Foreword
Mrs Jenny Hill, Murray Centre
and Library Manager
Reading for pleasure is a magical thing. Once you find the book that hooks you in (and there really is one for everyone), you will start a lifetime journey that will take you to new worlds, new ideas and new friends without ever leaving the comfort of your armchair. Reading truly expands your horizons and feeds your imagination in a way that nothing else can. But here’s the magical bit – without even being aware of it, the enjoyment of reading has a hugely positive impact on your brain. There is a growing body of evidence that points to readers achieving greater academic success – even in maths! As you absorb the vocabulary, the grammar and the syntax while you read, your writing skills automatically improve. In addition, readers have an increased ability to empathise with other people and understand their motivations; to be tolerant and learn from others’ perspectives. Perhaps most importantly, reading has a hugely positive impact on your mental health and wellbeing. Losing yourself in a good book really does reduce your levels of stress and anxiety.
In this reading list you will find a wide choice of fiction titles across a range of genres to help you start or continue your reading adventure. In addition, you will find non-fiction books recommended by our academic departments to widen your knowledge of the subjects you study. Do make sure you visit our beautiful library at the top of the Murray Centre where you can borrow books and seek advice on what to read next.
‘A book is a gift you can open again and again.’
Garrison Keillor
Upper School
These books are recommended for ages 13+
Key
Title Titles in blue text are more challenging reads.
Advisory note: this book contains more challenging themes that some readers may find upsetting. If you are unsure, please seek advice from a member of staff.
EDI This book is part of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Suggested Reading list.
Table of Contents
Fiction
Non-fiction
Recommendations from the Computing Department
Recommendations from the Drama Department
Recommendations from the Geography Department
Recommendations from the History Department
Recommendations from the Languages Department
Recommendations from the Maths Department
Recommendations from the Music Department
Recommendations from the PE Department
Recommendations from the RS Department
Recommendations from the Science Department
Fiction
Douglas Adams The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy and series – Arthur Dent’s mad journey through the Universe following the destruction of Earth to make way for an intergalactic highway.
Elizabeth Acevedo
Tomi Adeyemi
ClapWhenYouLand (2021 Carnegie Medal shortlist) – a novel written in verse with a dual narrative This is a powerful tale of Family, grief and rediscovering your roots. EDI
Tariq Ali
Maya Angelou
Laurie H. Anderson
The Poet X (Carnegie Medal Winner 2019) - Xiomara has always kept her words to herself. When it comes to standing her ground in her Harlem neighbourhood, she lets her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But X has secrets - her feelings for a boy in her bio class, and the notebook full of poems that she keeps under her bed. And a slam poetry club that will pull those secrets into the spotlight. Also written in verse, this is a series of short poems creating Xiomara’s slam poetry diary. EDI
Children of Blood and Bone – magic has gone from the world, vanished when Zelie’s mother was violently murdered by the King’s men. Now the Maji clans, marked out by their silver hair, live in constant fear. Zelie longs to rebel, but her chance doesn’t come until she finds herself having to protect a runaway princess, Amari, who is carrying a scroll that can bring magic back. The girls should be on opposite sides of this bitter war, driven by Amari’s father and brother, but instead they join forces in a desperate race to get the scroll to its rightful place, and restore magic to the world. A fantasy based in African tradition. EDI
ShadowsofthePomegranateTree – "Tariq Ali captures the humanity and splendour of Muslim Spain ... an enthralling story, unravelled with thrift and verve. Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree is quizzical as well as honest, informative as well as enjoyable, real history as well as fiction ... a book to be relished and devoured." – Independent. (Recommended by the RS Department) EDI
IKnowWhytheCagedBirdSings – in the first volume of her autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. But loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. This memoir paints a picture of ‘a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman.’ Barack Obama EDI
Speak– when Melinda tries to do the right thing, she finds herself shunned by friends and on the street. Nothing she does makes a difference. Cleverly written so we only find out exactly what she did at the end.
M. Angels Anglada The Auschwitz Violin – the unforgettable story of one man’s refusal to surrender his dignity. (Recommended by the Music Department)
Dean Atta
Black Flamingo – a boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen - then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. EDI
Margaret Atwood Penelopiad – through Atwood’s ingenious imagination, Penelope evolves from her mythical role as Odysseus’s faithful wife into an unforgettable and gloriously irreverent heroine. (Recommended by the Classics Department)
Jane Austen
Victoria Aveyard
NorthangerAbbey – a lively parody of the Gothic novels popular during Jane Austen’s youth. Follow the naïve heroine from a loving home, to the constraints of Bath society & gothic Northanger Abbey. (Classic Literature)
RedQueenseries – fantasy series set in a world divided by blood – Red or Silver. A common Red girl, Mare, ends up working in the Silver elite and plots to bring down the regime.
Jo Baker Longbourn – ‘If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats,’ Sarah thought, ‘she would be more careful not to tramp through muddy fields’. (Recommended by the Art Department)
Leigh Bardugo
Six of Crows – fantasy novel that follows six teenagers living in Ketterdam, a city of slums and crime lords. Kaz Brekker is an infamous thief who is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, but he can’t pull it off alone. Fast moving with a plot full of twists and turns and really engaging characters that you won’t forget.
Jennifer Barnes The Inheritance Games series – an addictive thriller, full of dark family secrets and deadly stakes – perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying
Cris Beam I Am J – an inspiring story of self-discovery, of choosing to stand up for yourself, and of finding your own path - readers will recognize a part of themselves in J's struggle to love his true self. EDI
Sally Beauman Rebecca’s Tale – For those who loved Daphne Du Maurier’s classic Rebecca, this sequel is set 20 years after her death when a family friend receives an anonymous parcel. It contains a black notebook with two handwritten words on the title page – Rebecca’s Tale – and two pictures – one of Rebecca as a child and one of Manderley. (Recommended by the Art Department)
Julie Berry All the Truth That’s In Me – a page-turning, American mystery with a powerful heroine, set in a community with Puritan parallels. This links well with plays such as The Crucible.
Holly Black TheFolkoftheAirseries(TheCruelPrince,TheWickedKing,TheQueenof Nothing) – follows Jude Duarte, a mortal girl who gets tangled in palace intrigues while trying to win a place in the treacherous High Court of Faerie where she and her sisters have lived for a decade.
Malorie Blackman Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double Cross – follow up, Noughts and Crosses, with the rest of the series to discover the full impact of Stephy and Callum’s forbidden love EDI
R D Blackmore
Lorna Doone – not as popular as it once was or indeed should be, this classic is well worth a read. First published in 1869 and set in 1685, Lorna Doone is a powerful and moving love story that follows the life of the young farmer John Ridd, as he grows to manhood determined to right the wrongs in his land and win the heart and hand of the beautiful Lorna Doone. (Classic Literature)
Judy Blume Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – Margaret is convinced she isn’t normal. Her friends are more grown-up than her, she’s starting a new school and she’s unsure whether to follow her mother’s or her father’s religion. She starts talking to God with surprising results.
Holly Bourne You Could BeSoPretty – Set in a dystopian world, where girls are expected to maintain impossible beauty standards of beauty, it explores what happens when two enemies are thrown together. As Belle and Joni confront their prejudices, the reader is left asking themselves: Is this world really so far from our own?
