Feature & Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee @ Parajunkee’s View and Alison @ Alison Can Read. Each week the two hosts post a question for Book Bloggers to answer, provide a link-up, and choose a participant to feature on their blogs. If you participate, the point is to follow others and in return gain followers.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Feature & Follow! I’m Lillian in case you didn’t know that already 😉 I started blogging a year ago and it has been a fun and crazy year! I read pretty much anything that is placed in front of me, I’m a bit of a cover snob, and I tend to gravitate to young adult fiction. Why young adult? Well, it’s usually a cleaner read than adult fiction, there’s plenty of action/suspense, and who can resist a romance about first love?!
My blog features whatever I happen to be in the mood to read. I’ve had some fun interviews with authors and characters and hope to do more in the very near future. Please join me in some bookish adventures. You can follow via Bloglovin or anyway you choose 😀
This week’s questions is: “Is there a book that you were required to read in school that you actually loved?” – Suggested by Natalie Hearts Books
Hehe…I was the weird kid in school I think. I liked most of what was required of me to read, including the books my US history professor in college assigned. One of my favorites to this day is The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. This was one of those books that sucked me in and even though I was supposed to only read a few chapters a week I read the book in one sitting. It was such a poignant look at the Vietnam war and what our soldiers went through over there. It was like watching a train wreck and not being able to look away.
Another of my favorites from school was The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I think I’m probably one of the only people who enjoyed this book in school. It was such a haunting look at the pilgrims and Quaker society. The intrigue, suspense, and passion on those pages is enough to make you wonder what was really going on in that society 😉
And who can forget The Diary of Anne Frank?! This was a middle school and high school read for me and I was so drawn into her world. My heart bled for Anne Frank as she grew up in that attic, navigating not only the treacherous world of WWII, but also her own body and emotions as she went from being a little girl to having to go through puberty in an attic filled with her family and close friends. Reading her diary, something I’m sure she didn’t believe anyone would ever read was like gaining a best friend only to realize that friend was died a horrific death. It was eye opener in middle school as we learned about the tragedy of WWII and linking it to girl my own age. It was heartbreaking and it was a story that has really stuck with me over the years.
What required reading did you find you enjoyed in school?
…or follow any way you chose 😀
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It annoys me now how little required reading we had in high school! The Scarlet Letter sounds so intriguing! I think I’ll go check it out now. 😀
I’m a new follower! Nice to meet you! 🙂
Kimi @ Geeky Chiquitas recently posted…GCQ Travels + Kimi’s Life & Books + Feature Follow Friday
It really is good! I think I was the only one in my class that like it though. It’s written in a very archaic style and can be a bit hard to follow. My suggestion is to skip Hawthorne’s introduction and go straight to the story 🙂 Hope you enjoy it and thanks for the follow 🙂
I definitely fit the same description as you. I didn’t read The Diary of Anne Frank for school, but picked it up on my own. Old follower:)
Olivia recently posted…Feature and Follow Friday #16
I love the Diary of Anne Frank! I’ve read it multiple times but the first time I’ll never forget, 8th grade history class 🙂
I had thought about listing Dairy of Anne Frank as my choice but I didn’t. Go check out my blog to see what I selected.
Please… I subscribe via email.
http://thankyoumsbowen.blogspot.com
Paula recently posted…Feature and Follow Friday #1
I love Diary of Anne Frank 🙂 Even now as an adult I still can’t believe that it is nonfiction!
I didn’t really liked The Things They Carried, I’m not sure if I read ANY of it. Oops. I did read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was a kid and really liked it. Does that sound weird? Old follower!
Lizzie the Sarcastic Blonde recently posted…Feature and Follow #22
Not at all!! I love history so I think that played into my liking of The Things They Carried. It’s pretty brutal and can be very graphic at times. I loved The Diary of Anne Frank! It’s still one of my favorites 🙂
You actually got some pretty good books to read at school!
New follower via Bloglovin’.
Hazel recently posted…Feature and Follow Friday: School Reads
Thank you for the follow 😀
Although I didn’t mention it in my own post, “The Scarlet Letter” is right up there on my lists of required books in high school. This is truly a great classic!
As for “The Diary of Anne Frank”, I started to read it; I was also assigned this book in high school. However, it was so sad, I kept tearing up, so I couldn’t finish it….
I’ve never heard of “The Things They Carried”, but I would not be able to read it — guaranteed! I am much too sensitive, as you can see from my reaction to “The Diary of Anne Frank”….
Thanks so much for leaving a great comment on my blog, and following with Bloglovin’! I’m now a new Bloglovin’ follower, as well! HAPPY FRIDAY!! : )
Maria Behar recently posted…Feature & Follow Friday #4: Required Book That You Actually Loved
I’m glad I’m not the only one that like The Scarlet Letter 🙂 Most of the people in my class hated it! Thanks for the follow 🙂
I totally forgot about The Scarlet Letter! I was so hooked by that book in high school. The movie adaptation was good too!
New follower via RSS, Twitter, and Bloglovin’!
