Serious Books That Don't Suck, Part 1

Over the weekend, all sorts of hubbub erupted over this article in the New York Times about some new-fangled literacy programs that allow students to…wait for it…choose which books they want to read.

ZOMG!

Despite a massive outcry from certain classic-minded adults—who cannot imagine any greater horror than kids being allowed to graduate high school without slogging their way through Moby-Dick—a fair number of teachers and school administrators have come out in favor of this approach. After all, if you want to instill a deep love of reading in your students, forcing them to choke down 500 pages of Tolstoy probably isn’t the best way to do it.

On the other hand, letting kids pick their own reading material has one glaring problem: Sometimes, to put it delicately, the kids end up reading TOTAL CRAP.

This is their mistake, of course; if you get the chance to do something as cool as choose which books to study, blowing that opportunity on Walter the Farting Dog or the Twilight series is all kinds of foolish. (Sorry, Twihards—we like Edward too, but for literary merit, you really have to look elsewhere.) But that doesn’t mean you can’t still find books that incorporate your favorite subject matter AND still make you look like a serious reader. And if you're in search of a great book that'll carry some literary weight but won’t make you want to stab your eyes out with a pen, look no further than...

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen: Despite being set in a long-ago era when everyone wore funny hats and nobody ever, ever farted in public, this novel’s got more drama than Gossip Girl. Forbidden romance! Illegitimate children! A feisty heroine who sticks it to anyone who crosses her path! If you like the class wars, love triangles, and backstabbing of the teen chick lit universe, you’ll love this book.

Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin: When it comes to interspecies baby mama drama, this book blows Breaking Dawn out of the water. Rosemary is happily married and expecting her first child until she finds herself tormented by nightmarish visions and vicious cravings for raw, bloody meat. If you’re ready to forget about vampire romance and give some intelligent, sexy horror a try, Rosemary’s Baby won’t disappoint you.

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel: If you like survival stories like Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, consider upping the ante with a more incredible premise (the main character is stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal tiger) and a story full of rich imagery, thought-provoking metaphor, and probing questions about human nature.

Stay tuned for more recommendations this week, and be sure to help out other book-selecting Sparklers by sharing your suggestions for Serious Books That Don’t Suck in the comments!