SUMMER READING LIST 2017 · The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys This masterpiece of modern fiction...
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The Captain Class: The Hidden Forces Behind the World’s Greatest Teams by Sam Walker ‘An interesting investigation into what made the best sports teams in history; good for sporty boys and analysts’. Recommended by MGJW The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler A deeply moving story of a young man and the ordinary lives profoundly affected as the Third Reich gains momentum. Recommended by Marie Staunton, Vaughan Library House of Names by Colm Toibin A story of intense longing and shocking betrayal. It is a work of great beauty and daring, from one of our finest living writers. “Any book by Colm Toibin is a joy to read.” Recommended by Marie Staunton, Vaughan Library A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in our Genes by Adam Rutherford This is a story about you. It is the history of who you are and how you came to be. It is unique to you, as it is to each of the 100 billion modern humans who have ever drawn breath. This is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be. Recommended by Stephen Jones, Senior Physics Technician Jill by Philip Larkin A young man travels from his Midlands home to Oxford University and finds himself out of his depth in its rarefied atmosphere. A classic of its time, which shows many of the qualities that were later to distinguish Larkin’s great, mature poetry. Recommended by JBH God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens The ultimate case against religion. Hitchens argues that the concept of an omniscient God has profoundly damaged humanity and proposes that the world might be a great deal better off without him. Recommended by CMC McGlue by Ottessa Mossfegh ‘I enjoyed this book very much! The reader feels as much in the dark as McGlue himself as he tries to piece together, through a foggy haze of memories, who he is, exactly what he’s done and how bad it really is.’ Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester Part mystery, part psychological drama. A darkly comic, unorthodox and thrilling novel. Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift Beginning with an intimate assignation it is the story of a life and the life that stories can magically contain. Constantly surprising, joyously sensual and deeply moving. Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library The Public Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman (aged 55 ¾) by Sue Townsend A wonderful collection of non-fiction pieces, giving us an insight into Sue Townsend’s hilarious world. ‘All of human life is here…’ Recommended by IWF SUMMER READING LIST 2017 Books chosen by boys, Beaks and staff. All books are available from the Vaughan Library.
Transcript of SUMMER READING LIST 2017 · The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys This masterpiece of modern fiction...
The Captain Class: The Hidden Forces Behind the World’s Greatest Teams by Sam Walker‘An interesting investigation into what made the best sports teams in history; good for sporty boys and analysts’.
Recommended by MGJW
The Tobacconist by Robert Seethaler A deeply moving story of a young man and the ordinary lives profoundly affected as the Third Reich gains momentum.
Recommended by Marie Staunton, Vaughan Library
House of Names by Colm Toibin A story of intense longing and shocking betrayal. It is a work of great beauty and daring, from one of our finest living writers. “Any book by Colm Toibin is a joy to read.”
Recommended by Marie Staunton, Vaughan Library
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in our Genes by Adam Rutherford This is a story about you. It is the history of who you are and how you came to be. It is unique to you, as it is to each of the 100 billion modern humans who have ever drawn breath. This is a demystifying and illuminating new portrait of who we are and how we came to be.
Recommended by Stephen Jones, Senior Physics Technician
Jill by Philip LarkinA young man travels from his Midlands home to Oxford University and finds himself out of his depth in its rarefied atmosphere. A classic of its time, which shows many of the qualities that were later to distinguish Larkin’s great, mature poetry.
Recommended by JBH
God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher HitchensThe ultimate case against religion. Hitchens argues that the concept of an omniscient God has profoundly damaged humanity and proposes that the world might be a great deal better off without him.
Recommended by CMC
McGlue by Ottessa Mossfegh ‘I enjoyed this book very much! The reader feels as much in the dark as McGlue himself as he tries to piece together, through a foggy haze of memories, who he is, exactly what he’s done and how bad it really is.’
Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library
The House at the Edge of the World by Julia RochesterPart mystery, part psychological drama. A darkly comic, unorthodox and thrilling novel.
Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift Beginning with an intimate assignation it is the story of a life and the life that stories can magically contain. Constantly surprising, joyously sensual and deeply moving.
