Ranking all the Books You Read at Magnet

There are many works of great literature that we read throughout our 4 years at Magnet. As a senior, I can look back and compare them all. Everything I say here is my personal opinion, and I know that some people will disagree with it. Also, as a disclaimer, I did not read all of these books because some of them were a choice, but I have discussed them with other people who did read them to get their opinion. In addition, I did not rate the choice books from the Junior year AP Lang project because there was an option of about 30 books and I only read one.

 

Books Read At AMHS: (1= best, 36=worst)

Great Gatsby
Brave New World
Catcher in the Rye
The Alchemist 
1984
Handmaid’s Tale
Macbeth
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Frankenstien
Things Fall Apart
The Color of Water
Fences
Catch 22
Black Boy
Sarah’s Key
Slaughterhouse 5
Count of Monte Cristo
Julius Caesar
Oryx and Crake
 A StreetCar Named Desire 
The Things they Carried
The Poisonwood Bible
Othello
Dracula
Oedipus Rex
Year of Wonders
Bless Me Ultima
The Epic of Gilgamesh
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Siddhartha
Mythology
Dante’s Inferno
Life of Pi
Grapes of Wrath
Metamorphosis
The Scarlet Letter

Out of all of the books we have read at Magnet, I ranked The Great Gatsby as number one. I ranked it as number one for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, it got the first spot because it is just a great story and book overall. The characters are complex and there are twists that you do not see coming. Another reason I ranked it as number one is that it was an overall crowd-pleaser. I do not know any Magnet students who would say they did not like The Great Gatsby. While it might not be some people’s favorite, they still enjoyed the book and would recommend it. The last reason I chose it to be the number one book at Magnet is because we spend an entire day watching the movie as a grade with the teachers. This is a very fun day because people bring in blankets and you eat popcorn and it is a real bonding experience as a class. The Great Gatsby is the best book we read at Magnet in my opinion.

In contrast, the worst book we read at Magnet is The Scarlet Letter. Again, I chose this for a couple of different reasons as the overall worst book at Magnet. The first reason I chose this book as the worst is because of the writing style. It is written in old English and is very hard to read. I personally found it very frustrating how the author could explain what they were trying to say in two sentences that took them an entire chapter. I just did not like the writing style and found it to be a struggle when trying to read it. The second reason I chose this as the worst book at Magnet is because it is honestly the only book at Magnet that I did not read completely (well maybe some parts of The Grapes of Wrath, but that book was long). This goes back to how it is a very hard book to read due to its writing style. I will give the book credit that the actual plotline is good, but it is covered up by frustrating writing. That is why The Scarlet Letter got the last place spot in my ranking of books at Magnet.