Book recommendations please

[lifeisafunnyoldgame]

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. 😕

What age are you teaching?

I think you can find much better writing that the "Child called It," books but probably have to ease yourself back in - have you considered some young adult books, like "The good girls guide to murder," or easy reading like the Richard Osmand books?

Autobiographical books might include The Heart's Invisible Furies, that is beautifully written and based on his real life.

Thank you for a quick reply.

I’ll be teaching year 3, but the books I will be reading won’t be read to them, it’s just to show that I also read for pleasure too, but clearly I can’t be sharing that the books I read are about abuse or sordid love affairs.

My daughter has hundreds of books, which I can’t read in case I crease a spine or a page, but they all seem to involve a murder of some sorts!

As you say you like autobiographies, you might like Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming. I think he wrote it around 10 years ago and I found it very moving.

For a bit more of laugh, try Miriam Margolyes's autobiographies - This Much Is True and Oh Miriam! She likes to shock, so not one for prudes 😁

What age group are you teaching?

I find fantasy type books good for primary age kids.
Adult books like S.A Chakraborty: City of Brass, great for sharing with children if you want to talk about what you are reading....
I just finished Veronica G Henry: The Canopy Keepers, again has some great content for sharing.

Currently 2/3 the way through Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent and it’s brilliant!

Ah, so no "Murder" in the title - nice titles, easy to read and you feel you learn something about history?

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe
White Teeth
The Midnight Library

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.

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.

"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.

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.

How about Education by Tara Westover?

Oh, and The Four Winds by Kirsten Hannah.

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

Thank you!

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

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

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

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

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)

I really liked The Time Traveller's Wife

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!!

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

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…

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.

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.

These are great, thank you.