Recommended by Helen Harrington, Vaughan Library
The Public Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman (aged 55 ¾) by Sue TownsendA wonderful collection of non-fiction pieces, giving us an insight into Sue Townsend’s hilarious world. ‘All of human life is here…’
Recommended by IWF
SUMMER READING LIST 2017Books chosen by boys, Beaks and staff. All books are available from the Vaughan Library.
Conclave by Robert HarrisThe Pope is dead. One hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes for his successor in the world’s most secretive election. A gripping thriller.
Recommended by Scipio Herwegh Vonk (Newlands, Lower Sixth)
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari A thrilling account of humankind’s extraordinary history – from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age – and our journey from insignificant apes to rulers of the world.
Recommended by HAH
The House of Silk by Anthony HorowitzBrings Sherlock Holmes back with all the nuance, pacing and almost superhuman powers of analysis and deduction that made him the world’s greatest detective, in a case depicting events too shocking, too monstrous, to ever appear in print.
Recommended by HAH
East of Eden by John Steinbeck Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel, in which he created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.
Recommended by HAH
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto A powerful, gleaming-dark thriller rich with Southern atmosphere from the creator of hit TV series True Detective.
Recommended by HAH
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston ChurchillConsidered by many to be Churchill’s literary masterpiece. Published across five volumes, he tells the story of the Great War, from its origins to the long shadow it cast on the following decades.
Recommended by Joel Reed, IT
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, The Ocean at the End of the Lane shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness, both inside and out.
Recommended by Joel Reed, IT
Tripwire by Lee Child A fast-moving, violent and gripping mystery with a very bad baddie and a tough, pragmatic hero in Jack Reacher.
Recommended by Colin Watson, Reactive Maintenance Manager
Orphan X by Greg Hurwitz Grabbing the reader from the very first page, Orphan X is a masterful thriller and the first novel in an electrifying new series.
Recommended by Colin Watson, Reactive Maintenance Manager
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote Truman Capote’s timeless portrait of tragicomic cultural icon Holly Golightly is full of sharp wit and exuberant characters, which vividly captures 1940s New York.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth)
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James ShapiroBrings the news, intrigue and flavour of the times together with wonderful detail about how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman and playwright, to create an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth)
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell A memoir of Orwell’s experience at the front in the brutal conditions of the Spanish Civil War and a tribute to those who died in what he called a fight for common decency.
Recommended by Rahul Shah Bradbys Upper Sixth)
Ariel by Sylvia Plath One of the most original, daring and gifted poets of the 20th century, Ariel contains many of Sylvia Plath’s best-known poems, written in an extraordinary burst of creativity just before her death in 1963.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov One of the most controversial novels of the 20th century, Lolita is a strange, troubling love story told by the one of the most unreliable narrators in literature.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth)
How to be Both by Ali SmithTwo tales of love and injustice twist into a singular yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real - and all life’s givens get given a second chance.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth)
The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysThis masterpiece of modern fiction ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Recommended by Rahul Shah (Bradbys Upper Sixth)
Travels with Charley by John SteinbeckSteinbeck’s account of his journey across America with only his elderly French poodle Charley for company. Beautifully written, gentle and reflective, I really enjoyed Steinbeck’s dry wit and I felt like I was travelling with him.
Recommended by Joanne Payne, Vaughan Library
The Ice by Laline Paull A gripping story of friendship, power and betrayal set in the near future where the arctic sea ice has melted, opening up a new area of the world for business routes and the tourist trade. A thrilling page-turner with an environmental message.
Recommended by Joanne Payne, Vaughan Library
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. SchmidtA profoundly moving story about love, family and friendship, narrated by 12-year-old Jack, whose family is caring for troubled 14-year-old Joseph.
Recommended by Joanne Payne, Vaughan Library
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzieA laugh-out-loud love story with big ideas - and squirrels!
Recommended by Amanda Deal, Vaughan Library
The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in desperate search of a new life. This is the story of the bold dreams and daily struggles of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstance.
Recommended by Amanda Deal, Vaughan Library
Saint Maybe by Anne TylerFull of believable characters, Saint Maybe is compulsively readable, realistic, funny and touching.
Recommended by Amanda Deal, Vaughan Library
The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild A delightful read - a satirical look at the world of art with some love, mystery and comedy thrown in for good measure.
