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GCSE READING LISTYEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11The English Departmentand the Library
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11Before you browse this booklist .All students studying GCSE English will be expected to read at least fivebooks from this list, or their equivalent, over the two years of the courseas well as the texts set for the examinations.Reading for pleasure improves writing and comprehension skills and hasbeen proven to help performance in exams as well as being a lifelongsource of enjoyment.Some of the books have been starred* to show that they are more suitedto Year 9 students or are more accessible than the other titles. Others havebeen marked with a cross to indicate that the events they depict may bedistressing and require maturity of understanding: parental guidance maybe needed in these cases.The list is not intended to be prescriptive and you may choose other booksunder the guidance of your English teachers, but it is hoped you will pickwriters who are challenging and who will expand your experience, understanding and enjoyment of the written word.Mr N. AbbeyHead of English2List last updated May 2015
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11ADVENTUREBUCHAN JohnThe Thirty-Nine StepsA classic thriller that hasremained popular sinceits publication in 1915.SIMPSON JoeTouching the VoidAn astonishing andgripping true story of amountaineering incident.CORMIER RobertAfter the First Death*This tense story, toldfrom different viewpoints, is set aboard abus full of schoolchildrenthat has been hijackedby terrorists.LEE LaurieCider with RosieA beautiful descriptionof growing up in a smallGloucestershire villagejust after the First WorldWar.McCOURT FrankAngela’s AshesGrowing up inextreme poverty, FrankMcCourt’s childhood inAmerica and Ireland wasvery different to the oneportrayed in Cider withRosie.SEDGWICK MarcusRevolver*Sig is guarding hisfather’s corpse in theircabin in the Arctic whena frightening strangercomes to the door.AUTOBIOGRAPHYCLASSICSDAHL RoaldBoy*Going SoloTwo volumes of RoaldDahl’s autobiographywritten in his inimitablestyle.COLLINS WilkieThe MoonstoneThis tale of a stolen diamond, the Moonstoneof the title, is generallyconsidered to be the firstdetective novel in theEnglish language.FRY StephenMoab is my Washpot The Fry Chronicles Stephen Fry’s schooldays, his partnershipwith Hugh Laurie and hisrise to fame, all told withgreat honesty.GOLDING WilliamLord of the FliesA group of boys survive a plane crash butcan they survive livingtogether on a desertedisland?3
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11CLASSICSORWELL GeorgeAnimal FarmWhen animals take overtheir farm from the tyrannical farmer they believelife will be better, but areall animals as equal asthey have been led tobelieve?GREENE GrahamBrighton RockA story of gangsters andmurder set in the seedyunderworld of 1930sBrighton.HARTLEY L.P.The Go-BetweenThirteen-year-old Leois the go-between, carrying secret messagesbetween aristocraticMarian and Ted, a tenantfarmer.Nineteen Eighty FourWinston Smith lives ina harsh and grim futurewhere everyone is underthe control of the originalBig Brother.SALINGER J.D.The Catcher in the RyeHolden Caulfield isconfused and alienatedafter being expelled fromschool so he takes atrain to New York andwanders aroundaimlessly describing hisencounters in his uniquestyle.HEMINGWAY ErnestThe Old Man and theSeaThe story of an agedfisherman called Santiago and his battle tocatch a large marlin.JOYCE JamesThe DublinersA collection of shortstories of Dublin life.STEVENSON RobertLouisThe Strange Case of DrJekyll and Mr HydeDr Jekyll experimentswith a potion that hashorrific consequences.KEROUAC JackOn the RoadA group of friendsmake road trips acrossAmerica in the 1940s.LEE HarperTo Kill a MockingbirdEight-year old Scout’sfather is a lawyer in acourt case that splits asmall community in theAmerican Deep South.4TWAIN MarkThe Adventures of TomSawyerThe colourful and livelyadventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finnas they journey downthe Mississippi river.
