Greetings you guys! It’s Tuesday and time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt is a School Freebie and apparently you can do whatever you want with this prompt. As long as it’s related to school in some or other way.
How sneaky a reader were you at school? In other words, what books did you read you probably shouldn’t have for what ever reason? For today, we will present you with a list of books you probably shouldn’t read at school. This list is totally biased of course. But please feel free to add as you see fit!
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty – Georgetown, Washington D.C. Actress and divorced mother Chris MacNeil starts to experience ‘difficulties’ with her usually sweet-natured eleven-year-old daughter Regan. The child becomes afflicted by spasms, convulsions and unsettling amnesiac episodes; these abruptly worsen into violent fits of appalling foul-mouthed curses, accompanied by physical mutation. Medical science is baffled by Regan’s plight and, in her increasing despair, Chris turns to troubled priest and psychiatrist Damien Karras, who immediately recognises something profoundly malevolent in Regan’s distorted fetures and speech. On Karras’s recommendation, the Church summons Father Merrin, a specialist in the exorcism of demons . . .
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James – When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence – Constance, the young Lady Chatterly, is married to a handsome, well-built man. Clifford, her husband, was wounded in the war, and is paralyzed from the waist down. His physical limitations lead him to emotionally neglect Constance, and for comfort, she turns to the gamekeeper, Oliver. In his arms, she finds the passion she needs, even as she struggles with the class differences between the intellectuals and the working class. She realizes that she cannot with the mind alone, but that she also needs her body to be alive.
Told in a blunt style, with explicit descriptions of sex, Lady Chatterly’s Lover used language largely unseen in print at that time, which resulted in its banning and the author’s censorship. Indeed, the book is perhaps most famous for its publication history. First published in 1928, it was printed privately in Italy. It was immediately banned in both the author’s home of England and in the USA. Expurgated, abridged editions were published in the 1930s in the English-speaking world. In 1960, the case R v Penguin Books Ltd prosecuted Penguin Books for publishing the novel under the Obscene Publications Act. The jury found for the defendant, usher in the liberalization of British publishing.
In the USA, the book was part of a three-book test case (along with Tropic of Cancer and Fanny Hill), to overturn the ban on obscene imported books first enacted in the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. The US Court of Appeals found in favor of the books in 1959, overturning the ban on the grounds that the books had “redeeming social or literary value.”
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell – According to its author “This book…is not written for the members of fringe political groups, such as The Weathermen, or The Minutemen. Those radical groups don’t need this book. They already know everything that’s in here. If the real people of America, the silent majority, are going to survive, they must educate themselves. That is the purpose of this book.” In what the author considers a survival guide, there is explicit information on the uses & effects of drugs ranging from pot to heroin to peanuts. There’s detailed advice concerning electronics, sabotage & surveillance, with data on everything from bugs to scramblers. There’s a comprehensive chapter on natural, non-lethal & lethal weapons, running the gamut from cattle prods to submachine guns to bows & arrows. The section on explosives & boobytraps ranges from TNT to whistle traps. 111 drawings supplement the recipes. “This book is for anarchists,” said Powell, “those who feel able to discipline themselves on all the subjects (from drugs to weapons, to explosives) that are currently illegal & suppressed in this country.” Techniques, disciplines, precautions & warnings pervade what may be the most disquieting how-to book of contemporary times. “Read this book, but keep in mind that some topics written about here are illegal & constitute a threat. Also, more importantly, almost all the recipes are dangerous, especially to the individual who plays around with them without knowing what he’s doing. Use care, caution & commonsense. This book is not for children or morons.”
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski – Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth—musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies—the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.
Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.
The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.
Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill – Powerful stories of dislocation, longing and desire which depict a disenchanted and rebellious urban fringe generation that is groping for human connection. (Or, more simply put, the angst of people-who-wear-black.) Fierce, raw tales of love and sex and obsession–not since Ethan Canin’s Emperor of the Air has there been such excitement surrounding a debut short-story collection.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, whom he’ll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? …Or is he all of these? Humbert Humbert – scholar, aesthete and romantic – has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady’s gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.