Sita Brahmachari When Shadows Fall (2023 Yoto Carnegie Shortlist) – explores the lives of Kai, Orla and Zak and the complicated connections that bind them together. When Kai’s life is turned upside down, can his friends get him back on track? Told in a mix of verse and prose, this is a story of empathy and hope.
Charlotte Bronte JaneEyre – Jane grows up in her heartless aunt’s home before being sent to Lockwood school. She becomes a governess and falls in love with her employer Mr Rochester but he has a terrible secret. (Classic Literature)
Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights – haunting, complex and tragic, this is the tale of Heathcliff and his all-consuming love for Cathy. But mostly it is about the vengeance and the ruin Heathcliff visits on two families when Cathy marries another. (Classic Literature)
Kevin Brooks
Dan Brown
Alyssa Brugman
The Bunker Diary (2014 Carnegie Medal Winner) – the harrowing but addictive tale of teenager Linus who tries to do a good deed but is kidnapped and finds himself incarcerated in an underground bunker, where there is six of everything. A hard hitting and emotional read
TheDaVinciCode– Harvard professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes.
Angels and Demons – The Vatican, Rome: the College of Cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Somewhere beneath them, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion
Alex As Well – a confronting and heartfelt story of adolescent experience of questioning identity, discovering sexuality, navigating friendships and finding a place to belong. EDI
Stephen Chbosky
ThePerksofBeingAWallflower– a deeply affecting coming-ofage story about Charlie - shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years but socially awkward. He is a freshman trying to navigate his way through the world of first dates, dramas and new friends, but he can’t stay on the sidelines forever.
Paulo Coelho
Abi Daré
Charles Dickens
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Namina Forma
Gayle Forman
Jostein Gaarder
Sally Gardner
The Alchemist – the bestselling story about a boy’s mystical journey to understand the nature of the Universe. Coelho has since written many more thought-provoking shortish stories, but The Alchemist is by far the best known. (Recommended by the RE Department)
TheGirlWithTheLoudingVoice – the unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl, Adunni, who grows up in a Nigerian village, is married off at 14 years of age, but who longs to get an education so that she can find her ‘louding voice’ and speak up for herself. A simultaneously heart-breaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. EDI
Hard Times – shows the dangers of living life by utilitarian principles and paints a vivid picture of the grinding relentlessness of industrial England. Set in the North rather than London.
NicholasNickleby– the eponymous hero of this novel is left penniless after his father’s death and forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures involve a typically Dickensian cast of rogues and eccentrics.
TheOldCuriosityShop – the mesmerising tale of Little Nell, one of the most well-known characters in English fiction. (Classic Literature)
The Great Gatsby – Nick Carraway tells of the glittering life in the houses on Long Island Sound, of beautiful Daisy and her true love. Compare with the film. (Classic Literature)
The Gilded Ones – the must-read new bold and immersive West African-inspired fantasy series. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. EDI
If I Stay – a haunting novel about the power of love and loss – a story that won't quite let you go.
Through a Glass Darkly – a dying girl and her relationship with the angel who comes to look after her
Sophie’s World – the outstanding introductory text and popular classic to Philosophical ideas, taught through mysterious letters written to a 14-yearold Norwegian school girl, Sophie Amundsen. Albert Knox teaches the history of Western Philosophy and later both become caught up in their own perplexing philosophical plot. (Recommended by the RE Department)
MaggotMoon(2013 Carnegie Medal winner) – Standish Treadwell, fifteen, lives in a dystopian world where people live in assigned zones & are controlled via the police & propaganda. When the rebels see a chance to publicly expose the regime Standish, who is dyslexic, becomes an unlikely hero. EDI
Adele Geras
Linzi Glass
William Golding
John Green
Troy – ten years into the Trojan War, Xanthe and Marpessa are sisters living in Troy, which is besieged by the Greeks. After Paris swept Helen away from her husband in Greece to his home in Troy, Menelaus started a war to win her back. The Deities have already decided its outcome. The Goddess Aphrodite, who started it all when she promised Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, is tired of the war. Therefore, she turns her attention to the two sisters. When her son Eros, the God of Love, aims his love arrow, neither of the sisters can escape its power. They both fall in love with Alastor, a handsome fallen soldier with power. (Recommended by the Classics Department)
RubyRed – set against the turbulence and danger of an apartheid divided world. Brought up to stand against everything that divides the society in which she lives, Ruby finds herself falling in love with someone with starkly opposing views. Thought provoking EDI
Lord of the Flies – the classic tale of a group of boys stranded on a desert island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves.
The Fault in Our Stars – Hazel has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but when gorgeous Augustus Waters appears at the Cancer Kid Support Group, her life changes.
LookingforAlaska –this is Green’s debut novel. Miles Halter is tired of his dull life in Florida and persuades his parents to send him to boarding school. There, he meets the clever, but wild Alaska Young and falls for her.
Graham Greene Brighton Rock – a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton – Greene’s most iconic novel.
Ruchira Gupta
I Kick and I Fly a triumphant, shocking account inspired by Ruchira Gupta's experience making the Emmy-award winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents, this is an unforgettable story of overcoming adversity by a life-long activist who has dedicated her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold. EDI
Ravena Guron Catch Your Death when three girls are stranded at the grand Bramble Estate in the middle of a snowstorm, they stumble into a murder plot. Someone is poisoned - which means the girls are trapped in the house with a killer and a mystery to solve.
Mark Haddon
Matt Haig
TheCuriousIncidentoftheDogintheNight-Time – Christopher Boone, 15 years old has Asperger's syndrome. When he finds a neighbour's dog murdered, he begins a journey which will turn his whole world upside down. A murder mystery like no other. EDI
TheMidnightLibrary – between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the midnight library, she has the chance to put things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But the books in the midnight library enable Nora to live her life as if she had done things differently
Mohsin Hamid
Frances Hardinge
The Reluctant Fundamentalist – at a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. He begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite "valuation" firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, but in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love. (Recommended by the RE Department) EDI
The Lie Tree – Faith, 14, is a perfect Victorian young lady on the surface but in reality she is a rebel, she wants to be a scientist. When her family relocate to a remote island and her father is murdered, it is Faith who fights to uncover his murderer. A dark modern Gothic mystery mixing the supernatural with natural science
Thomas Hardy
Robert Harris
Will Hill
Susan Hill
Mary Hooper
Rachel Hore
FarFromTheMaddingCrowd – the story of shepherd, Gabriel Oak and his love for the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love, the most pastoral of Hardy’s Wessex novels. (Classic literature)
Fatherland – what if Hitler had won the war? (Recommended by the History Department)
After the Fire – inspired by the 1993 Waco siege in America but not about Waco, Hill imagines what life would be like if you survived after the cult you were a member of ended in disaster. Moonbeam, 16, the oldest survivor, refuses to talk. She had begun to doubt Father John but if her rescuers find out her secret, they will lock her up for ever. A tense gripping thriller that you cannot put down.
The Woman in Black – a classic English ghost story. Arthur Kipps is summoned to attend the funeral of Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House. At the funeral, he glimpses a wasted woman, dressed in black and a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold.
