Ranking the Books I had to Read For my American Literature Class

Introduction

Because I am on my summer break from school, I decided that it would be a fun idea to rank all the books I had to read for my American Literature class. I read five American Lit books in total for the course. I read them in this order: The Secret Life of Bees, The Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, Into the Wild, and The Great Gatsby. I am mostly rating them on how much I enjoyed them, not how important and symbolic they are. Continue reading to see which one will come out on top as my favorite!

Ranking of the Books from Worst to Best

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

When my teacher announced that we would be reading a book by Arthur Miller, I was excited because my summer reading included Death of a Salesman, another play by him that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, this joy quickly turned to disappointment. Not only was this play a snooze fest, it was also hard to read. On top of that, my teacher had challenging quizzes that required detailed analysis of every scene, which are skills I am not good at. All of this caused me to despise The Crucible.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

This book was mildly interesting until the halfway point. Near the end of the book, I just wanted it to be over. I feel like the author was just dragging the book out and adding in information that, at that point in the book, was irrelevant. I feel like if Jon Krakauer wanted to add those irrelevant pieces of information about Chris' life, it should have been in the beginning instead of closer to the end. To be completely honest, I was just waiting for Chris to die so that the book could be over.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I enjoyed this book! It had a very good plot, and the symbolism was easy to find and understand. I think that the pacing was good and the characters were well-developed. It has a very important message, and the time period the book was set in allowed the theme to be well developed and well executed.

The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

The Death of a Salesman is a relatively short play about a man struggling with his own disappointment and pride. Everything Arthur Miller didn't successfully do in The Crucible, he did in this book. It was engaging, and it was easy to read, which are things he failed at in The Crucible. I think this book should be a required read for all because it has such a valuable lesson. If you want to see my full review of Death of a Salesman see my post here

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret life of Bees is my favorite book I read out of all the American Lit books I read in that course. I think this book was such a wonderful read. It had a great message and such enjoyable characters. It was such a chill read and did not at all feel like I was reading a required American lit book. The writing is also splendid! I can't recommend it enough.

Conclusion

I hoped you enjoyed my ranking of my American lit books! Let me know if you agree or disagree with my opinions. I would love to hear your thoughts on your favorite American lit books as well.