

10.) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou: The tragic story of a young girl victimized by rape brings a different kind of plot to this story. I have wanted to read this for a while but haven’t felt like I was in the right mind set for a book that serious and surreal. I noticed that the author’s style involves using metaphors frequently which she has been criticized for doing by reviewers. This will be a nice change between my normal read, and hopefully an impactful one.