Three of the best books I've read in high school thus far are Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, and Half the Sky by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas D. Kristof. (See the pages in the drop-down menu for more information about these books.)
So, what do these books have in common? Two are fiction, one is nonfiction. One of those fiction is fantasy, the other should really be its own genre. One encourages the advancement of women across the world, while one is set in a world where women exist almost exclusively to bear children. However, even though they seem so different, all have something to say about our society. Slaughterhouse-Five ridicules the American military's veteran services (at the time of its publications, veterans received very little assistance from their country regarding mental illnesses due to war). A Game of Thrones revolves around the idea that "evil" is a matter of perspective and almost no one is wholly good or evil. Half the Sky is more blunt in drawing attention to women around the world who lives their lives in oppression, particularly those who are forced into marriage at a young age or prostitution. All of them changed the way I see the world around me, and that is what I like most about them.
As a reader, these books can say that I love it when there's a huge mortality rate within the book, or perhaps that I like sad books. I can see how that may be true, to a point. However, I find a message most powerful when it is paired with the finality of death. These three books also illustrate that I value a strong message aligned with an addicting story (morbid or not). On that note, maybe it's time for me to find a good book where my favorite characters don't die.