I don't think that the selection of books to be assigned should be based on how popular the book is with students or how much they will enjoy the book. If that was the criteria it would all be young vampires in love and science fiction or fantasy.

My defense of a few titles mentioned:

Scarlet Letter. If your teacher told you it was supposed to be about feminism she was off her rocker. It's about the nature of guilt and revenge and the toll it takes on a person. Though I will say that, at least for the first read, one should skip the introduction by Hawthorne and start with I. The Prison Door.

Beowulf? I would agree that forcing students to plow though the original Old English would be pointless. In my opinion the translation by Seamus Heaney (actually a best seller when if was first published) is the way to go and a very nice read.

I must admit that Catcher In the Rye still does nothing for me. It is good though that I got that right of passage out as assigned reading in school long ago.