Sofia Tahzib

The Inventory

Chronological List:

  • The Giving Tree, By: Shel Silverstein
  • Where the Sidewalk Ends, By: Shel Silverstein
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar, By: Eric Carie
  • Junie B. Jones (Book Series), By: Barbara Park
  • How to Train Your Dragon (Book Series), By: Cressida Cowell
  • Number The Stars, By: Lois Lowry
  • The Messenger, By: Lois Lowry
  • The Giver, By: Lois Lowry
  • Percy Jackson (Book Series), By: Rick Riordan
  • Harry Potter (Book Series), By: J.K Rowling
  • The Darkest Powers (Trilogy), By: Kelley Armstrong
  • The Hunger Games (Trilogy), By: Suzanne Collins
  • Divergent (Trilogy), By: Veronica Roth
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Trilogy), By: Jenny Hahn
  • Saint Anything, By: Sarah Dessen
  • Dreamland, By: Sarah Dessen
  • The Notebook, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • The Best of Me, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • Safe Haven, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • My Sisters Keeper, By: Jodi Picoult
  • Fallen (Book Series), By: Lauren Kate
  • An Abundance of Katherines, By: John Green
  • Looking for Alaska, By: John Green
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson, By: John Green
  • Fault in Our Stars, By: John Green
  • Paper Towns, By: John Green
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven, By: Mitch Albom
  • The Night Circus, By: Erin Morgenstern
  • The Stranger, By: Albert Camus
  • East of Eden, By: John Steinbeck
  • Of Mice of Men, By: John Steinbeck
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four, By: George Orwell
  • Lord of the Flies, By: William Golding
  • No Mud, No Lotus, By: Thich Nhat Hahn
  • Night, By: Elle Wiesel
  • Salt in the Sea, By: Ruta Sepetys
  • The Confession, By: John Grisham
  • The Davinci Code, By: Dan Brown
  • Gone Girl, By: Gillian Flynn
  • Dark Places, By: Gillian Flynn
  • Sharp Objects, By: Gillian Flynn
  • The Impossible Lives of Gretta Wells, By: Andrew Sean Greer
  • Bluets, By: Maggie Nelson
  • Cities I’ve Never Lived In, By: Sara Majka
  • Lolita, By: Vladimir Nabokov
  • The Rum Diary, By: Hunter S. Thompson

 

 

Genre List

Children’s Books

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
    • By: Eric Carie (Children’s Book)
  • Junie B. Jones
    • By: Barbara Park (Children’s Book)
  • The Giving Tree
    • By: Shel Silverstein (Children’s Book)
  • How to Train Your Dragon
    • By: Cressida Cowell (Children’s Book)

Poetry

  • Where the Sidewalk Ends
    • By; Shel Silverstein (Poetry)
  • Bluets
    • By: Maggie Nelson (Poetry)

 

Dystopian Fiction

  • The Hunger Games (Trilogy)
    • By: Suzanne Collins (Adventure Fiction, Utopian & Dystopian Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult)
  • Divergent (Trilogy)
    • By: Veronica Roth (Science Fiction, Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult)
  • The Giver
    • By: Lois Lowry (Young Adult, Dystopian Novel)
  • 1984
    • By: George Orwell (Dystopian Novel)

Thriller/Mystery/Suspense

  • Gone Girl
    • By: Gillian Flynn (Thriller)
  • Dark Places
    • By: Gillian Flynn (Mystery)
  • Sharp Objects
    • By: Gillian Flynn (Fiction, Mystery, Suspense)
  • The Confession
    • By: John Grisham (Legal Thriller)
  • The Davinci Code
    • By: Dan Brown (Mystery, Detective Fiction, Conspiracy Fiction, Thriller)

Fantasy

  • The Night Circus
    • By: Erin Morgenstern (Fantasy)
  • Harry Potter (Book Series)
    • By: J.K Rowling (Fantasy Fiction, Drama, Young Adult Fiction, Mystery Thriller)
  • The Darkest Powers (Trilogy)
    • By: Kelley Armstrong (Horror Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy)
  • Fallen (Book Series)
    • By: Lauren Kate (Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Romance Novel, Paranormal Fiction)

Fiction/Novel

  • The Rum Diary
    • By: Hunter S. Thompson (Fiction)
  • Lolita
    • By: Vladimir Nobokov (Novel)
  • The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
    • By: Andrew Sean Greer (Novel)
  • Cities I’ve Never Lived In
    • By: Sara Majka (Fiction)
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven
    • By: Mitch Abom (Novel)
  • My Sisters Keeper
    • By: Jodi Picoult (Novel, Drama)
  • The Stranger
    • By: Albert Camy (Novel)
  • East of Eden
    • By: John Steinbeck (Novel)
  • The Messenger
    • By: Lois Lowry (Adult Fiction)
  • Of Mice and Men
    • By: John Steinbeck (Novella)
  • Lord of the Flies
    • By: William Golding (Novel)