Carrie & Pet Sematary by Stephen King – Carrie may be picked on by her classmates but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem.
To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie — the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues. Until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of terror and destruction that no one will ever forget.
The house looked right, felt right, to Dr Louis Creed.
Rambling, old, unsmart and comfortable. A place where the family could settle; the children grow and play and explore. The rolling hills and meadows of Maine seemed a world away from the fume-choked dangers of Chicago.
Only the occasional big truck out on the two-lane highway, grinding up through the gears, hammering down the long gradients, growled out an intrusive note of threat.
But behind the house and away from the road: that was safe. Just a carefully clear path up into the woods where generations of local children have processed with the solemn innocence of the young, taking with them their dear departed pets for burial.
A sad place maybe, but safe. Surely a safe place. Not a place to seep into your dreams, to wake you, sweating with fear and foreboding…
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith – Arguably Patricia Highsmith’s finest, The Price of Salt is the story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between her daughter and her lover. With this reissue, The Price of Salt may finally be recognized as a major twentieth-century American novel.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding – At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued. Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, Lord of the Flies is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”
Some of these might be logical choices today and some you might wonder why I chose that book. Like I’ve said, it’s biased. Let’s talk about it in the comment section!
LOL, seems like what little I know about a couple of these (based on reviews or just reading the plot), they would indeed be better suited NOT to read in school. 😉 Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland on this week! Apologies it took this long to visit here.
Haha, totally agree on Fifty Shades, Lolita, DH Lawrence and Exorcist. But then again, even some of the later Nancy Drew books were supposed to be very carefully passed around below the desks back in my school, so YMMV… 😂
Love this take on the topic! We did actually read Lord of the Flies in school. It was required reading in 9th grade (when you’re about 14) I think.
I love how you interpreted the me today! I didn’t have time to participate, but I wouldn’t definitely not have been that creative! Well done.
Love the way you twisted this weeks topic!
Great take on the theme….While Lord of the Flies is part of high school reading here in the US, I can certainly see some raised eyebrows for some of the others
It’s interesting that you put Lord of the Flies on your list, as it was required reading for me in high school.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/10-of-my-favorite-young-adult-books/
Hi Pam!
So sorry for the late reply. Lord of the flies is still a recommended reading book in SA in some schools. I never read it at school, only as an adult. Gosh, I hated it and really can’t believe we recommend kids to read it. But that’s really just my opinion and I guess there really are some value to the book.
Hope you are doing well!
What a fantastic idea for the topic, Mareli. Love it. I have read several of the books you listed, all after school, though. But I’m sure I read books I shouldn’t have read. We didn’t have much money and I devoured everything I could get my hands on.
Thanks for visiting my TTT this week.
Hi Marianne!
I grew up in a house of stacks of books and nothing was ever forbidden. We also went to the library quite often and there as well, take what you want. And I don’t think there’s very much wrong with us!!
Thanks for the visit and sorry for the late reply….
Don’t worry, we all have a life outside of the internet.
And yes, we didn’t have lots and lots of books but I can’t remember ever having been forbidden to read anything. We did the same with our boys and since they were avid readers, they did read stuff that they had to grow into. But if they didn’t understand, they would not want to read it anyway.
Ha ha! I love your topic and I agree that some of these books are probably not the best choice to read while you’re in school. The funny thing is that most schools in the US require freshmen to read The Lord of the Flies. I avoided reading it, but I would like to read it now to see what I missed. 😀 Thanks for stopping by my TTT!
Hi Jenni!
Lord of the Flies is still a recommended reading book in SA as well. I never read it at school and only read it as an adult. It might actually have been better to read it as a child, because as an adult I could just see all that was wrong with it…!!
So sorry for the late reply! I hope you have been doing well!
Great list! 😆 I probably would have read some of these in school. I was always reading “adult” books.
I think we all did that and no-one blinked an eye. These days, it will be parents called in and a whole whooha about banned books!
So sorry I only reply now, time is not always on my side.
