Read These Books: Uni & College Edition
It’s summer, it’s hot (ish,) it’s the perfect time to do a bit of light reading. Matthew from the Social Media team has put together his booky, education-themed wish-list so you can get your read on:
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Part 1 and 2
The big one, the next HP, the eighth story. It’ll only take you an hour or so to get through, being as it is a script, but there’s some good action in there if you just want more of J.K Rowling’s wizarding world. If you are looking for complex character development…that isn’t really there, but it’s fun nonetheless and the new characters that are introduced are interesting. :)
2. Starter for Ten
David Nicholls‘ novel was adapted into a film with James McEvoy and Beneboop Cumberdumber. The book focuses on a fresher trying to get onto the University Challenge team for his uni, whilst balancing his new life in academia with his working class roots. As with all of these, the book is about making new friends, making mistakes, finding love, losing love, and punching your quiz team captain in the face whilst facing a team from Oxbridge on TV (I’m sure this is a common experience for all of us).
3. House of Windows
Alexia Casale paints a picture of Cambridge which is dripping with detail, transporting the reader to a world of gowns, halls and courtyards. A coming of age novel which follows one student as he attempts to get to grips with the first year of Cambridge, new people, work, friends and experiences, all at the age of fifteen. This book doesn’t tread lightly over your emotions, so be warned that you might find yourself in need of a tissue or two.
4. Looking for Alaska
The first novel from John Green, the author of the massive The Fault in Our Stars, ‘Looking for Alaska’ tells the tale of a student’s first year at boarding school in Alabama, his falling for the titular Alaska, and the events surrounding their relationship. It isn’t a spoiler to tell you that there’s a twist, as the novel’s chapter titles count down to it, keeping the tension high. It’s one of the most banned novels in schools in the US, so that tells you it must at least be slightly interesting. All of Green’s books are worth a read, even if you’ve seen the films, but its always worth starting with the first.
5. This Side of Paradise
You may have heard of another of this guy’s books, ‘The Great Gatsby’, but this is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel, written with the goal of winning back Zelda, this story focuses on a Princeton student and examines the “life and morality of post WW1 youth”. This “not at all autobiographical” novel was written partly whilst Fitzgerald was himself at Princeton, and made him a sizable amount of money when it was first published. I find Fitzgerald quite hard to read in long sittings and the books other than Gatsby took me a long while to get through but the writing is beautiful and so it’s worth it.
6. His Dark Materials
‘Northern Lights’ (AKA The Golden Compass), ‘The Subtle Knife’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ may not seem like they have much to do with education but they do, with the first book being set, at least in part, in an alternative Oxford. There’s world-hopping, daemons, betrayal and adventure in a fantastical world, and the books can get quite odd and a bit dark at times, but they are classics of the genre and a great read if you can get through them.
7. Unseen Academicals
The Unseen University in Ankh-Morpok is featured in many of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. Rincewind, the perennially lovable failure of a wizard studied there, and the famous Librarian, an Orangutan, makes appearances across the series. Unseen Academicals follows the university as it sets up its football team, and provides a glimpse into the “life downstairs” at the university. Any of the Discworld books are worth reading, there are loads now and it can be daunting to decide which to read first, so have a look here for some insight.
Any suggestions??