FallenGrace – Victorian England is vividly brought alive with historical facts skilfully interwoven with the story of destitute Grace and Lily; exposing the contrast between conditions for the rich and for the poor.
TheMemoryGarden – Lamorna Cove, a tiny bay in Cornwall, picturesque, unspoilt. A hundred years ago it was the haunt of a colony of artists. Today, Mel Pentreath hopes it is a place where she can escape the pain of her mother’s death and a broken love affair, and gradually put her life back together. (Recommended by the Art Department)
Khalid Hosseini
Aldous Huxley
The Kite Runner – a contemporary classic – the unforgettable story of an unlikely friendship between two boys caught up in the tragic history of Afghanistan
And the Mountains Echoed – in this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honour and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. (Recommended by the RE Department) EDI
Brave New World – written in 1932, this classic dystopian novel presents a nightmarish vision of a future society which expects maximum pleasure and accepts complete surveillance – no matter what the cost.
Eva Ibbotson
Kazuo Ishiguro
Lauren James
The Secret Countess – when Anna’s aristocratic family flee the Russian Revolution and arrive penniless in England, she secretly becomes a servant.
The Remains of the Day – winner of the Booker Prize 1989, this contemporary classic is a beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a great English house, of lost causes and lost love.
TheQuietAtTheEndofTheWorld – a post-apocalyptic novel with a twist. Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Doted upon by their ageing community in London, they spend their days mudlarking and looking for treasure – until a secret is uncovered that threatens their entire existence.
Muhammad Khan I Am Thunder – fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem is used to being invisible. So no one is more surprised than her when Arif Malik, the hottest boy in school, takes a sudden interest. But Arif is hiding a terrible secret and, as they begin to follow a dark path, Muzna faces an impossible choice: keep quiet and betray her beliefs or speak out and betray her heart. EDI
Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon – Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes - until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius.
Nick Lake ThereWillbeLies(2016 Carnegie Shortlist) – a psychological thriller set in America. Shelby is home-schooled, her mother is over-protective and they never go anywhere; but is this because Shelby is deaf or is there another reason? An accident changes Shelby’s life forever
Patrice Lawrence Orangeboy – sixteen-year-old Marlon has promised his widowed mum that he'll be good, and nothing like his gang-leader brother Andre. But everything changes when Marlon's first date with the beautiful Sonya ends in tragedy; he becomes a hunted man and he has no idea why. EDI
John Le Carre
Harper Lee
Laurie Lee
George Lester
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – the classic novel of Cold War espionage. (Recommended by the History Department)
ToKillaMockingbird – an all-time favourite and one to re-read; explores with humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South. (Classic Literature) EDI
Cider with Rosie – an evocative memoir of a childhood spent in a remote Cotswold village in a time before cars or electricity
David Levithan
BoyQueen – Robin Cooper's life is falling apart. While his friends prepare to head off to university, Robin is looking at a pile of rejection letters from drama schools up and down the country, and facing a future without the people he loves the most. Everything seems like it's ending, and Robin is scrabbling to find his feet. Unsure about what to do next and whether he has the talent to follow his dreams, he and his best friends go and drown their sorrows at a local drag show, where Robin realizes there might be a different, more sequinned path for him . . . EDI
Every Day – a thought-provoking story follows ‘A’ who wakes up each day in a different body. He knows not to change things or get too involved, until the day he meets Rhiannon who changes everything.
Joan Lindsay Picnic at Hanging Rock – the classic Australian gothic novel. Set in the 1900s it follows the events after three girls go missing whilst on a school picnic. Whether it is fact or fiction, the reader must decide for themselves.
E Lockhart We Were Liars – a brilliant modern American reworking of classic tales containing both the beautiful and the damned. (Recommended by the Learning Skills Department)
Tim Lott
Maja Lunde
Fearless – a chilling fable and thriller about a heroic girl prepared to risk everything in the pursuit of justice for the inmates of the City Community Faith School. Little Fearless is a heroine who is an inspiration to all who read about her. Haunting and powerful
TheHistoryofBees – in the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this dazzling and ambitious literary debut follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a spellbinding story of their relationship to the bees – and to their children and one another –against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis. (Recommended by the Biology Department)
The End of The Ocean – a story set in a dystopian future where there is a worldwide water shortage. Switching between the story of a present day Norwegian eco-campaigner and a French father and daughter fleeing from a war-torn Southern Europe plagued by drought in 2041, their stories weave together to make a heart-breaking, inspiring story about the power of nature and the human spirit. (Recommended by the Biology Department)
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca– a downtrodden orphan thinks her life has changed for the better after meeting Maxim de Winter in a whirlwind romance in the south of France. But moving to Cornwall reveals an unexpected ghost from the past and a nemesis in the mysterious housekeeper, Mrs Danvers. A classic and atmospheric thriller.
Glenda Millard The Stars at Oktober Bend – Alice, fifteen, faces a life of discrimination. Attacked when she was twelve, her brain injury makes communication difficult. Manny, the ex-boy soldier, is running from the horrors of his past. Can they find happiness together and unravel what happened to Alice? EDI
Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus – a coming-of-age story set in a mysterious circus that appears without warning – magical realism at its best.
Michael Morpurgo Private Peaceful – a brutal and heart-breaking story of two brothers thrust into the misery of the First World War. Amongst the mud and rats, they are forced to grow up quickly and discover courage.
War Horse – in the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in terrible times. One horse has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. (Recommended by the History Department)
Heather Morris
Toni Morrison
The Tattooist of Auschwitz – in 1942, Lale Sokolov arrived in AuschwitzBirkenau. He was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for survival – scratching numbers into his fellow victims’ arms in indelible ink. Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a young girl. So begins one of the most life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable and human stories of the Holocaust: the true love story of the tattooist of Auschwitz.
Cilka’s Journey – this sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz follows the journey of Lale and Gita’s friend, Cilka, from concentration camp to Siberian gulag. This is a story of extraordinary courage in the face of evil. ‘She was the bravest person I ever met.’ Lale Sokolov, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
Kate Morton
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of language and boldness of vision. Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America. In the autumn of 1941, the year the marigolds in the Breedloves' garden do not bloom, Pecola's life does change - in painful, devastating ways. EDI
TheSecretKeeper– this is a heart-breaking novel, a story of mysteries and secrets, murder and enduring love moving between the 1930s, the 1960s and present day. (Recommended by the Art Department)
Jojo Moyes
Patrick Ness
MeBeforeYou– a compelling novel of life and death decisions and unlikely affections.
The Knife of Never Letting Go – Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in a constant overwhelming noise. There is no privacy or silence. Then Todd Hewitt discovers a spot of complete silence. Impossible. This thrilling award-winning trilogy is about loyalty, love, survival, power and the devastating realities of war. Join Todd and Viola in their fight against evil in a world where everyone lies
The Ask and the Answer (2010 Carnegie Medal Shortlist) – second in trilogy.
Monstersof Men (2011 Carnegie Medal Winner) – third in trilogy.