These definitely look like books that might be, um, frowned upon in certain quarters at school.
Hi Greg! A whole week has passed and I haven’t replied. Sorry about that! I spent the weekend trying to catch up a bit, but wasn’t all that successful!
That’s okay!! :):)
LOL – I laughed when I read this post title and saw the books that you chose. I can see you gave this a lot of thought and agree.
My goodness – what a list! And I couldn’t agree more – though it seems like many read Lord of the Flies. I started down the Stephen Kind/Koontz path in high school though I was alone among my friends as a reader. Great twist.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
I did read Lord of Flies at school, it was one of our required reads for our exams. I wish I hadn’t had to read it though, it remains one of my least favourite books ever!
I love your twist for this week! I am sure I read Stephen King at school…
I love your twist on today’s topic! I didn’t know the publication history of Lady Chatterly’s Lover, thanks!
I actually read Lord of the Flies and did a paper on it in high school. I have no idea how common it is to study it in schools, though. 🙂
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Lord of the Flies is still very common here in SA, but I just hated it!! I really, really did….
So sorry for the late reply!! Hope you are doing well!
Lord of the Flies? That was on the reading list for all 10th graders at my school. They hated it but I think it has so much vlue. When Trump was elected in 2016 and everyone was saying oh how much trouble can one man cause in four years. I wanted to yell “A LOT. Haven’t you read Lord of the Flies?” Everything falls apart in a very short time. And under Trump everything did and is still a mess. Argh!
Hi Anne!
I believe Lord of the Flies might still be an assigned reading book in a number of schools in SA. And yes, I hated it too!! I found it upsetting and way too violent. But I guess it does have value in it’s own way….
What a funny twist!
I actually did read Carrie at school. It wasn’t assigned in a class or anything, but I needed something to clear my mind during exam week and in between exams.
Hi there Lydia!
I read my first Stephen King many years out of school. But I did actually read The Exorcist. Scared the living daylight out of me!!
Thanks for stopping by and so sorry for the late reply…
Lovely list! I definitely shouldn’t have been reading 50 Shades at school 🙂
Lord of the Flies was on my required reading list, so that one would have been fine for me.
Hi Lindsey!
Lord of the Flies are still on the required reading list in some schools here in SA, but gosh – to this day I think it’s way too violent for kids. As an adult it actually upset me so much!
And no, I don’t think 50 Shades of Grey will go off very well at school…!
Have a great weekend ahead!
Great take on this week’s prompt! Yeah, some of these might raise an eyebrow or two if read at school. I probably read some romance that was a bit beyond my years while still in school, but nothing too scandalous. 🙂
Hi Tanya!
I think we all did the forbidden romance books at high school. Mills&Boon eagerly provided stacks for us!
Thanks for visiting us and I hope you will have wonderful weekend!
What a fabulous list. I had to read Lord of the Flies for high school English. I’ve read a few others on your list as well. I read the Kent Family Chronicles while I was in high school. I’m sure no one would have approved considering the sexual content.
Times really have changed! When I was at school, no one checked what you are reading and these kids are hardly allowed to read Enid Blyton.
I know Lord of the Flies are still a prescribed reading book here in SA, but I only read it as an adult. And can’t believe that it is supposedly acceptable for kids. But that’s just me!
Thanks for visiting us and I hope you will have a great weekend!
What a great take on the topic! Good list. I’ve heard of many of them, but not all.
And it’s funny. My parents were very conservative folks, but nobody ever seemed to put many restrictions on what I read. I was reading horror when I was nine or ten years old – Stephen King, Peter Straub, John Saul, Dean Koontz. I also got my hands on my mother’s Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel novels. Nobody ever much told me, “You can’t be reading that.” So I read everything I could get my hands on!
Hi there Lisa!
We were actually also not restricted from reading anything. We just took what we want. But these days. Geesh – the kids are hardly allowed to read Enid Blyton.
I also read Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel at school! And Agatha Christie and I did actually start reading The Exorcist, but I never finished it.
Thanks for the visit and so sorry for the late reply!