Read this book first!
Reading it and internalizing its lessons will likely cause at least a bit of a change in the way you read other books. Instead of reading and relating books to your own experiences, you will begin to see the bigger picture--the things an author does, the patterns authors use, the themes an author incorporates, etc.

And as you read this book, chime in here with your own comments about things that are confusing to you, or things that make good sense to you, or things that remind you of books you have already read but now think about differently or understand more, etc. Commenting is part of your assignment! :)

My Antonia

This book is not difficult to understand. It is a frame story told by a man named Jim. It details events from his childhood experiences, after being orphaned and moved from Virginia to Nebraska to live with his grandparents. It is a sweet story filled with beautiful landscapes, hardships of working the land, and the things that happen when people help each other.

Catch-22

Joseph Heller wrote this fictional tale of war in 1955. He makes many points that are valid...maybe even more today than they were then. One of the book's many interesting features is its lack of something to which you are likely quite accustomed: chronological order. As you read this book you will want to definitely pay attention to--and even keep track of--the individual characters and their particular idiosyncracies. The story itself you may have to put together at the end.