George Orwell 1984 - a challenging story of a nightmare world – but it will enable you to understand the real significance of ‘Big Brother’. (Classic Literature)
Philip Reeve
Erich M. Remarque
Jason Reynolds
Kate Riordan
Animal Farm – when the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and equality. But gradually a cunning, ruthless élite among them, masterminded by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball, starts to take control. Soon the other animals discover that they are not all as equal as they thought and find themselves hopelessly ensnared as one form of tyranny is replaced with another. (Recommended by the History Department)
Railhead and Black Light Express – a thrilling mix of sci-fi, adventure, conspiracy thriller, crime and romance set in an imagined universe where intergalactic travel is by train. Join Zen Starling and his android girlfriend Nova as their adventures take them through the universe and beyond.
AllQuietontheWesternFront – a moving and chilling first-person account about the realities of war. A story that perfectly illustrates the pointlessness of conflict.
LongWayDown – when Shawn, the beloved big brother of 15year-old Will, is shot dead, Will is ready to follow "the rules" and get revenge. After finding his brother’s gun, he gets in the lift from his home on the seventh floor with Shawn’s gun – and so begins a surreal journey of discovery, guided by the ghosts of other dead people in Will’s life. The entire action of the book takes place on that journey down to the ground floor. Written in verse, Long Way Down is breathtakingly gripping and spectacular. EDI
OxygenMask– a unique and memorable graphic novel which encapsulates the thoughts, aspirations and fears of a generation lurching from discrimination to COVID and beyond.
The Girl in the Photograph – a haunting and atmospheric novel that tells the tales of women in two different eras – the 1890s and the 1930s – and how their lives seem to be entwined by fate.
Deborah Rodriguez
Manon Steffan Ros
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul – after hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. In this gorgeous first novel, New York Times bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez paints a stirring portrait of a faraway place where, even in the fog of political and social conflict, friendship, passion, and hope still exist. (Recommended by the RS Department) EDI
The Blue Book of Nebo (2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal Winner) –set in post-apocalyptic Wales, this quiet, eerie story is told through a little blue diary shared by 12-year-old Dylan and his Mum as they survive day-to-day in the deserted town of Nebo.
Meg Rosoff
Veronica Roth
Meredith Russo
J.D.Salinger
The Great Godden –this is the story of one family, one dreamy summer –the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, in a big, messy family, one teenager watches as brothers and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter the Goddens –irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit and surly, silent Hugo. Suddenly there's a serpent in this paradise – and the consequences will be devastating. EDI
How I Live Now – a dystopic tale of war-torn love. (Recommended by the Learning Skills Department)
Divergent,Insurgent,Allegiant – a series of sci-fi adventure novels set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian Chicago. Beatrice (Tris), a 16-year-old girl, is part of a world where people live in Factions divided on the basis of their dominant human virtue or personality trait. At sixteen, they must choose their faction, but Beatrice’s tests are inconclusive and she is marked as ‘Divergent’ But it is not safe to be Divergent and Tris must conceal it as there are dark forces at work. Fast paced and immersive – this is a series that you won’t be able to put down.
IfIWasYourGirl– Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone. But when she meets sweet, easy-going Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. But Amanda's terrified that once she tells him the truth, he won't be able to see past it. A universal story about feeling different and a love story that everyone will root for. EDI
Catcher in the Rye – a timeless classic coming-of-age story: an elegy to teenage alienation and the sense of loss we feel as we leave childhood behind.
Alice Sebold
TheLovelyBones – the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to term with her won death.
Ruta Sepetys I Must Betray You (2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal shortlist) –closely based on real events of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, this is a powerful and heart-breaking thriller which follows a 17-year-old boy who faces unimaginable choices when approached by the secret police and can trust no-one.
The Fountains of Silence (2021 Carnegie Medal shortlist) - a wellresearched, beautifully layered story set in 1950s Spain under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Daniel is a rich American tourist and Ana is the maid assigned to look after his family in the Castellana Hilton Hotel in Madrid. As their relationship grows, we meet a cast of supporting characters who all have an important role to play in the unfolding story, and whose lives subtly intertwine as we delve into the secrets of Franco’s Spain.
EDI
Salt to the Sea (2017 Carnegie Medal Winner) – Germany 1945: a group of friends flee from the Russian army. Salvation is the Wilhelm Gustoff; but in the worst maritime tragedy in history she is sunk with the loss of 9,000 lives. Will they survive? A mixture of truth and fiction
Diane Setterfield
The Thirteenth Tale – a richly imaginative and atmospheric debut novel from one of our finest story tellers. Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family that included the wild and untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. Margaret Lea, an amateur biographer is writing the memoirs of enigmatic writer, Vida Winter. The two parallel stories unfold and what Margaret discovers sheds a disturbing light on her own life.
Once Upon a River – a wonderful tale of an appealing set of characters, set around an ancient inn on the Thames where a badly injured stranger turns up one dark winter’s night holding the corpse of a drowned girl. Folklore, suspense and romance combine in this brilliantly told tale.
Mary Shelley Frankenstein – since being published in 1818, this book, with its story of a monstrous creature, has scared and terrified generations of readers
Dave Shelton
Thirteen Chairs – a thrilling ghostly tale which will keep you deliciously terrified! (Recommended by the Learning Skills Department)
Adam Silvera They Both Die At The End – there is no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day. EDI
Dodie Smith
ICapturethe Castle – a classic coming of age story told by a charismatic and witty narrator.
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men – George Milton and Lennie Small are two displaced migrant ranch workers who search for new job opportunities during the Great Depression in America. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, this novel gives voice to the lonely and dispossessed. (Classic Literature)
Bram Stoker Dracula – a novel derived from vampire legends, published in 1897, that inspired an entire genre of literature and film. (Classic Literature)
Nic Stone
Chaos Theory – a tour de force about living with grief, prioritizing mental health, and finding love amid the chaos. EDI
Jane Stubbs Thornfield Hall – This is the story that Jane Eyre never knew – a narrative played out on the third floor and beneath stairs, as the servants kept their master’s secret safe and sound. (Recommended by the Art Department)
William Sutcliffe
Robin Talley
The Wall – set in the Middle East, Joshua lives in a divided city. When he leaves school, he will fight the enemies who live in the other half of the city. But his beliefs change when he sees what is on the other side of the wall and incurs an unpayable debt whilst making an unlikely friend. EDI
LiesWeTellOurselves– strong, hard-hitting and uncomfortable to read. 1959 in segregated America, the first black students arrive to attend Jefferson High School, Virginia. This book puts you in their shoes as they are met with a wall of racial hatred. EDI
Mildred D. Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – feisty Cassie learns the shocking realities of racism and discrimination as she grows up in Mississippi during The Great Depression. Powerful and moving. EDI
Josephine Tey DaughterofTime – an unravelling of the story of the Princes in the Tower
Paul Theroux
Angie Thomas
The MosquitoCoast - Allie Fox is a father who wants to change the world. He is on an unstoppable journey to bring ice and other inventions to the jungle but this relentless pursuit of his dreams brings his wife and family to despair.
The Hate U Give – a gripping and haunting debut novel, which draws the reader into Starr’s twin world of poor neighbourhood and exclusive posh school. In a world rife with prejudice and racism, where does she fit in? When a law officer kills her unarmed friend Khalil in front of Starr, she has hard choices to make. What Starr does next could get her killed. It could also destroy her community. EDI
Concrete Rose – a hard-hitting return to Garden Heights with the story of Maverick Carter, Starr’s father, set seventeen years before the events of the award-winning The Hate U Give. EDI
OntheComeUp – Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, she's got massive shoes to fill. But when her first song goes viral
Karen Thompson
for all the wrong reasons, Bri finds herself at the centre of controversy and portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. EDI
TheAgeofMiracles– Earth is gradually slowing to a halt. At first it is not
Walker noticeable, days just have a few extra minutes tacked onto them. Gradually the night and day become longer and longer and temperatures swell during the long days. The slowing has begun. See this through the eyes of Julia, a teenager going through adolescence. (Recommended by the Languages Department)
J. R.R Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – a political allegory, darker and more sophisticated than The Hobbit
Ivan Turgenev Fathers and Sons – a literary masterpiece about the conflict between generations, and perhaps one of the most compelling, extraordinary and famous heroes in literature, Bazarov, the ‘nihilist’ or ‘new man’. The novel shocked Russian society when it was first published in 1862 and still has the power to shock today. (Classic Literature)
Jenny Valentine Fire Colour One – Iris, sixteen, has never met her father; according to her mother he abandoned them. Then Iris’s mother takes her to meet him because he is rich and dying and her mother wants his money.
Gore Vidal Creation – a novel following the grandson of Zoroaster on his travels from ancient Persia to the East, searching for theological and philosophical ideas about creation. (Recommended by the RS Department)
Susan Vreeland GirlinHyacinthBlue – the story of an imaginary painting by Vermeer, and the aspirations and the longings of those whose lives it illuminates and darkens. (Recommended by the Art Department)
Alice Walker
TheColorPurple – written in epistolary form, this is the powerful and compelling story of a poor young woman’s struggle to be noticed and heard in a patriarchal and prejudicial society. It is, at times, harrowing but it is also heartwarming. EDI .
Elizabeth Wein
Pip Williams
Jeanette Winterson
Diana Wynne Jones
Codename Verity – a tale of war and adventure with friendship playing a key role. (Recommended by the Learning Skills Department)
The Dictionary of Lost Words – based on real events relating to the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the story of Esme, the fictional daughter of one of the compilers. Esme starts collecting words that the editors exclude because they are deemed to be less important Set around the heyday of the Suffrage movement, this is a moving and poignant novel which asks how words mean different things to men and women.
OrangesAreNotTheOnlyFruit– this award-winning autobiographical novel is a funny and masterful coming-of-age story about a girl adopted into a zealously religious family in the North of England. She seems destined for a life as a missionary until she falls in love with one of her converts.
Hexwood – like a human memory, Hexwood Farm doesn't reveal its secrets in chronological order. Ann finds entering Hexwood a lottery as she may
Suzy Zail
not end up in the same place or time period. This is Jones’s best fantasy book. A gripping read
IAmChange– they told her that her body belonged to men and her mind didn't matter. In Lilian’s village a girl is not meant to be smarter than her brother. A girl is not meant to go to school or enjoy her body or decide who to marry - especially if she is poor. Inspired by and written in consultation with young Ugandan women, and addressing the difficult subject of FGM, I Am Change is the tragic but empowering story of how a young girl finds her voice and the strength to fight for change. EDI
Non-Fiction
Recommendations from the Computing Department
Martin Erwig Once Upon an Algorithm: How Stories Explain Computing –Erwig illustrates a series of concepts in computing with examples from daily life and familiar stories. Hansel and Gretel, for instance, execute an algorithm to get home from the forest; the movie Groundhog Day illustrates the problem of unsolvability; and the magic in Harry Potter’s world is understood through types and abstractions.
Hannah Fry
Andrea Gonzales
Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms – mathematician Hannah Fry shows how algorithms are written and implemented and demonstrates the ways in which human bias can literally be written in code.
GirlCode:Gaming,GoingViralandGettingItDone– a look inside the tech industry, the power of coding and some of the amazing women who are shaping our world – with bonus content to help you start coding!
S. Vaidyanathan CreativeCodinginPython – 30 creative projects to teach you how to code in the easy and intuitive programming language, Python.
Recommendations
Plays
Sally Abbot
Adam Barnard
from the Drama Department
I Think We Are Alone – the newest offering from Frantic Assembly which explores the concepts of isolation, community and resolution. (UV)
Buckets – a moving collection of stories that explores the concept of death and running out of time. (LV)
David Barnett Brecht in Practice – an excellent addition to your devising component that will help you get to grips with Brecht as a practitioner and the devices he used to create theatre. (LV)
Bertolt Brecht
Claire Dowie
Euripides
Angus Jackson
Jennifer Kumiega
Mother Courage and Her Children – one of Brecht’s most famous plays. (LV)
Adult Child/ Dead Child – a flexible script that gives the audience insight into the mind of a neglected child, who has now grown into a dysfunctional adult. (LV)
Medea – a Greek tragedy, with a powerful female lead, that explores the themes of murder and revenge. (UIV)
BoyintheStripedPyjamas – the play version of the famous book/film. It is interesting to see how the story has been adapted for the stage. (LV)
TheTheatreofGrotowski – Grotowski is the father of 'poor theatre' which in many ways is very similar to the devising style we use in GCSE Drama today. This book will make you consider whether you need all those chairs! (UV)
Patrick Ness
A Monster Calls – a script that was created through the devising process used by Bristol Old Vic. A fascinatingly abstract play that is based closely on the original book. (UIV)
Evan Placey Pronoun – a sensitive exploration of a transgender teen, exploring the impact their decision has on friends, family and their relationships. (UV) EDI
Willy Russell EducatingRita(studentedition)– a comedic play that follows Rita as she tries to change her social circumstances by studying for an Open University degree. (UIV)
Stuart Slade BU21– an extraordinary play about six young people that are caught in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in London. (UIV)
Sophocles Electra – a Greek tragedy that is a saga about murder and revenge. This classic play has been reworked many times by various theatre companies and practitioners. (UV)
SimonStephens Fatherland – a fantastic physical theatre play that confronts masculinity and fatherhood in all its complexities. A Frantic Assembly play. (UIV) EDI
Mark Wheeler ILoveYouMum – IPromiseIWon’tDie – an educational piece of theatre written for teenage audiences, urging them to consider the impact of recreational drug use. (UV)
Books
Jessica Swales
Practitioners
Drama Games for Devising – Jessica Swales provides invaluable insight and experience in a series of exercises and games designed to free up creativity and release the imagination.
Artaud The Theatre and its Double Augusto Boal Gamesfor ActorsandNon-actors
Edward Braun Meyerhold:ARevolutioninTheatre
Peter Brook TheEmptySpace
John Fuegi BertoltBrecht:Chaos,AccordingtoPlan(DirectorsinPerspectivesseries)
James Roose EvansExperimentalTheatre:FromStanislavskytoPeterBrook
Theatrical Research
Peter Brook
TheShiftingPoint:FortyYearsofTheatricalExploration,1946-87
Dymphna Callery ThroughtheBody
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett FranticAssemblyBookofDevising
Michael Huxley TheTwentiethCenturyPerformanceReader
Shomit Mitter
& Noel Witts
SystemsofRehearsal:Stanislavsky,Brecht,GrotowskiandPeterBrook
Recommendations from the Geography Department
Joe Bennett Where Underpants Come From: From Checkout to Cotton Field – Travels Through the New China Profile Books – When Joe Bennett bought a fivepack of 'Made in China' underpants in his local New Zealand hypermarket for $8.59, he wondered who on earth could be making any money, let alone profit, from the exchange. How many processes and middlemen are involved? Where and how are the pants made? And who decides on the absorbent qualities of the gusset?
