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Original poster

Book recommendations please

31 replies

lifeisafunnyoldgame · 12/08/2024 10:11

I’ve started a new thread as I am
not sure if my comment on another may get missed… copied and pasted for ease 😉

I will shamefully admit to not reading for pleasure anywhere near as much as I should, ok never, but I have spent the last few years reading for work/uni.

I want to finish the Child Called It series, however I need to change my genre of reading.

I am a new teacher this year, and want to introduce reading for pleasure in the class, and will have a “What I am reading” display so it is only right that I display my books on there too. This is where I need help.

What books would you recommend for a teacher who could display in class and potentially talk to the children about?

I am not into Harry Potter/LOTR style books.

I do like autobiographies and those that really pull on heart strings.

The last book I tried to read was Girl on a train, I struggled so much getting into it so gave up in the end. That was 4 years ago, I haven’t read a book since. 😕

OP posts:
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siansattic · 12/08/2024 16:38

Anything by Michael Rosen

mamaduckbone · 12/08/2024 16:09

I would suggest reading some really good quality children's fiction aimed at year 5/6/7 - it's an easier way back into reading for you and also gives recommendations for your class to look out for in a couple of years.

  • anything by Katherine Rundell
  • Matt Haig's children's books
  • The Final Year - Matt Goodfellow
  • Anything by Ross Welford
  • The Cogheart series
I could go on! I read a lot of adult fiction but also love great kids' books (year 4,5,6 teacher)
Turophilic · 12/08/2024 15:34

I think all the PP are brave, suggesting titles to someone who hasn’t read a book in 4 years and last enjoyed misery memoirs that they don’t want to mention to their 7 and 8 year old pupils 😂

How about a collection of essays with some style and wit - you can dip in an out of, like Nora Ephron’ s I Feel Bad About My Neck

stayathomer · 12/08/2024 15:28

Fiona Gibson, Jenny Colgan,Sophie Kinsella, Anita Faulkner, Katie Ginger- all rom coms and the kids will appreciate the pretty covers!!

StellaCruella · 12/08/2024 15:23

Morris Gleitzman's Once series
The Book Thief
The Hunger Games trilogy

Lovelyview · 12/08/2024 15:12

GalacticalFarce · 12/08/2024 13:10

I love the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. It's just simple but colourful reading. This is set in Botswana but the author writes a series set in Scotland too.
Alexander McCall Smith is the author.

I think this would be a great series to display in a classroom. They are a fun read too although a bit repetitive after a while.

Original poster
lifeisafunnyoldgame · 12/08/2024 14:07

These are great, thank you.

OP posts:
BarbaraBuncle · 12/08/2024 13:23

If you like Shakespeare and/or would like to open up a discussion about his plays, you might like Shakespeare - The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench. It's a fascinating in depth look at her acting career in many Shakespeare productions together with her interpretation of the plays. It's really not heavy going at all, is an easy read in fact. I'm enjoying reading it.

GalacticalFarce · 12/08/2024 13:10

I love the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. It's just simple but colourful reading. This is set in Botswana but the author writes a series set in Scotland too.
Alexander McCall Smith is the author.

CheeseplantJungle · 12/08/2024 13:02

I love this idea. Our dc saw their dad receive a book as a present for the first time when they were already in primary school and remarked on it - previously books as gifts were for them or for me! Good for them to see adults enjoying reading.

for this purpose, what about some middle grade or crossover fiction that you might read for its own sake and will be of interest to them in only a few years? Katherine Rundell, Jakob Wegelius, Tom’s Midnight Garden, Emma Carroll…

Pipecleanerrevival · 12/08/2024 12:16

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a lovely, feel good, easy to read series.

DancefloorAcrobatics · 12/08/2024 12:13

If you like biographies how about something historical?
The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon might be of interest.

It's a bit of a rich playboy type story, but it can be tied in with lots of history. Again, great for sharing!!

beguilingeyes · 12/08/2024 12:04

I really liked The Time Traveller's Wife

thehousewiththesagegreensofa · 12/08/2024 12:01

Autobiographies might be a good one ... sports stars, celebs and other people they'll have heard of so that you can talk about what they did to get where they are and some of the challenges they faced.
DD really got into reading in Yr4 and that was because her teacher was reading Yr4 age appropriate books and recommending them and then chatting about them with those that had read them once a fortnight or so (they had some voracious readers in that class so 4 or 5 of them could get through the same book pretty quickly)

siansattic · 12/08/2024 11:58

Would second A Man called Ove or other books by Fredrick Backman. Midnight Library is also good.

Original poster
lifeisafunnyoldgame · 12/08/2024 11:51

@LittleLittleRex yep, as much as I enjoy murder type, it is probably best avoided. 😂

OP posts:
TheGirlWhoLived · 12/08/2024 11:50

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow was a good read, as is Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, The Midnight Library, A Man called Ove, Room - all very good books with innocuous titles

Original poster
lifeisafunnyoldgame · 12/08/2024 11:49

Thank you!

I will have look at all the titles mentioned and update you when I have a list of potentials.

OP posts:
BIWI · 12/08/2024 11:48

I'd go for some classics - Jane Austen for example.

Lovetotravel123 · 12/08/2024 11:46

Oh, and The Four Winds by Kirsten Hannah.

Lovetotravel123 · 12/08/2024 11:45

How about Education by Tara Westover?

TheFairyCaravan · 12/08/2024 11:37

I’m reading The Women by Kirsten Hannah atm, it’s a real page turner. I, also, enjoyed The Nightingale by the same author

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is quite good, too. It’s quite a light read imo.

MissyB1 · 12/08/2024 11:31

"Sandwich" by Catherine Newman a lovely book about a family who holiday together every year in the same cottage on Cape Cod America. The children are adults now but they still go. It's all about family relationships, the difficulties /fall outs, but mostly the overwhelming love.

InnerPlop · 12/08/2024 11:31

What about more "classic" books and stories, particularly those aimed at a younger audience.

Things like Black Beauty, Anne of Green Gables, Goodnight Mr Tom, The Wind in the Willows are the ones that spring to mind.

Happyinarcon · 12/08/2024 11:22

What about some non fiction titles? I’m always happy to read about symbolism in church architecture or standing stones or folklore. There’s a lot of books out there for people who find it difficult to get through fiction.