Contemporary Literature
Independent Reading Book List
Please choose one of the novels listed for independent reading. You can find excerpts and
reviews on many bookstore websites, and we will have copies of these books in class on
December 2nd so you can preview them. Please choose carefully, as you will not be able to
change novels once you have chosen. Also, I will only allow one person from each class to read
each novel. You must submit your top five choices (rank-ordered) to me no later than the end of
the period Monday, December 2nd.
Clive Barker—The Damnation Game
Jo Ann Beard-In Zanesville
Libba Bray-Going Bovine
Gail Carrager-Soulless
Ernest Cline-Ready Player One
Paulo Coelho—The Alchemist
Chris Crutcher—Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Whale Talk
Rachel DeWoskin-Big Girl Small: A Novel
Emma Donoghue-Room
Kim Edwards – The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
Leif Enger—Peace Like a River
John Green-Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, The Fault in our Stars
Sara Gruen-Ape House
Mark Haddon-A Spot of Brother
Nancy Horan-Loving Frank
Khaled Hosseini—A Thousand Splendid Suns
Todd Johnson – The Sweet By and By
Stephen King—Cell: A Novel
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
Yan Martel—Life of Pi
Roland Merullo-The Talk Funny Girl
Erin Morgenstern-The Night Circus
Chuck Palahniuk—Lullaby
Ann Patchett—Truth and Beauty: A Friendship; Bel Canto: A Novel
Jodie Picoult—Pact: A Love Story; Nineteen Minutes; Handle with Care; House Rules; Lone
Wolf
Caroline Preston-The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures
Ransom Riggs-Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Peter Rock-My Abandonment
Tatiana de Rosnay – Sarah’s Key
Lisa See—Snowflower and the Secret Fan
Neal Shusterman-Unwind
Zadie Smith—The Autograph Man, On Beauty
Garth Stein-The Art of Racing in the Rain
Kathryn Stockett – The Help
S.J. Watson-Before I Go to Sleep
Jasmin Ward-Salvage the Bones
Daniel H. Wilson-Robopocalypse
Kevin Wilson-The Family Fang
W.M.Paul Young-The Shack
Markus Zusak—The Book Thief, I Am the Messenger