Mike Berners-Lee HowBadAreBananas?TheCarbonFootprintofEverything –from a text message to a war, from a Valentine's rose to a flight or even having a child, How Bad are Bananas? gives us the carbon answers we need and provides plenty of revelations. By talking through a hundred or so items, Mike Berners-Lee sets out to give us a carbon instinct for the footprint of literally anything we do, buy and think about. He helps us pick our battles by laying out the orders of magnitude.
Mike Davis Planet of Slums – according to the United Nations, more than one billion people now live in the slums of the cities of the South. In this brilliant and ambitious book, Mike Davis explores the future of a radically unequal and explosively unstable urban world EDI
Paul Farmer HaitiAftertheEarthquake– ‘Paul Farmer, doctor and aid worker, offers an inspiring insider's view of the relief effort’ Financial Times This is a gripping, profoundly moving book, an urgent dispatch from the front by one of our finest warriors for social justice." EDI
Stacey Dooley
OntheFrontlinewiththeWomenWhoFightBack– through her documentaries, Stacey has covered a variety of topics from sex trafficking in Cambodia to Yazidi women fighting in Syria. At the core of her reporting are incredible women in both extraordinary and scarily ordinary circumstances. In this book, Stacey draws on her encounters with these brave and wonderful women, using their experiences as a vehicle to explore issues at the centre of female experience. EDI
Recommendations from the History Department
General reads
J.M.Roberts The Penguin History of the Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to the Present – a masterful and thoroughly readable history of a remarkable century.
Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly Everything – a quirky and enjoyable approach to all things historical.
Louie Stowell et al Usborne Politics for Beginners – a really good guide to Politics for the younger reader.
UIV
Shashi Tharoor
AJP Taylor
IngloriousEmpire – a relatively easy read for anyone interested in Empire.
The First World War – an easy read which gives one side of the argument about the First World War generals.
Gordon Corrigan Mud, Blood and Poppycock* – and a book which is more sympathetic to them!
Laurence Rees Auschwitz,theNazisandtheFinalSolution– the best short and accessible history of the Holocaust.
Sathnam Sanghera Stolen History: The Truth About the British Empire and How It ShapedUs – this book will answer all the important questions about Britain’s empire, how it made Britain the most powerful bation on earth and how it still affects us today.
LV
Laurence Rees
TheNazis:AWarningfromHistory– the powerfully gripping story of the rise and fall of the Third Reich.
Julia Boyd A village in the ThirdReich and Travellers in the Third Reich – two books which investigate the experience of living under a Nazi regime from different perspectives.
Orlando Figes RevolutionaryRussia– a readable and enjoyable overview of the Russian Revolution.
Candace Fleming
TheFamilyRomanov – a book which explores the intrigue surrounding the Imperial Russian court and really brings the Russia topic to life in an enjoyable way.
Anna Funder Stasiland – Anna Funder tells extraordinary tales from the former East Germany, where one in fifty East Germans were informing on their countrymen and women.
John Lewis Gaddis The ColdWar – a good brief introduction to the Cold War.
Felix Rhodes
TheCleverTeens’GuidetotheColdWar – this book brings to life the world living under the shadow of the Cold War in the late 20th Century.
UV
Jeremy Bowen
Martin Bunton
TheMakingoftheModernMiddleEast– the distinguished BBC journalist explains the complex past and the troubled present of this region.
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict – a very short introduction –adopting a fresh and original approach, Bunton explores the Palestinian-
M Scott-Baumann
Israeli dispute in twenty-year segments to highlight the historical complexity of the conflict
Palestinians and Israelis – newly updated, this accessible history explores the origins and development of the conflict, why it has proved so intractable and what are the implications of escalating tensions for both the Middle East and the world.
Recommendations from the Languages Department
Fabio Geda
Intheseatherearecrocodiles – in a book based on a true story, we read about young Enaiatollah's remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum. EDI
Labro Des cornichons au chocolat – a fascinating look into the daily life of a thirteen-year-old girl growing up in Paris.
Queneau Zazie dans le métro – a brash and precocious ten-year-old comes to Paris for a whirlwind weekend with her rakish uncle, who gets more than he bargained for as Zazie attempts to sneak out and explore the city on her own.
Recommendations from the Maths Department
Edwin A Abbott
Flatland – classic of science (and mathematical) fiction, describes the journeys of A. Square and his adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions). A. Square also entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions ― a revolutionary idea for which he is banished from Spaceland.
Alex Bellos Alex’s Adventures in Numberland – mathematical ideas underpin just about everything in our lives: from the surprising geometry of the 50p piece to how probability can help you win in any casino. In search of weird and wonderful mathematical phenomena, Alex Bellos travels across the globe and meets the world's fastest mental calculators in Germany and a startlingly numerate chimpanzee in Japan.
Alex Bellos Here’sLookingatEuclid – too often math gets a bad rap, characterized as dry and difficult. But, Alex Bellos says, "math can be inspiring and brilliantly creative. Mathematical thought is one of the great achievements of the human race, and arguably the foundation of all human progress. The world of mathematics is a remarkable place."
Michael Blastland & Andrew Dilnot
TheTiger ThatIsn’t – numbers have become the all-powerful language of public argument. Too often, that power is abused and the numbers bamboozle. This book shows how to see straight through them - and how to seize the power for yourself. This book is written by the team who created and present the hugely popular BBC Radio 4 series, More or Less.
Rob Eastaway & Jeremy Wyndham
WhyDoBuses Come In Threes? – with a foreword by Tim Rice, this book will change the way you see the world. Why is it better to buy a lottery ticket on a Friday? Why are showers always too hot or too cold? And what's the connection between a rugby player taking a conversion and a tourist trying to get the best photograph of Nelson's Column?
Rob Eastaway & John Haigh
A Gardiner
Boris A Kordernsky
Yoko Ogawa
TheHiddenMathematicsOfSport – takes a unique and fascinating look at sport, by exploring the mathematics behind the action. You will discover the best tactics for taking a penalty, the pros and cons of being a consistent golfer, the surprising connection between American Football and Cricket, the quirky history of the league tables, the unusual location of England s earliest football and how to avoid a repeat of the Isner-Mahut tennis marathon at Wimbledon.
DiscoveringMathematics:TheArtofInvestigation – with puzzles involving coins, postage stamps, and other commonplace items, this book challenges readers to account for perplexing mathematical phenomena.
TheMoscowPuzzles – possibly the most popular Russian puzzle book ever published. Marvellously varied puzzles ranging from simple "catch" riddles to difficult problems
TheHousekeeperandTheProfessor– he is a brilliant maths professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury seventeen years ago, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is a sensitive but astute young housekeeper who is entrusted to take care of him. Each morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are reintroduced to one another, a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms between them. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her ten-year-old son.
