Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Books I Was Assigned to Read in School
I grew up in Malaysia and our schools didn’t have assigned reading so I’m just going to adapt this topic for books that are set in schools. There are a lot of great books set in schools but I suddenly can’t think of them now that I’m trying to make a list out of them!
Top Ten Books Set in Schools
- Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster – I’m sure I’ve talked so much about this book that everyone is tired of hearing about it, but it’s set in a boarding school so I had to have it on the list.
- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman – I love Charlie and Nick and I would die for them! I love how heartwarming the whole series is!
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – My guilty pleasure! I recognize the tropes and cheese but I still love it.
- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han – I loved this one. Lara Jean and her family are so cute and fun to read about.
- My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan – Julia Whelan is one of my favorite audiobook narrators but she also writes books and this one is set in an educational institution. This one was so heartwarming and I loved it!
- The Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal – I devoured this series as a child and have very fond memories of reading SVH from morning to night during my school holidays!
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – It took me too long to pick this up because I loved The Hunger Games and wasn’t convinced I needed a story from Snow’s POV. It turned out to be brilliant though!
- Matilda by Roald Dahl – I love Matilda! I was Matilda! Minus the magical powers and the over-the-top abuse from her family, and I didn’t have a Miss Honey, and I’m not half as smart as Matilda… I guess I’m not very Matilda except that I love reading. That counts, right?
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – This one hurts but it’s such a powerful book and I loved it.
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – I loved the idea of this series, and the first book wasn’t bad, but the books got progressively worse for me and I ended up really disappointed in the end.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Hahah, Sweet Valley High? I remember reading a few from my oldest sister’s collection (..I would read anything), but never as a school assignment. Oxford Year was just reccommended to me by my lady friend!
SVH wasn’t assigned for school!! None of these were! 😂
I like your twist on the topic…and I don’t think I would have ever come up with Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for your twist, because although you are absolutely right that it’s set in a school, it doesn’t feel like it’s set in a school. I hope you have a great week.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-to.html
I was looking through my read books and came across it otherwise I probably wouldn’t have thought of it either! Hope you have a great week too!
I love this take on the topic. I love Matilda so much and have for a long time. It was nice reading your reviews 🙂
If you’d like to visit here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairy.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-was-assigned-in-school.html
Matilda is wonderful! Thank you!
I love what you did with the topic! I read none of these but I saw three adaptations of them! Matilda is such a great movie, and the Ballad … well, kind of is my roman empire, haha.
Hahahah I love that!
I am loving reading about other people’s school experiences. And I love your list. I am a big fan of books set in schools and boarding schools. I recommend The Lake of Dead Languages if you haven’t read it, by Carol Goodman. It is so good!
Oooh, it sounds good! Thanks for the rec!
What a great twist on this week’s prompt! There are so many great books set in school 🙂
I used to love books set in boarding schools especially!
The Sweet Valley series (from kids to high to their uni years) was such a huge part of my childhood! 😂 I loved those books so much. Heartstopper and To All the Boys are faves too!
All wonderful books for the romantic in me! 🥰
Oh my goodness, Sweet Valley High! I ADORED those books as a kid. I should reread them and see what I think of them now 🙂
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Yes! Do it!!
I love the Heartstopper series, as well as Fourth Wing and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before! My Oxford Year is on my TBR and I hope to get to it soon 🙂
All great books! I love them!
I loved the Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley Twins books!! Great tweak to this week’s topic!
Me too! I read so many of them!
Heartstopper is one of my favorites!
Same!
A great twist on the topic! I read the Sweet Valley High books before high school and recently read Heartstopper. I would do anything to protect Nick and Charlie.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/books-i-think-they-should-discuss-in-school/
Yes! Nick and Charlie must be protected at all cost!
It took me a while to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as well. When I did finally pick it up, I enjoyed it! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
I’m glad you did!!
Ah, Sweet Valley High, how nostalgic!
Yes!
I love your take on this topic! I have not read To All the Boys I Loved Before but I watched the movie and loved it.
Matilda…I loved your comments, they made me smile. And you can be Matilda if you want.
My Oxford Year is so underrated, I barely see it anywhere!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/10/15/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-fall-vibes/
Yay I’m glad Daddy Long Legs made the list! I’m drawing a blank too — on books set in schools … but how about Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History. Have you read that one? It’s really good. Or at the very beginning of Catcher in the Rye … Holden is at school … those are the ones I can think of at the moment …. but I know they’re hundreds. Great topic.
Wow, I had no idea Malaysian schools don’t do assigned reading. Did you mostly read excerpts or from a reader textbook, then, or what did you do to study language arts?
But I love your twist on the topic. I’ve read a few of these but my favorite was My Oxford Year. I think that’s the first book I’ve ever read set there, and the student culture was rather different from the stodgy academia I’d imagined. Thanks for stopping by my post(s) earlier.