Historical Fiction

  • Salt in the Sea
    • By: Ruta Sepeys (Historical Fiction, Young Adult)
  • Number the Stars
    • By: Lois Lowry (Historical Fiction)

 Memoir

  • Night
    • By: Ellie Wiesel (Memoir)

Mythology

  • Percy Jackson (Book Series)
    • By: Rick Riordan (Young Adult Fiction, Mythology)

Romance

  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Trilogy)
    • By: Jenny Hahn (Young Adult Fiction, Romance Novel)
  • The Notebook
    • By: Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
  • Safe Haven
    • By: Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
  • The Best of Me
    • By: Nicholas Sparks (Romance)
  • Saint Anything
    • By: Sarah Dessen (Romance, Young Adult Fiction)
  • Dreamland
    • By: Sarah Dessen (Romance, Young Adult Fiction)

Buddhism

  • No Mud, No Lotus
    • By: Thich Nhat Hahn

Young Adult Fiction

  • An Abundance of Katherines
    • By: John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
  • Looking For Alaska
    • By: John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson
    • By: John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
  • Fault in Our Stars
    • By: John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
  • Paper Towns
    • By: John Green (Young Adult Fiction)

Mimetic, Thematic, & Synthetic

Mimetic (Reading for the Experience)

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar, By: Eric Carie
  • Junie B. Jones, By: Barbara Park
  • How to Train Your Dragon, By: Cressida Cowell
  • Percy Jackson (Book Series), By: Rick Riordon
  • Harry Potter (Book Series), By: J.K Rowling
  • The Darkest Powers (Trilogy), By: Kelley Armstrong
  • The Hunger Games (Trilogy), By: Suzanne Collins
  • Divergent (Trilogy), By: Veronica Roth
  • The Summer I Turned Pretty (Trilogy), By: Jenny Hahn
  • Saint Anything, By: Sarah Dessen
  • Dreamland, By: Sarah Dessen
  • The Notebook, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • The Best of Me, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • Safe Haven, By: Nicholas Sparks
  • My Sisters Keepers, By: Jodi Picoult
  • Fallen (Book Series), By: Lauren Kate
  • An Abundance of Katherines, By: John Green
  • Looking for Alaska, By: John Green
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson, By: John Green
  • Fault in Our Stars, By: John Green
  • Paper Towns, By: John Green
  • The Night Circus, By: Erin Morgenstern
  • Salt in the Sea, By: Ruta Sepetys
  • The Confession, By: John Grisham
  • The Davinci Code, By: Dan Brown
  • Gone Girl, By: Gillian Flynn
  • Dark Places, By: Gillian Flynn
  • Sharp Objects, By: Gillian Flynn
  • The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, By: Andrew Sean Greer

Thematic (reading for meaning)

  • The Giving Tree, By: Shel Silverstein
  • Number the Stars, By: Lois Lowry
  • The Messenger, By: Lois Lowry
  • The Giver, By: Lois Lowry
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven, By: Mitch Abom
  • The Stranger, By: Albert Camus
  • East of Eden, By: John Steinbeck
  • Of Mice and Men, By: John Steinbeck
  • 1984, By: George Orwell
  • Lord of the Flies, By: William Goulding
  • No Mud, No Lotus, By: Thich Naht Hahn
  • Night, By: Ellie Wiesel

Synthetic (reading for the way words and sentences work)

  • Where the Sidewalk Ends, By: Shel Silverstein
  • Bluets, By: Maggie Nelson
  • Cities I’ve Never Lived In, By: Sara Majka

Reflective Narrative

I learned how to read way before my mother caved in and sent my brother and I to preschool a year early. We were too smart for our own good, Maxwell obsessed with numbers, and me obsessed with words. I begged for homework and writing assignments, pestering my mother for new pens and notebooks, for classes I made up for myself. We needed more mental stimulation then my mother could provide. She did her best, but when I started reading my own bedtime stories, she knew it was time for Max and I to the see the inside of a classroom. Now you must be wondering, how did a three-year-old teach herself to read? My journey as a reader begins with the well-known children’s book, The Giving Tree, written by Shel Silverstein. The Giving Tree, is a story about a young boy who grows up with this apple tree. The tree gives the boy whatever he needs/wants, and in return the tree simply becomes happy. But as the boy grows older, he keeps wanting more and more from the tree, until there is nothing left for the tree to give. This was my favorite bedtime story as a child. I would make my mother read it to me every night before bed, paying very close attention to the sounds her mouth made, and the words which were on the page. After weeks of this repetition, I eventually had the whole story memorized, reciting it word for word all day long. This went on for months, me memorizing each story, until I didn’t need the repetition anymore. I could read a story without my mother reading it for me first. The Giving Tree, started a chain of events, leading me into my next milestone as a reader.