Ariel @ The Librarian’s Bookshelf recently posted…Mini Review and Blog Tour: A Friend in Me
I’m glad to hear that! Most everyone I was in school with hated it 🙂
Thanks for the follow!
I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was in middle school too. We only had to read bits and pieces of it while in class, but I was the weird one who read the whole thing lol. Thanks for stopping by earlier.
Old Follower
Andrea recently posted…Feature and Follow #11
I was the kid in school who got excited at the required reading too haha. I loved getting books! I could never stick to reading a few chapters at a time either, I was always reading ahead to find out what happened next. You got to read some good books!
Old follower 🙂
Oh nice! I never had to read any of these myself. But I did read The Diary of Anne Frank on my own at one point. Can’t remember what prompted me to do so. It was a very sad story. It might have been this one that made me not want to pick up more “true stories” because they tend to be so sad! But it definitely taught me a lot!
Didn’t realize I wasn’t following you already either! So I quickly remedied that! 😉
Have a GREAT day!
NEW(ish) Follower 🙂
Jessica @ a GREAT read recently posted…Follow Friday
I can’t remember if I read The Diary of Anne Frank in one of my english classes or if I read it on my own, but I really enjoyed it! ;D New Bloglovin’ follower. (:
My FF
Jackie @Jackie’s Book World
Jackie recently posted…✯COVER REVEAL✯ Sinfully Mine by Kendall Ryan {EXCERPT}
I was in the norm, as in I hated reading what was required in school. Lately though I have been going back and reading a few.I want to read the Scarlet Letter. It’s been on my TBR for awhile. Hopefully I get around to it soon.
The Dairy of Ann Frank I read soon after graduating highschool and when I got really back into reading. It was very powerful and a good story all should read. One of my favorites.
Great choices! & Thanks for stopping by on my post!
-Amanda @ Hearts Reading
The Diary of Anne Frank was a very powerful read for me in high school as well. Great pick! Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Old follower
Yeah, you were lucky if you liked what was require of you to read. 🙂
Stormi recently posted…Book Review: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
I wasn’t keen on required reading. I did it because I had to. I would kill time all week and read the whole book in one sitting, right the report and be done. I’d use the other time to read books that I wanted to read. New follower! http://wp.me/p5Q4Dh-sN
Nell Justice recently posted…Feature Follow Friday – Required Reading
Oh I just love Anne Frank, I read her in middle and high school, and it was a eye opener for me, especially when at that age I was started to gain a fascination with WWII.
Great post! I wasn’t a fan of the Scarlet letter, but I loved the Diary of Ann Frank. I followed via blog loving
here is my post: http://rainydayreadingreviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/feature-follow-friday-is-weekly-meme_26.html
Ooh. I also liked The Diary of Anne Frank. I plan to reread that book soon. 🙂
New follower via Bloglovin. 🙂
Aizel @ One Page at a Time recently posted…Feature & Follow #11
I haven’t read either The Things They Carried or The Diary of Anne Frank, but I also loved The Scarlet Letter. It was another great one. I loved Wuthering Heights more though. 😉 Thanks for stopping by my blog! New follower. 🙂
Baggins recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (56)
Thanks for stopping by my FF earlier. I’m only familiar with The Dairy of Anne Frank. Can’t remember if I read that one but I know the story somehow.. Guess I need to check out again and the others. I’m discovering a few new classics this week. Follwoing you back on Bloglovin
Tash recently posted…Review: Explosive Alliance (First Responders #2) by Susan Sleeman
I loved The Things They Carried and The Diary of Anne Frank!
My FF: http://onceuntold.blogspot.com/2015/06/feature-follow-friday-required-reading.html
I think I resented having books assigned to me to read in high school generally — reading was so much fun for me, that I hated having to set aside books I chose to read books that were chosen for me to have to read, but that said, I LOVED it when one of them was unexpectedly fabulous and sucked me in. That was bliss!!
Verushka recently posted…Feature and Follow Friday 8: high school memories
Lillian I’m a new follower, I also love YA.
I actually have quite a bad memory and because I’m in my 30s I can’t really recall many of my pre-requisite reading but I cannot believe I forgot the Diary of Anne Frank because that’s certainly one of my fave pre-requisite and I want to desperately do a re-read of that when I’m an Adult.
My Friday Hops post.
Angelica @ Paperback Princess recently posted…No More Confessions by Louise Rozett {Review + Giveaway}
I’ve never heard of The Things They Carried, but I might look it up 🙂
Claire @ Book Blog Bird
Hopping through. Sigh. I typed a comment here and then my internet died and I had to restart my computer. How annoying. It wasn’t that good a comment though. Mostly how I can’t remember whether I’d read Scarlet Letter or not. I don’t think I have.
My FF
Alison (@AlisonCanRead) recently posted…Feature and Follow Friday #259
I enjoyed Hamlet in high school but that was about it for me. Glad you managed to enjoy most of your required reads.
Have a great week.
New bloglovin follower.
Ana Frank Diary is great read,but we,in Macedonia don’t have it for school 🙁
Old follower
Silvy recently posted…Feature and Follow #33