English 3,4 Honors can be a stressful class with analytical work and projects constantly popping up. Some of the aspects of English, however, can be really fun if you do them. The Independent Novel Projects or Bloom Books are really fun opportunities to read an interesting book of your choice! Choosing one book from thousands can be a daunting task, and will quickly become an excuse to just not do the project. The book you choose for your project is very important and can affect your enjoyment of the project and the quality of your project. There are tons of amazing books to choose from. Here is a helpful guide to some of the best and some recommendations from the English teacher himself.

Fiction Books

There are tons of fiction books that fit the first quarter requirement of social critique. Some of the most prominent authors to read are:

• Kurt Vonnegut
• Margaret Atwood
• George Orwell
• Ray Bradbury

Some great novels to try out are:

• The Road

• Catch-22

• The Handmaid’s Tale

• Fahrenheit 451 

• The Red Badge of Courage

• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

• The Color Purple

Outside of these books and authors, most dystopian novels or post-apocalyptic style novels will also fit the style of social criticism, if none of these books sound good to you, try searching social criticism novels online and then run the book by Stoughton to make sure it fits the criteria.

Non-Fiction Books

There are non-fiction books about everything regarding society. Politics, science, health care, etc. are all great topics and there are hundreds of authors with something to say about the world. Just choose a topic that you are passionate and there will likely be a book about it.

Some great novels to try out are:

• Deer Hunting with Jesus 

• Fast Food Nation

• Between the World and Me

• The New Jim Crow

Note: Mr. Stoughton helped provide information for this article