New to the 6th Form in September 2024? Studying English?  Here are some reading suggestions from our English Department. Kickstart your reading over the long summer break!

Doing English, by Robert Eaglestone

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

Tess of the D’Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

IB English Literature (Higher Level)

Doing English, by Robert Eaglestone

Mrs Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf

The Outsider, by Albert Camus

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

IB English Literature (Standard Level)

The Outsider, by Albert Camus

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

The World’s Wife, by Carol Ann Duffy

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

*these are not necessarily ‘set texts’: each class will study a bespoke syllabus

1. ‘Lord of the Flies’ – William Golding
2. ‘The Road’ – Cormac McCarthy
3. ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
4. ‘Reunion’ – Fred Uhlman
5. ‘The Inseparables’ – Simone de Beauvoir
6. ‘The Woman in Black’ – Susan Hill
7. ‘The Half God of Rain Fall’ – Inua Ellams
8. ‘The Whale Rider’ – Witi Ihimaera
9. ‘Fahrenheit 451’ – Ray Bradbury
10. ‘1984’ – George Orwell
11. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ – Douglas Adams
12. ‘Wicked’ – Gregory Maguire
13. ‘Persepolis’ – Marjane Satrapi
14. ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ – Sue Monk Kidd
15. ‘The Song of Achilles’ – Madeleine Miller
16. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
17. ‘The Turn of the Screw’ – Henry James
18. ‘The Book Thief’  – Marcus Zusak
19. ‘Mythos’ – Stephen Fry
20. ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ – Ernest Hemingway
21. Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
22. The Great Godden – Meg Rosoff
23. ‘Great Expectations’ – Charles Dickens
24. ‘Sapiens’ – Yuval Noah Harari
25. ‘Never Let Me Go’ – Kazuo Ishiguro
26. ‘Tipping Point’ – Malcolm Gladwell
27. ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ – Rachel Joyce
28. I Capture the Castle  – Dodie Smith
29. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
30. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
31. Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Alexie
32. Brown Girl Dreaming –  Jacqueline Woodson
33. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian – Sherman
34. My Brilliant Friend  – Elena Ferrante
35. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle