Which one of these books should I read?

I personally would go with Lord of the Flies or 1984.

Lord of the Flies is easy and interesting

1984

I can’t add to the first 3 answers…score one for each.

Lord of the flies or 1984. They are both awesome books.

Same as Jillthetooth

1984 makes an interesting pair with Brave New World. You just have to remember to think of it as the future, not the past, as it was when it was written.

Lord of the Flies should be on the must-read list from high school on up.

I would pick one of those two.

1984.

Angela’s Ashes is a book that reads very fast. It’s a gripping story.

1984, I read that in a day, it’s intense. His real name was Eric Blair, and he died pretty horribly.

1984 by George Orwell its famous… but a trap seeing you should write something original… its been done to death… but its a fun read

Gotta go with 1984. It’s had greater cultural significance than the others—people still refer to ideas from that book fairly often. It’s short, exciting, clearly communicated, and thought-provoking.

Lord of the Flies would be my second choice. It’s a significant novel, but it’s not in the same league as 1984.

George Orwell is a god and Notes on a Scandal was a great movie so I imagine the book must be pretty decent. I would choose between those two.

The best is arguably Waiting for the Barbarians, but the easiest is Lord of the Flies. 1984 is somewhere between the two of them, but Orwell was not exactly a great stylist. (People will probably disagree with me there.)

All three are good books to have read in one’s lifetime. Some others on the list are good (Angela’s Ashes) but not as ‘important’ as 1984 or Waiting for the Barbarians. I enjoyed it, but I think Lord of the Flies is read in school mostly because it makes a great didactic tool for teaching literature and not because it’s an especially great novel. It does read well with the Orwell and the Huxley, though.

If you’re looking for something that you can read quickly, with clear, strong themes that you can grasp readily and write a first-rate essay about on an exam, I’d say the degree of consensus above would be a good indicator.

I am a steady and competent reader, but I was unable to get through Angela’s Ashes. After slogging along for months, intermittently because it didn’t hold my attention even while waiting to be called for jury duty, I gave up about ¾ of the way through. Not to discourage you from reading it, not at all, but I wouldn’t call it a safe bet for this exercise.

Angela’s ashes!

The only book I have heard of on your list is ‘Lord of the Flies’, I actually read it for school myself as a sophomore in high school. I would not call it exciting, sorry, but It’s a pretty easy read and my class is proof it has material and themes suitable for a school paper. My class had to write an essay on it; picking a certain character and explaining with examples and quotes how that character changed throughout the book.

I got a B on it I believe.

Seriously, if you’re reading Brave New World you should read 1984, since they are often compared (even though they’re completely different).

1984 or any other Orwell book. What about Fahrenheit 451? I read both in HS and loved them and I wasn’t much of a school typagirl

Vernon God Little or 1984, are both great books and once I started them I found them impossible to put down. 1984 is one of my all time favourites. I bet I’ve read it at least 30 times!!

Another book I successfully used for an English class lit assignment, the same class in fact as I did ‘Lord of the Flies’ in was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. It’s a tragic story(written during a tragic time in her life, as it was coming to an end) with harsh themes of animal abuse but I got a very high score on that paper which was basically a few paragraph answer questions which evaluate how well you read and understood your book which was free choice.

It’s an older book, written in the 1800’s and thus could be a challenging read depending on your reading level, but is a very interesting and powerful story.

“It’s an older book, written in the 1800’s and thus could be a challenging read depending on your reading level, but is a very interesting and powerful story.” /wipes a tear from my eye. My apologies, but this line made me giggle coming from someone who has the handle of @TeamEdward.

If you want a safe bet for a reading experience, you cannot go wrong listening to the advice of @Jeruba.

Another vote for Lord of the Flies or 1984. Read both, preferably!

Zagwriter, a VERY RUDE judgment! You don’t know me! Do not be disrespectful!

Both 1984 and Lord of the Flies are classics and must reads

I’m sorry, but I fail to see how that was rude. I simply recounted my first impressions of that line. Do not take offense to this. Still think 1984 and Lord of the Flies are inspiring choices!

Well it sounded to me as though I sounded intelligent or something but should not be because I am a Twilight fan.

“Exciting” depends a lot on your taste. Most of the books on your list have a preview in Google Books, why not read a few pages of each and see what grabs your interest?

1984 or Angela’s Ashes

In Search of the Miraculous or Coin Locker Babies

Just read them all! Though I’d start with 1984 and Lord of the Flies, because I already read those and if you want a break from reading you can enjoy the old movies too.

One thing I learned in High School AP classes is that The Bible, although clearly a religious text, is a must read because your fellow lit students will constantly refer to it. If you are not reasonably well versed in the stories within, you may find yourself completely lost during class discussions and thus at a severe disadvantage.

Even though the Bible is not on your list (and is not an easy, quick read), I agree with @tigress3681 that knowledge of the Bible is basic to our Western culture and that literature is full of allusions to Biblical characters and stories. A student of literature who lacks familiarity with the best-known parts of the Bible is operating at a significant disadvantage.

I also happen to think that the King James Version represents the pinnacle of literary achievement in the English language. I attribute a good deal of my writing skill and knowledge of grammar to being immersed in the Bible from an early age. Even though that heavy indoctrination produced a solid atheist, my regard for the Bible as literature has never faltered.

Is Angela’s Ashes good, it’s available to me, should I read it??

Angela’s Ashes is very good. It paints a realistic picture of a harsh life but never feels overly mawkish. There is plenty of humor to balance what could be a depressing story.

One of my favorite lines:
“The rain drove us into the church—our refuge, our strength, our only dry place. At Mass, Benediction, novenas, we huddled in great damp clumps, dozing through priest drone, while steam rose again from our clothes to mingle with the sweetness of incense, flowers and candles.

Limerick gained a reputation for piety, but we knew it was only the rain.”

1984

DEFINITELY Never Let Me Go

I feel like 1981…. Fahrenheit 451… Lord of Flies are the same exact thing.
Even though Never Let Me Go covers similar themes, it is differently portrayed, which makes it extremely interesting.