Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Was “Forced” to Read

Top 10 Tuesday is an original feature/regular meme hosted at The Broke and The Bookish!

Top Ten Books I Was Forced to Read

Well, I was lucky in a sense because I was homeschooled for a large part of my education. It expanded my freedom of reading material, but sometimes I "had" to read something anyways, just because it's one of those stepping stones you need to do to learn. 

1. Candide by Voltaire: This is the most recent book that I was forced to read. I had a History class last semester and this was required reading for a paper. I found it to be not only interesting and thoughtful, but very funny! I regret not having read it sooner. 

2. The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead: Yes, I was basically forced to read this. I checked the first book out numerous times and kept thinking I grabbed the wrong book and would put it down. I was assured that it was the right book and that I would catch on. I did and I'm very glad I took the time to get past the first few chapters. 

3. The Shade Series by Jeri Smith-Ready: Yet another series I was encouraged strongly to read. Hands down the best decision ever, because it became an instant favourite. 

4. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: This is one my Mother bought me when I was young and made me read. I didn't live with her at the time and I was about 7 and had just spent the summer with her, but was getting ready to road trip back to Iowa from Colorado. I hated leaving my Mom. So, naturally I cried the entire drive back, but it was double the tears because this was a very sad story! 

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Required to read it in school and I am very happy it was required reading material, because I absolutely fell in love with all of the characters! 


6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: Forced reading and I absolutely despised it. I have heard that the outlook on the story can change with age, so maybe in the next few years I'll re-visit it and see if my perception changes... For now, the "wtf these characters are all horrible and nasty" is still clear enough in my mind. 

7. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: The first time I read this was in 2005 when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had went to Russia for the summer and ended up staying for the rest of the year and my mother in-law bought it for me and told me I had to read it. I wasn't actually very keen on reading it at the time, even though it's basically a classic and I like to read a classic at least once. I eventually read it out of pure boredom because it was the only English book I had lying around and I ended up liking it alright. 

8. The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint: My best friend begged me to read this book for a while and I finally did. It was quite a few years ago, but I really remember loving it. I remember the general story, but a lot of the details are rusty. I'd like to pick it up again sometime and read it. 

9. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: This was definitely a "it's so popular, everyone is reading it, I need to read it before the movie comes out" type of deal. I absolutely freaking loved it. In fact, I ran across a copy of it yesterday at my local library's used book section and snagged a hardcover of it for $1 and I read the ending this evening. Sayuri + Chairman = heart melting. 

10.  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: A required read which became a favourite story of mine. I know I am at 10, but Jane Eyre needs an honourable mention, because it was another required school read and I ended up loving it as well.