Recommended by Flora and Robin Martin-Jenkins
Along the Enchanted Way by William Blackler A story of love and life in rural Romania, which will transport you back to a magical country world most of us thought had vanished long ago.
Recommended by Flora and Robin Martin-Jenkins
The Pigeon Tunnel by John Le Carré‘A fascinating insight into a varied life. A biography with a difference and a perfect dip in and out of read for even the non-diehard Le Carre fan. What makes it so enjoyable is it’s a biography told through vignettes that are extraordinary.’
Recommended by Ralph Arundell, Operations Bursar
Where my Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks‘Another spellbinding page turner from Faulks that sweeps across his familiar territory of the effects of conflict on human psychology’.
Recommended by Ralph Arundell, Operations Bursar
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson‘Easily read in a day. All I can say is read it; a short book but somehow manages in a novel form to pack in the sweep of American 20th-century history in an unusual and compelling way.’
Recommended by Ralph Arundell, Operations Bursar
The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson‘If you have no comprehension of economics or the mysteries, the history and interactions of money, banks, bonds, insurers, stock markets et al, Ferguson manages to make the subject readable, fascinating and informative. It is finance and economics rendered comprehensible for the layman and all the more disturbing for that.’
Recommended by Ralph Arundell, Operations Bursar
The Secret War by Max Hastings Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and extraordinary sagas of intelligence and Resistance to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history- as exciting and gripping as any spy thriller.
Recommended by KAF
Gulag by Anne Appelbaum This landmark book uncovers for the first time in detail one of the greatest horrors of the 20th century: the vast system of Soviet camps that were responsible for the deaths of countless millions.
Recommended by KAF
Four of Us: Pasternak, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Tsvetaeva A selection of 10 poems each by four of the giants of Russian poetry of the 20th century, Boris Pasternak, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, and Marina Tsvetaeva.
Recommended by KAF
The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova by Anna Akhmatova and Roberta Reeder From the artistic passion of the St Petersburg poets and bohemians, to the collective suffering of a nation, Anna Akhmatova spoke to, and for, the soul of her people.
Recommended by KAF
The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov Ostap Bender is an unemployed con artist living by his wits in post-revolutionary Russia. He joins forces with a former nobleman to find a cache of missing jewels that were hidden in a set of chairs that have been appropriated by the Soviet authorities. A timeless comic masterpiece.
Recommended by KAF
Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg A transfixing book on how to sustain peak performance and avoid burnout; an essential guide to success, happiness and getting the most out of our lives and ourselves.
Recommended by BTM
The Talent Lab: The secret to finding, creating and sustaining success by Owen Slot From the directors of performance behind the British Olympic and Paralympic success, The Talent Lab tells just how it was done and how any team, business or individual might learn from it.
Recommended by BTM
Grit by Angela Duckworth A must-read for anyone seeking to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth takes us on an eye-opening journey to discover the true qualities that lead to outstanding achievement.
Recommended by BTM
Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed Black Box Thinking is a new approach to high performance, a means of finding an edge in a complex and fast-changing world. It is not just about sport, but has powerful implications for business and politics, as well as for parents and students. In other words, all of us.
Recommended by BTM
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman A whole new look at the way our minds work and how we make decisions. Absorbing, intriguing and compulsively readable.
Recommended by BTM
Legacy by James Kerr Legacy goes deep into the heart of the world’s most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business.
Recommended by BTM
The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell A unique and moving true story that has captured imaginations around the globe - for all those who dreamed as a child they might one day talk to the animals.
Recommended by JPBH
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini‘I recommend Kite Runner to anyone. It is a really good read but not too challenging.’
Recommended Peter Cartwright (The Grove Shell)
SHELL READING GROUPThe Shell Reading Group meets on alternate Tuesdays in the Vaughan Library. We discuss contemporary and classic books and review new books and films. If you are unsure what to read next, or want to share your favourite book then
please join us. We also have book-based games, quizzes and refreshments and a library-based murder mystery to solve. Please ask for more details at
the Vaughan Library.
WEBSITESwww.goodreads.com
www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers
www.childrensbooksequels.co.uk
www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/
www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site
www.lovereading4kids.co.uk
www.teenreads.com
VAUGHAN LIBRARY Summer 2017