In second grade, I began to stop trying. I was no longer excited for homework assignments, and was disinterested in any of the new books or stories my teachers tried getting me to read. My teachers called them “chapter books,” they were supposed to take you a week to read them, if you paced yourself properly, but I would breeze right through them in one sitting. I was getting bored, and under stimulated, and when my teacher took notice, she proposed to my mother a simple solution. Every Friday instead of joining my classmates for our reading group discussions, I would join a fourth-grade classroom. I was nervous but excited to see what new books and stories I would be introduced to. The first book my new reading group and I were assigned was, Number The Stars, written by Lois Lowry. Number The Stars is a historical fiction novel, about the escape of a Jewish family, from Copenhagen, during world war two. The story is centered around, and told from the point of view of ten-year-old girl, Annemarie Johansson. I fell in love with the way Lois Lowry wrote. Her descriptions transporting me to unfamiliar places and worlds I had never seen before. I felt like I was Annemarie Johansson, reliving my life repeatedly, stuck in a book. Reading became my escape from reality. Every book, became a brand-new adventure, and I couldn’t wait to jump back in. I became obsessed.

Middle School brought new issues. I grew tired of short chapter books. They left me feeling empty. I wanted more from the story, I wanted to know what happened next. How could these characters who I began to identify with, lives just end like that? I would race to the end of a book, just to feel a pang of sadness. I began to lean towards book series. There stories lasted longer, there characters seemed immortal. But there was still one major problem. It didn’t matter how long the book, or series, I had an unhealthy obsession with the end of the book. I was never able to put a book down. If I started it I had to finish. So what happened when I started the Harry Potter Book Series, written by J.K Rowling? I didn’t leave my room for a week. Harry Potter is a fantasy young adult book series, written by a female author who uses the alias J.K Rowling. It is about a young orphan boy living a slave like existence, mentally and physically abused by his aunt and uncle. Until he figures out he is actually a wizard, and invited to Hogwarts, a school for witchcraft and wizardry. I was gifted the seven books on my birthday, and was finished with them seven days later. I finished a book a day, only leaving the comfort of my bed when I absolutely had to. I faked sickness, so I didn’t have to go to school, my teachers would yell at me when I read in class. I put my whole life on hold, just to live the one I was reading. Book series did not fix my original problem, if anything it made it worse.

As I got older, and my classes got harder, I had to put reading for enjoyment on hold. I had to start reading textbooks, articles, essays. Reading became something I had to do and not something I wanted to do anymore. But once I graduated high school and began having more free time to myself, I tried picking back up my old habits. But I didn’t enjoy those types of books anymore. They all seemed repetitive, like I was reading the same stories over and over again with different characters. So, I turned to my dad for help, the only other person in my family who would choose reading a good book over watching a T.V show. He handed me the book, The Confession, written by John Grisham, and I was hooked. The Confession is a legal thriller novel about a murder of a high school cheerleader. You figure out that the wrong man was arrested, and is on death row. This book will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first murder mystery book, I ever read, which has now developed into my favorite genre of choice. I will read and any murder mystery book I can get my hands on. But once again, (I guess the saying is true, old habits die hard), I would finish each book in one sitting. I needed to find out the culprit, and I needed to find out what happened.

I had always read books for the ending. Reading came so easy to me, that I never fully understood what it felt like to be challenged by a book. But that all changed when I read the book, Lolita, written by Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita is a novel written in the point of view of a middle-aged man named Humbert Humbert. This man is obsessed with a 12-year-old girl Dolores Haze, and we are able to see inside the mind of pedophile. Lolita was the first book I read that I couldn’t finish in one sitting, it was too difficult. I had to reread paragraphs multiple times before I finally understood the point the author was trying to get across. At first, I wanted to stop reading, I was so used to blowing by books, reading Lolita seemed like a nuisance. But then I began to appreciate the authors writing, his choice of words, and I began to enjoy the book, instead of just racing to the finish line. I realized to be a healthy well-balanced reader, I need to challenge myself. Life isn’t about the destination, it’s the ride, the same thing could be said about a book.