All my life, I've been a reader--a voracious, insatiable reader of almost anything I could find:  novels, biographies, criticism, memoirs, cultural history, children's books.  There are often two or three books by my bed, another in my bookbag (should I find myself with an unexpected free moment) and a pile in my young son's room as well for us to read together.  I don't leave my house without a book.  In our digital world I worry that we read less.  For me, the call of stories is irresistible; to be transported to another world, to understand a character's point of view; to learn or think about something I had never considered always feels like a gift to me.  I read whenever I can--always before I go to sleep, in airports, waiting to pick up children at dance class or soccer.  I often return to favorites over and over again, and the Laurel girls know I often weave references to children's literature into my talks at Chapel. 

Over the years, my ninth grade English Class and I have developed our list of what every girl should read before she leaves high school. We amend this list each year, only adding and never subtracting!   Additionally, from time to time I update my current reading--you will see I am eclectic in my taste.  I read a great deal of fiction; I love a good mystery or thriller, and I am always interested in research around girls and education.  I feel grateful to Benjamin Franklin every time I walk into the Beachwood and Laurel libraries--what a magnificent concept the lending library is, and how lucky we are to live in a part of the world that supports libraries!

Ann V. Klotz,
Head of School

 

Ann's Recent Reads: 2012		Ann's Recent Reads: 2011
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey		A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas		The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
Juliet by Anne Fortier		State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
		The American Duchess by Joan Wolf
		The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
		The Rules of Civility by Amor Townsend
Ann's Recent Reads: 2010		In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt		Sister by Rosamund Lupton
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton		The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller
The Irrestible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald		Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake		Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver		Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Every Last One by Anna Quindlen		Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth
Brooklyn by Colm Tobin		Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer		Imperfect Endings by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter
Nurture Shock by Po Brosnan		A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis		The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Vaal
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore		The True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp
Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
When Everything Changed by Gail Collins
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

 

Books To Read Before You Leave High School: A Wholly Personal Selection by Ms. Klotz, with additions from girls and friends
Classics		Contemporary Fiction
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott		The Color Purple by Alice Walker
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens		Beloved by Toni Morrison
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens		Sula by Toni Morrison
The Little Prince by Antoine St. Exupery		The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Lord of the Flies by William Golding		The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho		Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee		The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy		World’s Fair by E.L. Doctorow
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith		The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton		Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton		The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton		Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Ann Tyler
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston		Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank		The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy		Traveling Mercies by Ann LaMott
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert		Operating Instructions by Ann LaMott
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico		Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald		Native Son by Richard Wright
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway		Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
A Separate Peace by John Knowles		Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
My Antonia by Willa Cather		Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather		On the Road by Jack Kerouac
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner		Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Unvanquished by William Faulkner		Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
Absalom! Absalom! by William Faulkner		Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck		The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
All Bronte novels		Poetry
All Jane Austen novels		Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Bible		“To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Houseman
		“The Wasteland” and “The Four Quartets” by T.S. Eliot
Plays		Letters to a Young Poet by R. M. Rilke
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare		Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas
Othello by William Shakespeare		Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare		The poetry of Billy Collins
Hamlet by William Shakespeare		The poetry of Emily Dickinson
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams		The poetry of Mary Oliver
Our Town by Thornton Wilder		The poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard		The poetry of Pablo Neruda
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov		Non-Fiction
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde		Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen		Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Tartuffe by Moliere		Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles		Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
Antigone by Sophocles		People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry		Now I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Angels in America by Tony Kushner		The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
		In a Different Voice by Carol Gilligan
		Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Children’s Books		Night by Elie Wiesel
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White		The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodson Burnett
A Little Princess by Frances Hodson Burnett
Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder		Picture Books
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh		Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher		Brave Irene by William Steig
The Tale of Desperaux by Kate diCamillo		Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling		Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis		Peach and Blue by Sarah S. Kilborne
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis		Come On, Rain by Karen Hesse
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle		The Quiltmaker's Gift by Joanne Larsen Line
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl		Good Night, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie		Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden		Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
All of a Kind Family by Sidney Taylor
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Parzival by Katherine Paterson
Are You There God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Book of Greek Myths by D’Aulaire
Grimm’s Fairy Tales (the real ones)