Third Quarter Book Report for Humanities
1. Choose a book. Seek approval. No more than three people may choose the same
book. Choose a book that is NEW TO YOU. Date due: _______________
2. Have fun and read your book.
3. Set up a “book talk” with me on or BEFORE _______________. The book talk (10
minutes or so) is worth 20 points. You will be doing most of the talking!
4. You are now ready to begin your paper.
5. Your paper should consist of four sections. Each section should be true to required page
lengths. Page requirements are real, so don’t fool with margins, typefaces, etc.
a. a one-page summary (1)
b. what did you learn about art, religion, culture, society, history, etc. just by reading your
book? (1)
c. what did you learn through further research on your book? (3)
d. reaction to the book (thumbs up or down and why) (1)
Due:______________
6. Part “c” of your paper must have a bibliography that will not be counted in the page
length. You are required to have at least 4 GOOD sources. Our text does not count,
although you may cite it. You need to cite!
7. Section a, b, c, and d are worth 50 points each. To earn full credit:
 sections will fulfill the requirements
 be in your own words
 pay attention to style, voice, sentence variety, etc.
 have good detail
 have well-supported information and/or opinion
 be free of technical errors.
Sections b, c, and d should have no more than three focused points. For example, you
may research up to 3 different ideas, or you may discuss up to 3 different things you
learned while reading.
Some book choices that kids have enjoyed in the past:
Biographies of Musicians, Composers, Artists, Architects, etc. . .
Various classics (Frankenstein, Farewell to Arms, Hard Times, The Odyssey, Robinson Crusoe,
Oedipus Trilogy, etc)
The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone
Almost French, Sarah Turnbull
Angels and Demons, Dan Brown
The Art Forger, B.A. Shapiro
The Autobiography of Santa Claus, Jeff Guinn
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
Beneath a Marble Sky, John Shors
Birth of Venus, Sarah Dunant
Breakfast With Buddha, Roland Merullo
Brunelleschi’s Dome, Ross King
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
City of Thieves, David Benioff
Conspiracy of Paper, David Liss
The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl
The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown
Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland
Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill
Inferno, Dan Brown
Inferno, Dante Alighieri
Isabella, Isabella Leitner
The Judgment of Paris, Ross King
The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier
Lives of the Artists, Giorgio Vasari
The Lost Painting, Jonathon Harr
The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
Lust For Life, Irving Stone
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
Marrying Mozart, Stephanie Cowell
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling, Ross King
Morality Play, Barry Unsworth
Mozart, Piero Melograni
The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillippa Gregory
The Passion of Artemesia, Susan Vreeland
People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Vanora Bennett
Priceless, Robert Wittman
The Rule of Four, Caldwell & Thomason
Sarah’s Key, Tatiana De Rosnay
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
The Sixteen Pleasures, Robert Hellenga
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
Timeline, Michael Crichton
Tulip Fever, Deborah Moggach
Will of the World, Stephen Greenblatt
Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks