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Advanced Placement (AP)

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A lot of students wonder if there's a specific AP English reading list of books they should be reading to succeed on the AP Literature and Composition exam. While there's not an official College-Board AP reading list, there are books that will be more useful for you to read than others as you prepare for the exam. In this article, I'll break down why you need to read books to prepare, how many you should plan on reading, and what you should read—including poetry.

Why Do You Need to Read Books for the AP Literature Test?

This might seem like kind of an obvious question—you need to read books because it's a literature exam! But actually, there are three specific reasons why you need to read novels, poems, and plays in preparation for the AP Lit Test.

To Increase Your Familiarity With Different Eras and Genres of Literature

Reading a diverse array of novels, poetry and plays from different eras and genres will help you be familiar with the language that appears in the various passages on the AP Lit exam's multiple choice and essay sections. If you read primarily modern works, for example, you may stumble through analyzing a Shakespeare sonnet. So, having a basic familiarity level with the language of a broad variety of literary works will help keep you from floundering in confusion on test day because you're seeing a work unlike anything you've ever read.

To Improve Your Close-Reading Skills

You'll also want to read to improve your close-reading and rhetorical analysis skills. When you do read, really engage with the text: think about what the author's doing to construct the novel/poem/play/etc., what literary techniques and motifs are being deployed, and what major themes are at play. You don't necessarily need to drill down to the same degree on every text, but you should always be thinking, "Why did the author write this piece this way?"

For the Student Choice Free-Response Question

Perhaps the most critical piece in reading to prepare for the AP Lit test, however, is for the student choice free-response question. For the third question on the second exam section, you'll be asked to examine how a specific theme works in one novel or play that you choose. The College Board does provide an example list of works, but you can choose any work you like just so long as it has adequate "literary merit." However, you need to be closely familiar with more than one work so that you can be prepared for whatever theme the College Board throws at you!

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Note: Not an effective reading method.

How Many Books Do You Need to Read for the AP Exam?

That depends. In terms of reading to increase your familiarity with literature from different eras and genres and to improve your close-reading skills, the more books you have time to read, the better. You'll want to read them all with an eye for comprehension and basic analysis, but you don't necessarily need to focus equally on every book you read.

For the purposes of the student choice question, however, you'll want to read books more closely, so that you could write a detailed, convincing analytical essay about any of their themes. So you should know the plot, characters, themes, and major literary devices or motifs used inside and out. Since you won't know what theme you'll be asked to write about in advance, you'll need to be prepared to write a student choice question on more than just one book.

Of the books you read for prep both in and out of class, choose four to five books that are thematically diverse to learn especially well in preparation for the exam. You may want to read these more than once, and you certainly want to take detailed notes on everything that's going on in those books to help you remember key points and themes. Discussing them with a friend or mentor who has also read the book will help you generate ideas on what's most interesting or intriguing about the work and how its themes operate in the text.

You may be doing some of these activities anyways for books you are assigned to read for class, and those books might be solid choices if you want to be as efficient as possible. Books you write essays about for school are also great choices to include in your four to five book stable since you will be becoming super-familiar with them for the writing you do in class anyways.

In answer to the question, then, of how many books you need to read for the AP Lit exam: you need to know four to five inside and out, and beyond that, the more the better!

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Know the books. Love the books.

What Books Do You Need to Read for the AP Exam?

The most important thing for the student choice free-response question is that the work you select needs to have "literary merit." What does this mean? In the context of the College Board, this means you should stick with works of literary fiction. So in general, avoid mysteries, fantasies, romance novels, and so on.

If you're looking for ideas, authors and works that have won prestigious prizes like the Pulitzer, Man Booker, the National Book Award, and so on are good choices. Anything you read specifically for your AP literature class is a good choice, too. If you aren't sure if a particular work has the kind of literary merit the College Board is looking for, ask your AP teacher.

When creating your own AP Literature reading list for the student choice free-response, try to pick works that are diverse in author, setting, genre, and theme. This will maximize your ability to comprehensively answer a student choice question about pretty much anything with one of the works you've focused on.

So, I might, for example, choose:

A Midsummer Night's Dream , Shakespeare, play, 1605

Major themes and devices: magic, dreams, transformation, foolishness, man vs. woman, play-within-a-play

Wuthering Heights , Emily Bronte, novel, 1847

Major themes and devices: destructive love, exile, social and economic class, suffering and passion, vengeance and violence, unreliable narrator, frame narrative, family dysfunction, intergenerational narratives.

The Age of Innocence , Edith Wharton, novel, 1920

Major themes and devices: Tradition and duty, personal freedom, hypocrisy, irony, social class, family, "maintaining appearances", honor

Wide Sargasso Sea , Jean Rhys, novel, 1966

Major themes and devices: slavery, race, magic, madness, wildness, civilization vs. chaos, imperialism, gender

As you can see, while there is some thematic overlap in my chosen works, they also cover a broad swathe of themes. They are also all very different in style (although you'll just have to take my word on that one unless you go look at all of them yourself), and they span a range of time periods and genres as well.

However, while there's not necessarily a specific, mandated AP Literature reading list, there are books that come up again and again on the suggestion lists for student choice free-response questions. When a book comes up over and over again on exams, this suggests both that it's thematically rich, so you can use it to answer lots of different kinds of questions, and that the College Board sees a lot of value in the work.

To that end, I've assembled a list, separated by time period, of all the books that have appeared on the suggested works list for student choice free-response questions at least twice since 2003. While you certainly shouldn't be aiming to read all of these books (there's way too many for that!), these are all solid choices for the student choice essay. Other books by authors from this list are also going to be strong choices. It's likely that some of your class reading will overlap with this list, too.

I've divided up the works into chunks by time period. In addition to title, each entry includes the author, whether the work is a novel, play, or something else, and when it was first published or performed. Works are alphabetical by author.

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Warning: Not all works pictured included in AP Literature reading list below.

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Ancient Works

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The Queen of AP Literature surveys her kingdom.

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Don't get trapped in a literature vortex!

1990-Present

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Don't stay in one reading position for too long, or you'll end up like this guy.

ap summer reading list

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An Addendum on Poetry

You probably won't be writing about poetry on your student choice essay—most just aren't meaty enough in terms of action and character to merit a full-length essay on the themes when you don't actually have the poem in front of you (a major exception being The Odyssey ). That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be reading poetry, though! You should be reading a wide variety of poets from different eras to get comfortable with all the varieties of poetic language. This will make the poetry analysis essay and the multiple-choice questions about poetry much easier!

See this list of poets compiled from the list given on page 10 of the AP Course and Exam Description for AP Lit, separated out by time period. For those poets who were working during more than one of the time periods sketched out below, I tried to place them in the era in which they were more active.

I've placed an asterisk next to the most notable and important poets in the list; you should aim to read one or two poems by each of the starred poets to get familiar with a broad range of poetic styles and eras.

14th-17th Centuries

  • Anne Bradstreet
  • Geoffrey Chaucer
  • George Herbert
  • Andrew Marvell
  • John Milton
  • William Shakespeare*

18th-19th Centuries

  • William Blake*
  • Robert Browning
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge*
  • Emily Dickinson*
  • Paul Laurence Dunbar
  • George Gordon, Lord Byron
  • Gerard Manley Hopkins
  • John Keats*
  • Edgar Allan Poe*
  • Alexander Pope*
  • Percy Bysshe Shelley*
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson*
  • Walt Whitman*
  • William Wordsworth*

Early-Mid 20th Century

  • W. H. Auden
  • Elizabeth Bishop
  • H. D. (Hilda Doolittle)
  • T. S. Eliot*
  • Robert Frost*
  • Langston Hughes*
  • Philip Larkin
  • Robert Lowell
  • Marianne Moore
  • Sylvia Plath*
  • Anne Sexton*
  • Wallace Stevens
  • William Carlos Williams
  • William Butler Yeats*

Late 20th Century-Present

  • Edward Kamau Brathwaite
  • Gwendolyn Brooks
  • Lorna Dee Cervantes
  • Lucille Clifton
  • Billy Collins
  • Seamus Heaney
  • Garrett Hongo
  • Adrienne Rich
  • Leslie Marmon Silko
  • Derek Walcott
  • Richard Wilbur

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You might rather burn books than read them after the exam, but please refrain.

Key Takeaways

Why do you need to read books to prepare for AP Lit? For three reasons:

#1 : To become familiar with a variety of literary eras and genres #2 : To work on your close-reading skills #3 : To become closely familiar with four-five works for the purposes of the student choice free-response essay analyzing a theme in a work of your choice.

How many books do you need to read? Well, you definitely need to get very familiar with four-five for essay-writing purposes, and beyond that, the more the better!

Which books should you read? Check out the AP English Literature reading list in this article to see works that have appeared on two or more "suggested works" lists on free-response prompts since 2003.

And don't forget to read some poetry too! See some College Board recommended poets listed in this article.

What's Next?

See my expert guide to the AP Literature test for more exam tips!

The multiple-choice section of the AP Literature exam is a key part of your score. Learn everything you need to know about it in our complete guide to AP Lit multiple-choice questions.

Taking other APs? Check out our expert guides to the AP Chemistry exam , AP US History , AP World History , AP Psychology , and AP Biology .

Looking for other book recommendation lists from PrepScholar? We've compiled lists of the 7 books you must read if you're a pre-med and the 31 books to read before graduating high school .

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Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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AP® English Literature

The ultimate ap® english literature reading list.

  • The Albert Team
  • Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

ultimate AP® English literature reading list

Introduction: How to Use this Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

With such a vast number of novels to choose from, it can be tough to decide which books to put on your AP® English Literature Reading List.

Let us help take out the guesswork! We break down exactly which books you should be studying, and why. 

We’ve categorized 40 different literary works. We’ve also included a thoughtful literary analysis on their key elements. With our help, you’ll be able to organize your list of AP® English Literature books to study in a way that works for you and your schedule.

Let’s get started!

What We Review

The Top 10 AP® English Literature Reading List

AP® English Literature Reading List

Everyone plays favorites, and The College Board is no exception. For example, Invisible Man has popped up on 29 of the past 49 AP® Lit exams! Chances are, we’ll see it again this year. 

We devoted this portion of the list directly to the top ten works that appeared most frequently on past exams. They should be on the top of your College Board reading list.

Do your best to gain at least some familiarity with this list of books, as it’s likely that one of these will appear somewhere on the test.

1. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Ellison’s Invisible Man is a long read but it is definitely worth your time. It expertly tackles race and bigotry, and its effect on the minds of everyone involved. Themes of race, identity, ideology, and stereotypes are explored.

The story follows a marginalized character. He’s not literally invisible, but he’s invisible in a society that is unable and unwilling to recognize the individuality of the black man.

It’s as culturally relevant today as it was when published in 1954. This is the most frequently referenced title on the AP® English Literature book list since 1971.

2. Great Expectations by Charles Dicken

This exciting novel is considered a Victorian “Bildungsroman”, or a coming-of-age story. Pip is a young and poor blacksmith’s son, who suddenly finds himself the owner of a large fortune and is whisked off to London.

One of the most versatile titles on this list, Great Expectations addresses many of the Victorian-era genres including: satire, crime, Silver Fork, Newgate, Gothic, serial fiction, romance, politics, and history.

Dickens gives us a fun plot, but the deeper literary analysis questions on the AP® Exams will focus on his writing, or his prose. Concentrate on instances of his beautiful use of language, and how they affect the novel as a whole. 

The character, Estella, gives us the beautiful quote, “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” This prompts the reader to consider how difficult times allows us to grow as people, and how Estella and Pip have grown from their sufferings. 

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is one of the most highly regarded pieces on the College Board reading list. A strong example of Gothic Romanticism, it deals heavily with questions of emotion and violence.

The language is easier to decipher than most literary works on the AP® reading list. But, where it really shines is in its considerations of class and gender from a woman’s perspective.

As you read, look out for the poetry in her language and the mastery of composition that Emily Bronte uses in her only published novel. 

4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness is celebrated on many of the AP® English Literature prep message boards as a go-to literary work for the free response section- and with good reason! It’s a relatively short novella containing mystery, psychology, and adventure.

Heart of Darkness is particularly useful for the AP® exam in answering questions about the modern world it was written in. It pointedly deals with imperialist greed, taking place in the 1890s African Congo.

Be sure to keep this in mind- Above all else, Heart of Darkness effectively explores and answers questions about morality. Does doing something wrong for the right reasons make it justified?

Use Albert’s Heart of Darkness course for help understanding tough concepts.

5. King Lear by William Shakespeare

King Lear , referenced 17 times on the exam since 1971, is the most frequently cited work by Shakespeare. King Lear is a brutal play containing themes ranging from familial love and duty, to anger and deception.

This one play provides a wealth of both literary and stylistic elements for you to analyze. This seminal tragedy focuses on King Lear, who foolishly exiles his one loving daughter, giving his kingdom to his two evil ones. As you read, consider how themes of loyalty tie in with compassion and forgiveness.

Albert’s King Lear course is a great resource for understanding the themes and concepts.

6. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The main theme of Crime and Punishment is redeeming oneself through suffering. This is another long but worthwhile read at 545 pages. Crime and Punishment psychologically analyzes young Raskolnikov’s crime to reveal how psychological analysis itself keeps us imprisoned. Intellectualizing events, says Dostoevsky, keeps us imprisoned.

As the name tells us, the two major themes of the story are Crime and Punishment, and their relationship to each other.

Think about questions of sacrifice when studying this piece. Nihilism, the superhero complex, alienation, and poverty are also analyzed at length.

Check out Albert’s Crime and Punishment course.

7. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Another bildungsroman (or coming-of-age story), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an examination of how morality and religion can confine an artist.

A Portrait reflects Joyce’s own development as a young boy through adulthood at university. Read A Portrait with an eye out for Joyce’s stream of consciousness style. As Stephen, the main character, develops morally and psychologically, the style of Joyce’s writing adapts and grows, so to speak.

Utilize this title on questions of how style can inform the meaning of the development of characters.

8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre is a highly cited Victorian Romantic novel. At its core, this is a story of a woman yearning for more than what traditional society would allow her to have.

This well-known novel centers on a strong feminist character, who fights control her own destiny. Bronte’s novel resonates deeply with current feminist movements across the globe. It focuses on themes of love, social class, and gender roles.

Albert has a great Jane Eyre course to help you prepare.

9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Huck Finn is one of the best-known titles on this list among American students. It’s rich and complex, yet the language is accessible.

If you’re asked about the era of Slavery or Reconstruction on the exam, Huck Finn should come to mind. It relentlessly discusses slavery, racism, and the hypocrisy of civilized society.

While reading the story, think of the Mississippi River as a symbol for remaining neutral on issues of race. Use that to inform your reading of Huck Finn.

10. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Last on this top 10 list is Moby Dick. Universally accepted as a masterful work of fiction, Melville himself described this novel as a meditation on America.

Reading this big novel might not fit into your studying time frame, but you should at least read summaries and key portions. This will help you gain an understanding of Melville’s particular use of symbolism. There are many symbols that may appear on the AP® English Literature exam, including his The Pequod, the color white, and Moby Dick (the whale itself).

In summary, the College Board tends to repeat similar titles on the exam. Studying these top 10 novels should be a priority on your list! They cover a wide range of themes, genres, and cultural time periods to help you effectively answer different varieties of exam questions.

Return to the Table of Contents

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from the Lost Generation

AP® English Literature Reading List from the Lost Generation

It could be useful to organize your reading list in terms of time period. For instance, take the Lost Generation. Many of the most frequently cited literary works on the AP® exam were written by Lost Generation, or World War I era, authors.

Not only is this an interesting time period that’s receiving more attention as the years draw on, many of the following titles from this era reflect the distinct American voice in literature in a lyrical, interesting, and unique way. 

11. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying , is a good example to use if you’re asked about stream of consciousness writing style. Consider how this style develops tone, and how this style aids in character development.

This novel alternates between 15 different character’s points of view. While this sounds intimidating, it’s actually easy to follow. The intimate tone helps us understand each different character.

Additionally, As I Lay Dying is considered part of the foundation of the Southern Renaissance.

12. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

As you read this novel, it’s important to remember it’s a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis (the one with Adam and Eve). If you’re faced with questions on the exam about allegory, it’s a good novel to reference.

East of Eden takes place around the end of WWI in California. It revolves around themes of jealousy, love, the consequences of the absence of love.

13. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Probably one of the best-known Lost Generation literary works, The Great Gatsby is iconic in high school English Literature education. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work has come to represent the Jazz Age in America.

If you’re asked about early-20 th century American society, The Great Gatsby should be a novel you reference..

Check out Albert’s The Great Gatsby course.

14. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Faulkner’s fourth novel, The Sound and the Fury , is another exercise in style. He again uses a stream of consciousness writing to tell a personal story of fear about the corruption of family values.

This is a difficult book to decipher, but, if you can get a handle on how Faulkner utilizes point of view, this piece will be valuable in both the multiple choice and free response exam sections.

15. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises represents the pinnacle of Hemmingway’s “Iceberg Theory,” also known as “theory of omission.” This style intentionally uses sparse language, to inspire curiosity in the reader.

Hemingway only shows the “tip of the iceberg” in his characterization and descriptions. He leaves it to the reader to formulate a deeper literary analysis (the part of the iceberg that’s underwater).

This novel not only represents Hemingway’s style; it represents the whole Lost Generation itself, through its stories of American expatriates in Europe.

16. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a a stylistic masterwork with unique diction. Hurston juxtaposes Southern Black dialect with the voice of a literary narrator.

If you’re asked about her work, chances are that understanding her style and structure will score you points.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from WWI to Present

AP® English Literature Reading List from WWI to Present

These following literary works appear on the College Board’s most frequently cited list, and they were published after WWI. These titles are useful references to this time period in particular.

17. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Ceremony is a commentary on how tradition and spirituality are a source of healing.

It takes place from the point of view of a service-age Native American man. He returns from World War II with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. His mentally instability forces him to turn to alcohol to ease his mind. But, eventually, he returns to his spirituality, healing from it.

18. Beloved by Toni Morrison

This work of literature explores Mother-Daughter relationships and the psychological impact that slavery has had on the African-American community in this country. Use Beloved to comment on the importance of identity and also community.

As you read, also consider how the supernatural elements of the story (like ghosts) contrast with its stark realism.

19. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is set in rural Georgia in the 1930s. It’s written in the form of letters from the main character, Celie, to God and to her sister.

It deals with racism and sexism, along with women’s rights. The power of language also plays an important role . As we read further into the story, the language in Celie’s letters changes to reflect her emotional and psychological development.

This development through language reinforces the idea that language, or the ability to express yourself, is essential in developing your sense of who you are.

20. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

Williams draws from a lot of his own personal experiences in The Glass Menagerie. This play has only four main characters, and its overarching theme is the importance of accepting reality. Each character in The Glass Menagerie retreats into their own world to escape realities they can’t cope with.

Look for this selection in free response prompts about symbolism. Laura’s array of delicate glass animals is the single strongest symbol in the play and a strong symbol in general. This Glass Menagerie comes to represent Laura herself and her escape from her own illusory world.

21. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Catch-22 is a first and foremost a satire. It comments on war by reducing it to a bureaucratic concern. Men’s lives and deaths are ultimately controlled by an uncaring, unfeeling government. Use this literary work in discussions of plot and irony.

Consider how devices, like the Catch-22 rule , serve to form the plot of a story.

We have a great Catch-22 course in our Albert library.

22. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

This play has won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Death of a Salesman critiques the American dream and questions its attainability. It grapples with themes like facing reality or giving in to illusion and living in denial.

The main character, Willy, is an aging salesman who struggles to cope with his current life. Much of the play is told through his own flashbacks to earlier in his career.

As you read, consider the effects of flashback on the interpretation of the themes.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from Shakespeare

AP® English Literature Reading List from Shakespeare

Many of William Shakespeare’s works appear on the exam’s most frequently cited list. Even though you’ve probably studied his plays all through high school, it’ll help to refresh your memory on these essential texts.

23. Othello

Othello is an African general in the Venetian army, and the play examines the racial prejudice he faces. It’s a story of love and deception surrounding his insecurity in his personal relationships. Jealousy is an overarching theme throughout the play.

Exam questions on Othello may be concerned with issues of an isolated character and what characteristics contribute to that isolation.

Enhance your understanding and analysis with our Othello Albert course .

24. The Tempest

One of the prominent themes in The Tempest is the artist in relation to his creation. Prospero can be viewed as a kind of artist, in that he controls the fate of every other character. It’s as if Shakespeare inserted himself into the story as Prospero.

The Tempest is widely regarded as Shakespeare’s “Farewell” performance.

25. The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is important in preparing for the AP® English Literature exam because it covers a timeless debate about racial and religious supremacy.

This work could appear on either the multiple choice or free response sections, because it explores the concept of dynamic characters using a culturally-charged and well-defined example: Shylock the Moneylender.

Hamlet has been performed more than any other Shakespearean work. For this reason alone, it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with it.

There are many religious, philosophical, and psychoanalytical undercurrents in Hamlet. All of these will help in free responses and multiple choice questions pertaining to character.

Use Albert’s Hamlet course for extra prep.

27. Macbeth

“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!” Macbeth is a cautionary tale warning against evil as a means of power. Themes of ambition, madness, and war all intertwine.

Studying Macbeth is a good opportunity for you to develop your critical analysis skills in tragedy.

Check out Albert’s Macbeth course here .

28. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This one’s a classic example of a Shakespean comedy, one of his most popular works overall. This play has four separate storylines that all revolve around the marriage of two main characters, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta.

The entire play takes place in the span of one night and is set in both Fairyland and a real-world forest. This play provides great opportunities for an analysis of symbolism. Focus on how enchantments and magic are used throughout. Consider how images of roses and use of love juice symbolize falling in love too quickly.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List from the Classics

AP® English Literature Reading List from the Classics

The classics are also frequently cited on the AP® English Literature exam. These five classic works could appear on the multiple choice section of the test, as well as on the free response section. Be sure to familiarize yourself with them.

29. Antigone by Sophocles

Antigone addresses issues of authority, faith, and fidelity. Sophocles examines the destructive repercussions on following the law over what you believe is right. He uses the family drama of the character Antigone to highlight this.

Remember to use Albert’s Antigone course for help.

30. Candide by Voltaire

Candide is a unique coming-of-age story and a satirical novella. It asks the question, ‘With so many hardships in the world, what’s the point of trying to be optimistic?’

Keep in mind that Candide is a unique take on the bildungsroman (coming-of-age story), and it’s a relatively short read.

Though Candide was first published in 1759, it is still considered a classic literary work.

31. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

Oedipus Rex (The King) demonstrates a unique take on the Greek Tragedy. Rather than following the sealed-fate plot that would have made sense to the audience of the time, Sophocles made Oedipus’s choices and faults contribute to his downfall.

You may have heard of Freud’s famous “Oedipus Complex” psychological theory. This play is where it gets its name.

Use Albert’s course on Oedipus Rex for additional help.

32. Medea by Euripides

Medea contains feminist undertones, which was a revolutionary occurrence for the time. Medea is a young woman who wants to take control of her own life in a patriarchal society. This ultimately that drives her to the extreme of committing murder.

Furthermore, the structure of the play is interesting in itself. In every scene, the only actors are Medea and one other person.

33. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein represents, arguably, the first science fiction story. But, it does this while remaining true to Shelley’s Gothic and Romantic roots.

The entire novel is a study in how power can corrupt. The power of knowledge allows Victor to animate “The Beast.” The power of his hatred for his creation pushes him toward his own death. The story in itself is a study in power and its dangers.

Frankenstein was first published in 1818. Though not in the same time period as most works on this list, it’s still considered a classic. Remember to use Albert’s Frankenstein course for help.

34. The Odyssey by Homer

Chances are, you’ve already read Odysseus’s sweeping tale of adventure at some point in your high school career. But whether you have or haven’t, this epic poem is worth revisiting before you take your exam.

Taking place in ancient Greece, this story follows the epic hero Odysseus as he tries to return home after the Trojan war. On his way, Odysseus encounters a number of mythical monsters, all preventing him from reaching his wife, Penelope. Consider the use of symbolism in this play, and what each different monster represents in a relationship between a husband and wife. 

Check out Albert’s The Odyssey course for additional practice.

Top AP® English Literature Reading List: Other Helpful Texts to Check Out

The list above is full of familiar titles. The list that follows contains titles referenced less often.

If you’re able to include mention of some of these, you may be able to score points for the breadth of your literary knowledge.

35. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

Streetcar is considered one of the greatest American plays of all time. Like The Glass Menagerie, Streetcar also deals with the interplay between reality and fantasy. It’s considered at least vaguely autobiographical.

Consider reading this piece along with Menagerie.

36. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart chronicles the life of a Nigerian, and it comments on the effect of British colonialism and Christianity. Read this novel if you’re searching for a piece that comes from a different culture. Also, check out the work of Ngugi wa Thiong’o if you’re interested in African perspectives on fiction.

Albert has a practice course to help you with this novel.

37. Obasan by Joy Kogawa

Obason details the Japanese internment camps of World War II, an often under-represented piece of history. The story is told from the point of view of a young child.

Joy Kogawa displays her mastery of imagery in Obasan. This piece is rife with examples of figurative language. Referencing its language and/or its cultural significance can help you earn points on the exam.

38. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

Albee challenges the traditional notions of success for both individuals and families in this play. This is one more work that comments on reality vs. fantasy.

The title itself is a reference to the “Big Bad Wolf,” and Virginia Woolf herself (though the play isn’t really about her at all.) This dark comedy-drama centers on the struggling marriage of its two, flawed main characters.

39. Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

O’Connor’s first novel, Wise Blood, deals with the crisis of faith in those who’ve seen war. The main character, Hazel Motes, returns home wounded from World World II to an empty house. Raised as the grandson of a preacher, he grew up conflicted with religion. War has turned him into a very vocal atheist.

Consider how O’Connor’s style affects the exploration of faith in Wise Blood.

40. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

If you enjoy dystopian science fiction, look no further! Brave New World takes place on Earth in the future where the entire planet is governed by just one government, the World State. The citizens of Earth are all genetically modified and sorted in a social hierarchy based on intelligence. 

The novel has numerous allusions to Shakespeare- the title, Brave New World, is a quote from The Tempest. As you read, consider the impact of these allusions on the meaning of the story as a whole.

Wrapping Things Up: The Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

We hope this English literature book list will help you decide which books you want to use to prepare for the AP® exam. In beginning your study, keep these things in mind:

  • You don’t need to read every book cover to cover. Familiarize yourself with important plots and characters from especially dense texts (like Moby Dick).
  • Understand the AP® exam scoring guidelines, and how different literary works can earn you points in different areas.
  • Choose books that interest you! You’ll have an easier time reading and remembering texts that you’re already motivated to read.

By reading and retaining as much information as possible before test day comes, you’re maximizing your odds of receiving the grades you want. Happy reading!

Remember to check out Albert’s How to Study for AP® English Literature for useful tips and skills!

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AP Lit Reading List – 50 Best Books to Read

November 16, 2023

Ap lit reading list

The AP English Literature and Composition exam is made up of two sections: a multiple-choice section and a free-response section. Firstly, in the multiple-choice section, students answer questions pertaining to passages of fiction, drama, or poetry. Next, in the free-response section, students analyze poetry and prose and write an argumentative essay centered on a text of their own choice or chosen from a list of 40 literary works. The problem for students preparing for the test is that there is no official AP lit reading list. Oedipus, Lady Macbeth, Madame Bovary, Mrs. Dalloway, Scout Finch , Huck Finn—all of them, plus hundreds more plucked from the pages of the literary canon, are liable to pop up on the AP Lit exam. That’s daunting.

So how exactly does one prep for this test, especially given the fact that there’s no authoritative AP Lit reading list to consult? Also, if a student wants to write their argumentative essay on a book not named on the test, how are they supposed to know which books are AP exam-worthy?

Luckily, by taking a look at AP Lit exams of years past, we can get a sense of which works are likelier than others to make an appearance. And we can get a sense for what the College Board considers exam-worthy. In other words: relax—you don’t have to slog through the entire oeuvres of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Pushkin et al. Below, I’ve compiled a totally unofficial AP Lit reading list—the 50 books that appeared most frequently on the exam since 1971.

AP Lit Reading List  

1) invisible man – ralph ellison.

Ralph Ellison’s classic kicks off this unofficial AP Lit reading list. If my count is correct, it’s appeared on the AP Lit exam 28 times. And that sounds about right: I don’t think any scholar of literature—American or otherwise—would raise an eyebrow if you argued that Invisible Man is the most important American novel of the 20th century. Published in 1952, Invisible Man is a deep dive into the mind of its unnamed narrator, a Black man coming to terms with his identity in a white society that refuses to see him. I’ll always be thankful that my 11th-grade American Lit teacher assigned this book. It’s mesmerizing, violent, honest, devastating, cathartic…it wouldn’t be very difficult to keep the list of superlatives going.

2) Wuthering Heights ­ – Emily Brontë

As you go about preparing for the AP Lit exam, it’s probably productive to keep the following question(s) in mind: why has such-and-such book come up on the test so often? In other words: what makes such-and-such book a classic? It’s not an easy question to answer. And I find that to be especially true here, thinking about Wuthering Heights . Is it considered a classic today because it’s an early example of psychological realism? Because of its depiction of abuse ? Because it bucked the Victorian status quo?

The answer to all three of those questions is probably a decisive “yes, and…” What’s fascinating to me about Wuthering Heights is how emotionally turbulent the story is—and how emotionally turbulent it can be for the reader, too. Finally, Wuthering Heights has appeared on the AP Lit exam 23 times in total, making it the second most cited book in the test’s history.

3)  Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

Great Expectations has appeared on the AP Lit exam 20 times. Whenever I hear the word “Dickensian,” I don’t think of Oliver Twist or David Copperfield ; I think of Pip Pirrip, Miss Havisham and co. Great Expectations is the ultimate Dickensian drama: romance, social class, 19th century London, good versus evil—it’s all there. Additionally, two other Dickens epics are amongst the top 50 most cited books on the AP Lit exam: Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities have appeared 5 times each.

4)  Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

Drawing inspiration from his experience working for a Belgian trading company in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is an exploration of the hypocrisies and horrors of imperialism. The novella has been on the AP Lit exam 18 times, and for good reason—the story asks important questions about morality, power, and racial subjugation, and the book itself can be critiqued for how it objectifies and exoticizes Africans.

5)  Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre, the eldest Brontë sister’s classic, has made the AP Lit exam 18 times. It’s a first-person-narrated Bildungsroman in which the reader gets access to the rich inner world of the book’s eponymous narrator. We witness Jane’s moral and spiritual development, her transition from childhood to adulthood, and her budding romance with Mr. Rochester. Further, the psychological intimacy of the prose has made Jane Eyre an enduring classic.

AP Lit Reading List (Continued)

6)  king lear – william shakespeare.

Having appeared on the AP Lit exam 17 times, King Lear is the Shakespeare work most well represented on the test to date. The tragedy is set into motion when King Lear decides to split his kingdom among his three daughters and in the process disowns his youngest, Cordelia. Concurrently, the play deals with themes of betrayal, self-deception, justice, and nihilism.

King Lear is a great place to start if you want to make sure you’ve got at least one of your Shakespeare bases covered. But, let’s be real, it’d probably behoove AP Lit test takers to have read a few more of the Bard’s greatest hits. Othello has been on the test 10 times; The Tempest , 7 times; The Merchant of Venice , 6; Hamlet and Macbeth , 5 times each.

 7)  Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Hey, it’s one of those Russian tomes I mentioned in the intro! Crime and Punishment has made the test 17 times, so if you’ve got to choose amongst the masterworks of the Russian heavy hitters, it’s not a bad bet. Published in 1866, Crime and Punishment is the inner monologue of a moral dilemma: Raskolnikov rationalizes his way to murder and then has to deal with the consequences—both legal and psychic.

8)  Moby Dick – Herman Melville

I’ll admit it: I haven’t read Moby Dick . I’ve tried, but I’ve never been able to get beyond the first 50 or so pages. It’s dense and difficult and requires a serious investment of mental energy. But I’ve never doubted that it’s worth it, and I still like to think that someday I’ll clear my schedule for a week or two and finish the thing once and for all. As much as I cringe at the label, it is one of those Great American Novels. In other words: the story of American literature is much more than Moby Dick , but you can’t tell the story of American literature without Ishmael, Ahab, and that elusive whale.

So what can readers get out of it? It’s a meditation on America. But it’s also a meditation on narrative, on how stories can be told, on style, language, allusion, symbolism, and much more. Moby Dick has been on the AP Lit exam a total of 15 times.

9)  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce

The Joyce work that in some ways is the prelude to Ulysses and Finnegans Wake , A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the story of Joyce’s fictional alter ego Stephen Dedalus and his struggle against prevailing Catholic and Irish conventions. It’s appeared on the AP Lit exam 14 times. Consequently, this should make it a fixture of any AP Lit reading list. Further, it’s a great example of a Künstlerroman , a story about an artist’s maturation.

10)  Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

Twain’s 1884 classic has appeared on the AP Lit exam 14 times and is frequently cited as one of those aforementioned Great American Novels. Why? For starters, it was one of the first examples of American Literature to be written in a slangy, regional vernacular. It’s also full of humor, and it often satirizes the antebellum South and American racism in general. But that’s not to say that Huckleberry Finn doesn’t come without baggage. Even though Huck Finn and the attitude of the book can be read as anti-racist, Twain’s use of racial stereotypes and epithets is worth questioning and criticizing.

11)  Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

Catch-22 , coming in at 14 appearances on the AP Lit exam, might be my personal favorite on this entire list. It’s known as a brutal satire of the American WWII war effort. And it certainly is a satire—a masterful satire. The caricature, the wordplay, the paradox—at a certain point in reading Catch-22 , you just have to sit back and admire Heller’s virtuosity. But the book isn’t reducible to Heller’s chops. In fact, his command of humor makes his depiction of war—the horrors of war—that much more devastating.

12)  Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a classic and influential love story published in 1937. Of course, it’s much more than a love story—it’s an exploration of gender roles, the enduring effects of racism, and, above all, it’s the story of protagonist Janie Crawford’s search for her own voice and identity. In terms of how to see the novel within the context of American literature, it’s often cited as a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and African-American Literature. And while it is important to see it as a part of those lineages, Their Eyes Were Watching God is just as much a candidate for being the Great American Novel as is Moby Dick or Huck Finn . Lastly, it’s appeared on the AP Lit exam 13 times.

13)  The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne (13 appearances)

14)  The Awakening – Kate Chopin (12)

15)  The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (12)

16)  Billy Budd – Herman Melville (11)

17)  Ceremony – Leslie Marmon Silko (11)

18)  Light in August – William Faulkner (11)

19)  Antigone – Sophocles (10)

20)  As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner (10)

21)  Beloved – Toni Morrison (10)

22)  The Color Purple – Alice Walker (10)

23)  The Glass Menagerie – Tennessee Williams (10)

24)  Native Son – Richard Wright (10)

25)  Othello – William Shakespeare (10)

26)  A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams (10)

27)  Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller (9)

28)  A Passage to India – E.M. Forster (9)

29)  A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry (9)

30)  All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy (8)

31)  Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (8)

32)  Bless Me, Ultima – Rudolfo Anaya (8)

33)  Candide – Voltaire (8)

34)  The Crucible – Arthur Miller (8)

35)  The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck (8)

36)  Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy (8)

37)  The Jungle – Upton Sinclair (8)

38)  Portrait of a Lady – Henry James (8)

39)  Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Tom Stoppard (8)

40)  Sula – Toni Morrison (8)

41)  Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett (8)

42)  Pride and Prejudice ­ – Jane Austen (7 )

43)  Madame Bovary ­ Gustave Flaubert (7)

44) The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway (7)

45)  Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe (7)

46)  Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton (6)

47)  Frankenstein ­ – Mary Shelley (5)

48)  The Cherry Orchard – Anton Chekhov (5)

49)  Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin (5)

50)  Wise Blood ­ – Flannery O’Connor (5)

AP Reading List – Additional Resources

In conclusion, if you are looking for additional high school literature resources, we invite you to visit the High School Success section of the College Transitions blog. Additionally, some relevant blogs that you may find interesting include:

  • The Great Gatsby Themes & Analysis 
  • Great Gatsby Quotes about the American Dream
  • Great Gatsby Quotes and Analysis 
  • High School Success

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Dane Gebauer

Dane Gebauer is a writer and teacher living in Miami, FL. He received his MFA in fiction from Columbia University, and his writing has appeared in Complex Magazine and Sinking City Review .

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Summer Reading & AP Prep

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2025-25 summer reading list & AP Prep work

Students must purchase their own summer reading books and may choose to read print or a digital book.

These books are not included in the textbook fee and will not be provided on iPad.

English Department

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros I   SBN: 0679734775 or 9780679734772

* Please refer to this   The House on Mango Street Reading Guide as you read the novel.

Please refer to this Reading Assignment .

English 3 (CHS)

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven ISBN: 9780385755917

English 3 (DLS)

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ISBN: 9780385486804

AP English Language & Composition (CHS)

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green ISBN: 9780525555247

AP English Language & Composition (DLS)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ISBN: 9780743273565  

AP English Literature & Composition (CHS)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ISBN: 9780486278070

*All students with AP Lit at Carondelet, please   review this document   regarding your summer reading assignment.

AP English Literature & Composition (DLS)

and   The Odyssey by Homer; trans. by Robert Fagles ISBN: 9780140268867

Classics of Horror

Carrie by Stephen King ISBN:   9780307743664

Dystopian Fiction

PICK ONE TO READ   Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ISBN: 0307887448 or 9780307887443 OR

The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins ISBN: 9781407109084 OR   The Memory Visit by Jenny Lynn Lambert ISBN: 9781773398488

  **Proceeds from purchases of The Memory Visit benefit Carondelet Faculty/Staff Student Scholarship**

Explorations of Writing

Psychology in literature, reading lounge, shakespeare.

The World a Stage by Bill Bryson ISBN: 9781848310544

The 21 st   Century Woman

What I Told My Daughter: Lessons from Leaders on Raising the Next Generation of Empowered Women by Nina Tassler ISBN: 9781476734682

The Culture of Storytelling

The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin ISBN:   9780547773742

The Short Story

Short Story Reader PDF is sent to all students enrolled in this course. If you haven’t received it, please contact   Ms. Koski

The Wild West

Shane by Jack Schaefer ISBN:9780544239470

Math Department

Ap statistics (chs).

To be determined - please check back at the end of June.

Modern Language Department

Science department, ap chemistry & ap biology bridge.

Students accelerating to   AP Chemistry in 10th grade   or   AP Biology in 11th grade   are required to complete a summer bridge course.

These summer bridge courses are 4-week student-paced courses moderated by Carondelet science teachers on Schoology.   Students may only register for the Summer Bridge classes with approval from the Science Department.

AP Environmental Science

Ap physics 1 or c, social studies department, ap human geography (chs).

Human Geography for the AP Course Read and take notes on Unit 1 Modules 1-6. TEXTBOOK PROVIDED TO ALL PDF Here .

AP US History (CHS)

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America ISBN 9780143122029 or   0143122029.   Read chapters 1-12 (pages 23-149)

The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. TEXTBOOK PROVIDED TO ALL PDF Here . Read chapters 1-3.   Please review this document regarding the full summer reading assignment.

AP US History (DLS)

The American Pageant: AP Edition Read Chapters 1-3.   TEXTBOOK PROVIDED TO ALL PDF Here .

AP Government

Ap psychology (chs).

Myers’ Psychology for the AP Course 3rd Ed UPDATED Read and take notes on Unit 1 Parts I & II. TEXTBOOK PROVIDED TO ALL Carondelet Ladies PDF Here .

AP Psychology (DLS)

Visual and performing arts & computer science, ap art (drawing, 2d and 3d).

Over the summer, create an art journal consisting of 7 pages that represents the theme of your interest and your artistic skillset.

Step 1: Decide what will be the big question for your journaling exploration

Examples: Why do I draw? What are the experiences/ routines that changed my life? How are Japanese traditions reflected in Anime? How do urban architecture and graphic design impact our everyday life?

Step 2: Create at least seven pages (one page, 9x12 each) in your journal

Include quick sketches, free writings, references on others’ artworks, artist explorations, collages, detailed drawings, watercolor, digital drawings, etc.

AP Computer Science Principles (CHS)

Over the summer, students enrolled in APCSP should complete the work as presented in this document . Any questions, please contact Ms. Lafler .

AP Computer Science A (CHS)

Please contact Ms. Michelle Koski

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AP English Summer Reading List Ideas

Where to start.

Unlike most other AP courses, which are guided by chronology or a textbook, AP English Literature has so many options for where to start and which way to go, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. After all, there are hundreds of great books out there that you could assign your students for summer reading and throughout the year.

I’m going to suggest a failsafe strategy for coming up with an effective AP English summer reading list. It will require you to assign one piece of literary criticism and one or two texts with literary merit, whether they’re canonical or contemporary. Lastly, I’ll give you suggestions for how to bridge the criticism and literature successfully. If you follow this guide, you’ll be starting off on the right foot, and your students will be on their way to earning 4’s and 5’s on their AP exams next May.

Introduction to Literary Criticism

Many of your students will have limited to no background in literary criticism, but it would behoove them to start thinking like a literary critic as soon as possible. For this reason, I strongly suggest assigning either of Thomas C. Foster’s accessible introductions to the topic: How to Read Literature Like a Professor or How to Read Novels Like a Professor . Both texts provide approachable advice for reading and understanding great literature, so you can’t go wrong with either. If, of course, you plan on assigning a piece of literature that isn’t a novel (say, Shakespeare’s King Lear , for example), you should obviously pick the former, but otherwise it’s just up to your personal preference.

Both How to Read books are broken into thematic chapters, in which Foster applies an idea to a plethora of texts as examples. In How to Read Literature , Foster starts out analyzing “quests.” He makes the claim that just about every trip in literature is really a quest through which the character (the knight, if you will) discovers self-knowledge. In the equally interesting opening chapter of How to Read Novels , Foster shows the reader just how important opening lines, pages, and chapters are to a novel, by identifying the eighteen literary elements they reveal about the book. This is exactly the kind of thinking you want to expose your AP students to, so that–eventually–it will become second nature for them.

Having students read these books in tagent with a classic or contemporary text may also be a strategy you can use. They can then use the How to Read skills they’ve learned on the text. This can be turned into a written summer assignment.

Delving into the Canon

AP Literature is primarily concerned with the classics, so it would be a good idea to expose your students to this caliber of text before they even enter your classroom. That way they’ll know what to expect in regard to your course’s difficulty and they’ll already have one piece of great literature to discuss on day one.

My classics recommendations for AP summer reading, on the other hand, are more accessible and still bursting with literary merit. Consider one or two of these to be read in conjunction with one of Foster’s criticism books:

  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Anything by Dickens

There are plenty of other excellent choices; these are just a starting-off point. When evaluating your choice, though, consider the book’s accessibility in addition to its literary merit. If you fully expect the majority of your students to hate it, it’s probably not the best choice.

Embracing Contemporary Literature

While it’s true that AP Literature is primarily concerned with the classics, they aren’t its only concern. In fact, they’ve referenced plenty of pieces of contemporary fiction on their exams, including The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, among others.

There are many benefits to including a piece of quality contemporary literature on your AP English summer reading list. Firstly, your students might really appreciate it. The decline of reading is well documented, and even your brightest students probably aren’t doing it enough for pleasure. Their course loads and extra curricular activities take up a huge amount of their time. I hope you’ll agree that we don’t want them to leave high school thinking that their only choices in literature are dense classics (however impressive they might be) and frivolous pop fiction, like Twilight . You have the opportunity to expose them to another category of great books: the contemporaries. There are certainly plenty of excellent novels written every year; introduce your students to one of them.

Another benefit of including a contemporary piece on your summer reading list is that it will force your students to do their own analysis. Unfortunately, due the abundance of study aids available online and in print, some students don’t even read the books assigned to them. Instead they read summaries and analysis on sites like SparkNotes. If you pick a newer novel, you may be able to take away their crutch, and they’ll have to do their own thinking. Keep in mind, though, that if this is a big concern of yours, you should check to see if SparkNotes already covers the work you’re considering assigning. Also, if SparkNotes does cover the book, read the SparkNotes version before you grade the assignment (or create an assignment) and bring your classes discussion and focus to the aspects of the text that were not covered. This will teach your students that they cannot just read SparkNotes early on. The Handmaid’s Tale and All the Pretty Horses fall into this category.

Here are a few other AP-worthy contemporary texts that you might consider:

  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
  • The Known World by Edward P. Jones
  • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Making Connections

Once you’ve selected your titles, you want to build a bridge from the literary criticism to the literature itself. You can make this part of the summer project or give out the assignment when students enter your class in the fall, but it’s important that you require them to apply their new understanding of criticism to the text(s) that they read.

I suggest that the writing assignment be pretty short–let’s say one to two pages–for your sanity and your students’. In their essay(s)–one if you only assigned one book in addition to Foster’s, two if you assigned another–they should apply one of Foster’s ideas to their reading. If you assigned a classic and a contemporary piece (or two classics), I suggest requiring that they have to use a different chapter from How to Read for each essay. For example, they might choose to use the chapter “Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion” to help dissect a scene in Jane Eyre and “…More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence” to analyze a scene in The Known World (both chapters from How to Read Literature ). Or maybe they’ll use “Pickup Lines and Open(ing) Seductions or Why Novels Have First Pages” to discuss Dickens’s famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities and “Never Trust a Narrator with a Speaking Part” to evaluate the reliability of the narrators in The Elegance of the Hedgehog (both chapters in How to Read Novels ). Doing this exercise early on will give you invaluable insight into your students’ strengths and weaknesses in both analysis and writing, and give them a bit of practice with the kind of thinking and writing they’ll be doing for the rest of the year.

Now that you’ve got the ball rolling with an effective summer reading assignment, you’re off to a successful year. Best of luck!

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Summer reading in ap lit..

ap summer reading list

A few years ago I revamped my summer reading assignment.

It marked an important departure for me. It was a significant step in my growth as a teacher. I’ll explain why, but first I want to share what I have done in years past.

THE OLD SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT

My summer assignment has gone through different iterations over the years, but the gist of it has always been that the students had to read two books — How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines and 1984 — and develop an outline for each. There are many versions of this assignment online. Its probably where I first developed the idea. I must have Googled “ How to Read Literature Like a Professor summer assignment.” A bunch of results came up, and seeing that a lot of other teachers paired Thomas C. Foster’s work with another novel probably validated its worth in my mind.

I liked that both books were accessible and my students could find help online if they needed it.

I liked that I was introducing my students to good literature without ruining their summer with dense texts and mountains of work.

I liked that when students returned from school I could assess them by asking them to apply a chapter from How to Read Literature Like a Professor to 1984 .

I liked that I was doing something to prevent the summer slide.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE OLD ASSIGNMENT

There was nothing pedagogically wrong with my old summer reading assignment. But there were certain things about it that had bothered me over the years:

  • Students can easily find summaries of How to Read Literature Like a Professor online ( like this link) .
  • Many of my students are not readers of classic literature on their own. In spite of its cheeky humor and tone, they did not have the awareness of texts mentioned in How to Read Literature to fully appreciate the references.
  • Students felt that How to Read Literature Like a Professor simplified the process of reading, reducing everything to either a symbol or an allusion.
  • The assignment was not thoroughly thought through. It was too simplistic. Basically I was asking students to read and outline. I felt like I was simply following what others were doing without making this assignment a true reflection of my teaching and my goals.
  • There wasn’t much feedback I could provide on an outline and consequently little room for growth.

THE GOALS OF SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS

I believe that when students are faced with low-rigor tasks, they create low achievement even when students do well on these tasks. In addition, such tasks contribute to the boredom students so often complain about when they spend too many hours on work that is routine and bland, often centered on discrete skills.

Outlining a text is a low-rigor task. It requires little skill beside extrapolation and summarization.

I want my summer assignments to have what I believe are the three principles of an effective assignment:

1. Effective assignments provide clear expectations about what should be completed, how it should be completed, and why the assignment is important.

I needed to rethink the final part of that criteria. While the original assignment provided clear expectations and walked students through the steps to be completed, it never explained why the assignment was important. When there is no value attached to an assignment, the work can feel like busy work.

Assignment-making requires teachers to clarify what learning is demonstrated and how it can be demonstrated. I needed to answer questions about purpose and relevance: “Why are my students doing this? What greater good will result from this work? As well as, are there significant concepts connected to the curriculum?”

2. Effective assignments are formative, providing feedback that allows teachers to adjust their instruction and scaffold learning.

I also needed to understand how my teaching can be informed by what the students completed. This is where the outlines of the prior assignment failed to be valuable. I was learning nothing about my students nor anything about their thinking.

With the new summer assignment adjustments would I make based on the work that students produced? What was I learning about their reading skills or their writing skills?

Good assignments, whether in the summer or during the school year, should inform instruction, giving teachers a chance to assess skills and modify instruction accordingly.

3. Effective assignments set high expectations and provide pathways to achieve those expectations.

I want the new assignment to communicate high expectations for critical thinking and levels of analysis. I want my students to be challenged no matter what skill sets or content background they bring into the course.

WHAT MY STUDENTS ARE DOING INSTEAD

  • I want my students to have a summer experience that is not punitive but is preparatory. I don’t want to punish them with mountains of work or use a summer assignment as a gatekeeper for the class. I want to set a foundation for the enjoyment that comes from reading, thinking, and writing creatively and analytically.
  • I want my students to see that great ideas can be expressed in a variety of formats. Therefore, they will read blog articles, watch YouTube videos, and read poems as well as a novel.
  • I want them to learn from readers, writers, and thinkers that I admire. I’m not just handing them books and asking them to read them, I want them to observe how others analyze and how others approach the act of writing.  These pieces have the levels of analysis that will promote high expectations for my students.
  • I want them to choose the novel they read, not have one assigned to them.
  • I want them to have a space of their own creation (their StudyTee Notes) where they will respond to each text that they encounter in thoughtful and diverse ways.

THE SUMMER READING TEXTS

  • StudyTee’s Note-Taking Method
  • The NerdWriter Analyzes Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks”
  • Leo Babauta’s Why I Read (+ a Dozen Book Recommendations)
  • Any novel on this list or this one
  • Poetry Foundation’s Poem of the Day

Download the Summer Reading Assignments for Susan Barber and Brian Sztabnik

Concluding thoughts.

I know that I am asking my students to complete somewhat unorthodox summer assignments. They are not being handed a textbook or a stack of novels and asked to complete a series of study guide questions or outlines. There comes a point in a teacher’s career when he or she stops doing things just because everyone else is doing them and strikes out on his or her own path.

And this has been that moment for me.

Instead, I am giving them models of critical thinkers. I am exposing them to a variety of texts across a span of genres. I am giving them the power to choose the novel and poems that they want to read. And it will have clear expectations, an understanding of why each component of the assignment is important, a chance for me to gain formative feedback, and high expectations for success.

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Brian Sztabnik is just a man trying to do good in and out of the classroom. He was a 2018 finalist for NY Teacher of the Year, a former College Board advisor for AP Lit, and an award-winning basketball coach.

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BHS Summer Reading & AP Coursework

For YOUR summer reading requirements, find your Fall Semester grade level below. 

**If you have questions or problems, contact the teacher directly.**

English 9, English 9 Honors

In-coming 9th graders (future english 9 students) :.

Click here for your Englist 9 summer reading assignment!

English 9 Honors students:

You must read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by  Sherman Alexie and then a 2nd book of your choice from the English 9 Honors Reading list .  See the  Eng 9 Honors SR ASSIGNMENT  for due dates and more information .   See also the  English 9 Honors SR Book Review  for more information on your final, written assignment.

English 10, English 10 Honors

English 10 students:.

Click here to view your assignment!  

English 10 Honors Students:

Click here for your summer reading assignment!

English 11, English 11 Honors

English 11 students:.

Congratulations on completing your tenth grade year! In preparation for your eleventh grade English class, all students enrolled (or planning on enrolling in English 11) have a summer assignment. Please click here to view the assignment!

English 11 HONORS Students:

You must read 1984 by George Orwell.  

English 12, African American Lit, AP Language, AP Literature, Project Advance

English 12 students:, african american literature students:, ap literature & composition students:, ap language:, pa (project advance) english 12 students: .

The summer reading assignment  asks you to consider how genre and medium affect the content of informational texts. 

ap summer reading list

Quick Links

ap summer reading list

IMAGES

  1. Incoming AP Literature Summer Reading list

    ap summer reading list

  2. 2015-2016 Summer Reading List and Assignment

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  3. 11th Grade AP Summer Reading List

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  4. 2017 Diverse Summer Reading List Grades PreK-8

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  5. AP Summer Reading Assignment

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  6. Summer Reading List, Grades 3-5

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COMMENTS

  1. AP Literature Reading List: 127 Great Books for Your Prep

    An Addendum on Poetry. You probably won't be writing about poetry on your student choice essay—most just aren't meaty enough in terms of action and character to merit a full-length essay on the themes when you don't actually have the poem in front of you (a major exception being The Odyssey).That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be reading poetry, though!

  2. The Ultimate AP® English Language Reading List

    The Ultimate AP® English Language Reading List. The Albert Team. Last Updated On: March 1, 2022. Within the AP English Language curriculum are certain books that will assist you in answering free response questions during the exam as well as some of the multiple choice questions. By being well-read you can get a leg up on the other students ...

  3. The Ultimate AP® English Literature Reading List

    3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights is one of the most highly regarded pieces on the College Board reading list. A strong example of Gothic Romanticism, it deals heavily with questions of emotion and violence. The language is easier to decipher than most literary works on the AP® reading list.

  4. PDF AP Language Summer Reading List

    Summer Reading List Reading List: AP Language & Composition Summer 2021 The AP reading list was developed using recommendations from College Board, AP English Language curriculum, and award winning non-fiction with a Lexile score of 1100 or above. The content of these books can be sensitive in nature. Parents are advised to review the list, read

  5. PDF AP Language and Composition Summer Reading List

    AP Language and Composition Summer Reading List. Welcome to AP English Language and Composition. The following lists offer students high interest readings, contemporary texts, non-fiction readings, as well as literary classics. Hopefully, you will find the summer readings enjoyable as well as thought provoking.

  6. 2024 AP Reading Schedule

    For 2024, AP readers will score student responses at AP Reading sites and from home. All scoring will be done via computer. Pre-readings will take place at AP Reading sites immediately prior to the Reading. AP Subject. 2024 Site.

  7. PDF Summer Reading List 2023: AP Literature and Composition

    Assignment #1: Read and annotate How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Annotations will be checked on day two of class. You will also need to write a bulleted list of key ideas (2-3) from each chapter. This will be turned in on the first day of class. Example Chapter 1: Every trip is a Quest (Except when it's not) Main Ideas:

  8. PDF Summer Reading/Activity List for AP Literature and Composition*

    How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster (ISBN: 978--0623-0167-3) Assignment for Book #1: Create a digital notebook in a Google doc. (If you do not have access to a computer this summer, you can create a handwritten notebook.) At the very beginning, type out a schedule with your own deadlines to complete the reading of all ...

  9. PDF 12th Grade AP Literature and Composition

    The authors and works represented here have all appeared on the College Board's AP English Literature Exam. AP English is considered a college-level course and, as such, may include readings with mature language and themes. Page 2 The course will base much of its instruction on this book - take notes. Read this book before reading your other

  10. PDF 2020 Summer Reading: A.P. Language and Composition

    2020 Summer Reading: A.P. Language and Composition_____ I encourage you to read these novels for the enrichment I explain below. Reading the following ... you read in AP Lang is based in a historical context that we cannot ignore. People always write what they live. These classic novels from different centuries reveal so much about the times in ...

  11. PDF AP Lit Summer Reading Part 1

    reading students It you 2023 AP Lit Summer Reading Part 1 a work from the list below to read this summer: you choose your book or play, do some online research and pick a work that interests you and that will honestly read. Maybe choose the same work as a friend, so you can discuss it and help one understand.

  12. PDF AP English Literature Summer Reading and Assignments

    ©AP Lit & More: Literature & Writing Resources, 2018 Assignment #3: Additional Reading Finally, select one more title to read over the summer from the list provided. The titles on the list are considered novels of "literary merit" by those who write the AP Lit exam, but they never define what "literary merit" means.

  13. AP Lit Reading List

    Dane Gebauer. Dane Gebauer is a writer and teacher living in Miami, FL. He received his MFA in fiction from Columbia University, and his writing has appeared in Complex Magazine and Sinking City Review. AP Lit Reading List - we reveal the 50 best books to reading for AP List based on the number of times they have appeared in the exam itself.

  14. Summer Reading & AP Prep • Carondelet High School

    Students accelerating to AP Chemistry in 10th grade or AP Biology in 11th grade are required to complete a summer bridge course. These summer bridge courses are 4-week student-paced courses moderated by Carondelet science teachers on Schoology. Students may only register for the Summer Bridge classes with approval from the Science Department.

  15. Ap English Summer Reading List Books

    by. Henry James. (shelved 1 time as ap-english-summer-reading-list) avg rating 3.68 — 6,728 ratings — published 1877. Want to Read. Rate this book. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (KnowledgeNotes) by.

  16. PDF 2022-2023 AP Literature and Composition Summer Reading Mrs. Simon and

    You will be reading two books over the summer. The two books were chosen for their literary merit and the beneficial content needed to help students become widely read in preparation for the AP Literature and Composition exam in the spring. The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: Heart of Darkness examines the horrors of Western

  17. PDF 2023 AP Lit Summer Reading

    Complete your 2nd read of this book by the beginning of the 3rd full week of school to prepare for the reading test: Focus on developing a thorough understanding of the literal story - the plot, structure, characters, setting(s), conflict(s), and resolution(s). Take note of the social issues and topics it explores, as well.

  18. AP English Summer Reading List Ideas

    My classics recommendations for AP summer reading, on the other hand, are more accessible and still bursting with literary merit. Consider one or two of these to be read in conjunction with one of Foster's criticism books: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

  19. AP Summer Reading List (82 books)

    AP Summer Reading List A list of all the books we were supposed to choose from for AP English back in the high school days. flag All Votes Add Books To This List. 1: The Importance of Being Earnest by. Oscar Wilde. 4.17 avg rating — 365,524 ratings. score: 293, and 3 people voted ...

  20. Summer Reading in AP Lit.

    Outlining a text is a low-rigor task. It requires little skill beside extrapolation and summarization. I want my summer assignments to have what I believe are the three principles of an effective assignment: 1. Effective assignments provide clear expectations about what should be completed, how it should be completed, and why the assignment is ...

  21. Summer Reading Lists

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  22. PDF CHARLES COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS HIGH SCHOOL HONORS, AP, and COMPOSITION

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