Simon Singh
TheCodeBook.TheSecretHistoryofCodesandCode-Breaking – the Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography The Code Book is a history of man’s urge to uncover the secrets of codes, from Egyptian puzzles to modern day computer encryptions. Codes have influenced events throughout history, both in the stories of those who make them and those who break them. The betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the cracking of the enigma code that helped the Allies in World War II are major episodes in a continuing history of cryptography.
Fermat’s Last Theorem – 'I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.' It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pierre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community. For over 350 years, proving Fermat's Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematical problem, a puzzle
whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution eluded the greatest minds in the world.
Ian Stewart Flatterland – through larger-than-life characters and an inspired story line, Flatterland explores our present understanding of the shape and origins of the universe, the nature of space, time, and matter, as well as modern geometries and their applications. The journey begins when our heroine, Victoria Line, comes upon her great-great-grandfather A. Square's diary, hidden in the attic. The writings help her to contact the Space Hopper, who tempts her away from her home and family in Flatland and becomes her guide and mentor through ten dimensions.
David Wells You Are A Mathematician – anyone familiar with numbers, circles, straight lines and squares can become a mathematician. ‘All you have to do,’ claims David Wells, ‘is to learn to look at these objects with some insight and imagination, maybe do a few experiments, and be able to draw reasonable conclusions…’
Recommendations from the Music Department
Leonard Bernstein TheUnansweredQuestion: SixTalksatHarvard– read the thoughts of one of the last century’s very greatest and important musicians; an edited version of Bernstein’s famous lectures at Harvard. Virgil Thomson says of the lectures: ‘Nobody anywhere presents this material so warmly, so sincerely, so skilfully. As musical mind-openers, they are first class; as pedagogy they are matchless.’
Philip Glass Words Without Music – rapturous in its ability to depict the creative process, this book allows readers to experience that sublime moment of creative fusion when life merges with art. An inspiring example of what happens when talent meets hard work!
Jane Glover Mozart’s Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music – Mozart was fascinated, amused, aroused, hurt and betrayed by women. He loved and respected them, composed for them, performed with them. This unique biography looks at his interaction with each, starting with his family and his marriage. His relationships with his artists are also examined.
Daniel Levitin
ThisIsYourBrainonMusic – this is the first book to offer a comprehensive explanation of how humans experience music and to unravel our perennial love affair with it. Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience.
Alan Light What Happened Miss Simone?: A Biography – drawing on glimpses into previously unseen diaries, rare interviews and childhood journals, and with the aid of her daughter, this tells the story of the classically trained pianist who became a soul legend, a committed civil rights activist and one of the most influential, provocative and least understood artists of our time.
Alex Ross
The Rest is Noise – shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award this is a sweeping musical history that goes form the salons of pre-war Vienna to Velvet Underground in the 60s. It interweaves the relationship between politics, society and the vast range of new musical styles that developed in this tumultuous time.
Victoria Williamson
Li Yongxiang
You AretheMusic – an accessible read on how music can affect the brain. Williamson covers topics such as: Do babies remember music from the womb? Is music good for productivity? Can music aid recovery from illness and injury?; and why do we get earworms?
TheMusicofChina’sEthnicMinorities – this introduces folk songs and folk instruments of different ethnic minorities in China. Each kind of instrument includes its origin, material and occasions when it is performed.
Recommendations from the PE Department
Alistair Brownlee
Secrets of the Sporting Elite – in his quest to define ‘sporting greatness’, double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee has spent nearly four years interviewing and training with some of the greatest minds in sport to discover what it take to become and remain a champion.
Mo Farah Twin Ambitions – is much more than an autobiography by a great Olympic champion. It's a moving human story of a man who grew up in difficult circumstances, separated from his family at an early age, who struggled to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to become Britain's most decorated Olympic track-and-field athlete ever. EDI
Lauren Fleshman Good For A Girl: My Life Running in a Man’s World – this is a joyful love letter to the running life, a raw personal narrative of growth and change, and gives voice to the often-silent experience of the female athlete.
John Gordon
David Horspool
Michael Lewis
The Energy Bus – this book takes readers on an enlightening and inspiring ride that reveals ten secrets for approaching life and work with the kind of positive forward-thinking that leads to true accomplishment – at work and at home Everyone faces challenges and has to find ways to overcome negativity and adversity. Drawing upon his experience and work with thousands of leaders and athletes, Gordon infuses this engaging story with keen insights, actionable strategies and positive infectious energy The Energy Bus provides a powerful roadmap to overcome common life and work obstacles and bring out the best in yourself and your team When you get on the Energy Bus, you’ll enjoy the ride of your life!
More Than A Game – the history of Britain is inseparable from our love affair with sport. This book traces the links between the British passion for sport, national identity and various forms of social change.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game – this is a quest for the secret to success in baseball. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis follows the low-
Ellen MacArthur
Sam Walker
Martine Wright
budget Oakland As, visionary manager Billy Beane and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball theorists, all in search of new baseball knowledge – insights that will give the little guy, willing to discard old wisdom, the edge over big money.
Taking on the world – when Ellen finished the Vendee Globe, yachting's toughest race aged just 24 the nation took her to its heart. The depth of the affection for Ellen is extraordinary - she makes people feel like they can do anything!
TheCaptainClass:TheHiddenForceThatCreatestheWorld’s Greatest Teams – the sixteen most dominant teams in sports history had one thing in common. Each employed the same type of captain – a singular leader with an unconventional set of skills and tendencies. This book will challenge your assumptions of what inspired leadership looks like.
Unbroken:MyStoryofSurvivalfrom7/7BombingstoParalympicSuccess – on the morning of 7 July 2005, Martine Wright’s life changed forever when one of the passengers on her tube train detonated a suicide bomb. Martine was the last person brought out alive having lost 80% of her blood. Not only did Martine survive her horrific injuries but she took up sitting volleyball as part of her rehabilitation and went on to represent GB in the London 2012 Paralympics. A story of tragedy turned to hope.
Recommendations from the RS Department
Dr Eben Alexander
ProofofHeaven– a neuro-surgeon’s account of his Near Death Experience. Compelling, since he neither believed in NDEs or thought they were compatible with his knowledge of the human mind. One of the most fascinating and most talked about accounts of life beyond death.
Karen Armstrong Islam: A Short History – no religion in the modern world is as feared and misunderstood as Islam. It haunts the popular imagination as an extreme faith that promotes terrorism, authoritarian government, female oppression, and civil war. In a vital revision of this narrow view of Islam and a distillation of years of thinking and writing about the subject, Karen Armstrong’s short history demonstrates that the world’s fastest-growing faith is a much more complex phenomenon than its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest. EDI
Reza Aslan No Godbut God – a history of Islam as written by a committed Muslim.
Julian Baggini & Peter S Fosi
Julian Baggini
Gregory Bassam
The Philosopher’s Toolkit – a useful introduction to the tools of logic and analysis in Philosophical Thinking. Very useful for critical thinking as well.
The Pig That Wantsto be Eaten – A series of philosophical questions are posed and discussed.
& Jerry L Walls
Catherine Clement
The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview – A series of essays looking at ways in which philosophy can be related to Narnia
Theo’s Odyssey – a tour of the world's religions and religious sites, with the sceptical, quizzical Theo being shown the varieties and depths of faith that exist in other places and other cultures. EDI
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Susan Howatch
Ed Husain
Stephen Law
Tom Morris
& Matt Morris
Why Islam needs a Reformation Now – An apostate of Islam, makes a powerful case for the necessity for the Reform of Islam and, in particular, a fresh look at the status of the Qur’an.
TheStarbridgeSeries(Aseriesof6books:GlitteringImages,Glamourous Powers, Ultimate Prizes, Scandalous Risks, Mystical Paths, Absolute Truths) – this series of novels is concerned with the reality of lived Christian life. Each book covers a different branch of the Church of England through its main character. There is an explanation of the theology cleverly woven into the story in each book and they are also compelling stories of people facing spiritual crises.
The StBenet’sNovels(A trilogy: The Wonder Worker, The High Flyer, The Heartbreaker) – a trilogy of books set in a healing ministry in a city church in London in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They follow a pattern of the church rescuing people who are not religious, and how Christianity affects them.
The Islamist – the story of a young man who became a Muslim Fundamentalist when he was 16, a study of how young British Muslims become radicalised.
ThePhilosophy Files – a light hearted look at Philosophy, and therefore a readable introduction.
Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way – a series of essays using superheroes and comic books as the hook to explain philosophy and ethics.
Asne Seierstad
TheBooksellerofKabul– in spring 2002, Asne Seierstad spent four months living with a bookseller and his family in Kabul. A genuinely gripping and moving portrait of a family, and a cleareyed assessment of a country struggling to free itself from history. This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man who, through three decades and successive repressive regimes, heroically braved persecution to bring books to the people of Kabul has elicited extraordinary praise throughout the world and become a phenomenal international bestseller. The Bookseller of Kabul is startling in its intimacy and its details - a revelation of the plight of Afghan women and a window into the surprising realities of daily life in today's Afghanistan EDI
J T William PoohandThePhilosophers – a fun book, comparing Milnes’ Pooh Bear of ‘little brain’ with the thoughts of the Great Philosophers
Recommendations from the Science Department
Biology Department
Beeley & Cox Planet Earth: The Future – identifies the environmental and conservation issues that surround some of the sequences on the BBC programme Planet Earth. This compelling and insightful book serves as a timely reminder of what can be done to keep Planet Earth alive.
Bill Bryson TheBody:A Guidefor Occupants – prize-winning author, Bryson, explores the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. It will have you celebrating the genius of your existence over and over again!
Ben Goldacre Bad Science – a funny and informative journey through the world of ‘bad science’ which constantly bombards us through media and advertising –from the useless pie chart on the back of cereal packets to the use of the word ‘visibly’ in cosmetic ads.
Chris Lavers WhyElephantsHaveBigEars:AndOtherRiddlesfromtheNaturalWorld –explores some of nature’s most challenging evolutionary mysteries, such as why birds are small and plentiful and why rivers and lakes are dominated by the few remaining large reptiles.
Charles Murray Human Diversity: TheBiology ofGender, Race andClass – all people are equal but all groups of people are not the same – a fascinating investigation of the genetics and neuroscience of human differences.
Alice Roberts TheIncredibleUnlikelinessofBeing:EvolutionandtheMakingofUs – an accessible and fascinating look at our bodies and why and how we have developed. Roberts shows us how our evolutionary past can explain so much of who we are today from why embryos have gills and why, as adults, we suffer from back pain.
Ancestors: A Prehistory ofBritain in Seven Burials – using new advances in genetics, Professor Alice Roberts explores the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites that help us to better understand the human experience that binds us all together
Chemistry
Department
H.Aldersey Williams Periodic Tales – the phenomenal Sunday Times bestseller Periodic Tales packed with fascinating stories and unexpected information about the building blocks of our universe.
Peter Atkins What is Chemistry? – Atkins encourages us to look at chemistry anew, through a chemist's eyes, to understand its central concepts and to see how it contributes not only towards our material comfort, but also to human culture. Atkins shows how chemistry provides the infrastructure of our world, through
JohnEmsley
Sam Kean
the chemical industry, the fuels of heating, power generation, and transport, as well as the fabrics of our clothing and furnishings.
MoleculesatanExhibition– what is it in chocolate that makes us feel good when we eat it? What's the secret of Coca-Cola? In this fascinating book, John Emsley takes us on a guided tour through a rogue's gallery of molecules, some harmful, some pleasant, showing how they affect our lives.
TheElementsofMurder:A Historyof Poison – was Napoleon killed by the arsenic in his wallpaper? How did Rasputin survive cyanide poisoning? Which chemicals in our environment pose the biggest threat to our health today? In The Elements of Murder, John Emsley answers these questions and offers a fascinating account of five of the most toxic elements - arsenic, antimony, lead, mercury, and thallium - describing their lethal chemical properties and highlighting their use in some of the most famous murder cases in history.
Molecules of Murder – This book follows on from John Emsley's international bestseller, "Elements of Murder", this time taking the reader on a journey of discovery into the world of dangerous organic poisons. "Molecules of Murder" describes ten highly toxic molecules which are of particular interest due to their use in notorious murder cases. Each chapter explores the discovery of the molecules, their chemistry and effects in humans, followed by a re-examination of their deliberate misuse in high profile murder cases!
TheDisappearingSpoon– why did Gandhi hate iodine (I, 53)? Why did the Japanese kill Godzilla with missiles made of cadmium (Cd, 48)? How did radium (Ra, 88) nearly ruin Marie Curie's reputation? And why did tellurium (Te, 52) lead to the most bizarre gold rush in history? The periodic table is one of our crowning scientific achievements, but it's also a treasure trove of passion, adventure, betrayal and obsession. The fascinating tales in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, gold and every single element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.
Oliver Sacks
Uncle Tungsten Memories of a Chemical Boyhood – ‘If you did not think that gallium and iridium could move you, this superb book will change your mind’ The Times. In Uncle Tungsten, Oliver Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who found solace in his passion for learning. Uncle Tungsten radiates all the delight and wonder of a boy’s adventures and is an unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary young mind.
Physics Department
Jim Al-Khalili
Neil de Grasse Tyson
Carlo Rovelli
Chad Orzel
The Physics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained – seven themed chapters examine the history and developments in areas such as energy and matter, electricity and magnetism as well as quantum, nuclear and particle physics.
Astrophysics for people in a hurry – this is a comprehensive account of our present understanding of what the Universe (and galaxies and stars and black holes and neutrinos and…) really are, how we know about them and how all this evolves over billions of years of time.
SevenBriefLessonsonPhysics– exquisitely written, this is an introduction to the really significant topics of modern Physics including General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and Cosmology. Rovelli writes like no other physicist and the book feels too short!
How to teach Relativity to your dog – a charmingly presented and hihly readable introduction to Einstein’s twin theories of Relativity. Orzel’s canine friend can cope with these pretty amazing but difficult ideas – can you?
HowtoteachQuantumPhysicstoyourdog – Quantum Physics challenges our ‘obvious’ and common-sense ideas about reality. Orzel shows us enough of these mind-bending concepts and explanations to take the engaged reader into a completely new way to view themselves in the world. Worth doing!