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11WAUGH EvelynBrideshead RevisitedCharles Ryder, a studentat Oxford, gets involvedwith the aristocraticand wealthy Marchmainfamily.DONOGHUE EmmaRoom The disturbing narrativeof Jack who is five and aprisoner, along with hismother, in an underground room.CRIME & DETECTIVEDOYLE Arthur ConanSherlock HolmesstoriesEncounter the famousintellect and crimesolving abilities ofSherlock Holmes.ATKINSON KateOne Good Turn: A JollyMurder MysteryJackson Brodie is aprivate investigator inEdinburgh who investigates crimes involvinga bizarre cast of characters.HANNAH SophieLasting Damage When Connie Bowskilltakes a virtual tour ofa house for sale on aproperty website shesees the dead body ofa woman, but when herhusband logs on, it hasvanished.CHANDLER RaymondThe Big Sleep The first in the seriesabout hardboiled LosAngeles detective PhilipMarlowe.HIGHSMITH PatriciaThe Talented MrRipley Tom Ripley has beendescribed as ‘charming,literate and a monster’ –find out why.COLLINS WilkieThe MoonstoneThis tale of a stolen diamond, the Moonstoneof the title, is generallyconsidered to be the firstdetective novel in theEnglish language.DEXTER ColinThe Remorseful Day The Dead of Jericho The Wench is Dead Three books from aseries which features theJaguar-driving, real-aledrinking, music-lovingInspector Morse.HILL ReginaldAn April Shroud (Book4 in the Dalziel andPascoe series) Andy Dalziel and PeterPascoe are two no-nonsense Yorkshire detectives.5
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11MARTEL YannThe Life of PiFantasy adventurewhich describes howPi survives aboard araft with a tiger.RENDELL RuthThe Monster in theBox (Chief InspectorWexford series) Inspector ReginaldWexford re-encountersa man he suspected ofcommitting unsolvedmurders many yearsago.NESS PatrickChaos Walking trilogy(The Knife of NeverLetting Go, The Askand the Answer, Monsters of Men) *Todd Hewitt lives in aworld inhabited onlyby men who can hearone another’s thoughts.One day he discovers apatch of silence and sobegins a heart-stoppingadventure.WINGFIELD R.D.Frost at ChristmasBook 1 in the DetectiveInspector Jack Frostseries) Detective InspectorFrost is characterized as‘hopeless with paperwork but unmatched atsolving mysteries.’FA N TA S YPULLMAN PhilipHis Dark Materials trilogy (Northern Lights;The Subtle Knife; TheAmber Spyglass) *Exciting plots dealingwith big ideas: thesebooks are modern classics.CONNOLLY JohnThe Book of LostThingsTwelve-year old Davidenters a sinister fantasyworld that rivals anythingcreated by the BrothersGrimm.HORROR& GHOST STORIESHEARN LianAcross the NightingaleFloorThe inhabitants of Tomasu’s village, in a fictitious and ancient Japan,have been massacred,but he is rescued by theOtori people who trainhim in the art of combat.6JAMES HenryThe Turn of the ScrewA governess is hired tolook after two children ina lonely country house.Are the unexplainedevents that happen therethe result of the supernatural or of an overactive imagination?
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11JAMES M.R.Collected GhostStoriesSome of the best ghoststories ever written.NEWBERY LindaThe Shell HouseGraveney Hall links thepresent-day story ofGreg to that of Edmund,the heir to the Hall whodisappeared during theFirst World War.PAVER MichelleDark Matter *Tense and atmospherictale of strange happenings on an Arcticexpedition.REEVE PhilipHere Lies Arthur *Ingenious re-working ofthe myth of King Arthur.POE Edgar AllanTales of Mystery andImaginationTales of terror andGothic horror.SANSOM C.J.Dissolution Matthew Shardlakeis a sixteenth-centurylawyer who investigatesa murder at Scarnseamonastery.HISTORICALHARRIS RobertFatherlandA thriller set in an alternative world where theNazis won World War II.SCHLINK BernardThe Reader Michael Berg remembersthe year he was fifteenand fell in love with anolder woman. He laterdiscovers that Hannawas hiding a painfulsecret.KINGSOLVER BarbaraThe Poisonwood BibleA missionary and hisfamily move to the Belgian Congo in 1959 andfind their expectationscompletely overturned.SUTCLIFF RosemaryEagle of the Ninth *Marcus Flavius Aquilawants to know the truthabout his father’s disappearance along with therest of the Ninth Legionin the wilds of NorthernBritain.McEWAN IanAtonement During the summer of1935, thirteen-year oldBriony misunderstandswhat she sees and hearsand changes the lives ofthose around her forever.7
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11TREMAIN RoseRestorationThe Plague, the GreatFire of London and thereign of King Charles IIseen through the eyesof Robert Merivel, aveterinarian in the King’shousehold.BRYSON BillThe Lost Continent;Neither Here NorThere; Notes from aSmall Island; A Walk inthe Woods;Notes from a BigCountry;Down UnderBill Bryson travels theworld and recounts hisexperiences in a deceptively dry and relaxedstyle which is alwaysinformative and oftenhilariousWALLACE JasonOut of Shadows Powerful story of bullying and racism in aboarding school in Zimbabwe in the 1980s.HUMOURGIBBONS StellaCold Comfort FarmStella Gibbons createdthis classic parody ofgloomy, melodramaticportrayals of rural life.ADAMS DouglasThe Hitchhiker’s Guideto the Galaxy“Space is big. You won’tbelieve how vastly,hugely, mind-bogglinglybig it is. I mean, youmay think it’s a long waydown the road to thechemist’s, but that’s justpeanuts to space.”GROSSMITH Georgeand WeedonThe Diary of a NobodyMr Pooter is a selfimportant, bumbling,Victorian bank clerk whokeeps a diary.BATES H.E.The Darling Buds ofMayThe Larkin family, Maand Pop and their sixchildren, don’t have acare in the world until,one day, they comehome to find a man fromthe tax office waiting tospeak to Pop.HADDON MarkThe Curious Incident ofthe Dog in the NightTime *Christopher wants tosolve the mystery of thedeath of his neighbour’sdog by using the methods of his hero, SherlockHolmes.8
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11JEROME Jerome K.Three Men in a BoatThis was an instant success when it was firstpublished in 1889.Scars Upon My Heart:Women’s Poetry andVerse of the First WorldWar (edited by CatherineW. Reilly)NICHOLLS DavidStarter for TenBrian Jackson thinksappearing on UniversityChallenge in his first yearat university is a sure-fireway to impress a girl.Up the Line to Death:War Poets, 1914-18(edited by Brian Gardner)HUGHES TedCollected Poems ofTed HughesCrowWhat is the Truth?WODEHOUSE P.G.The Code of theWoosters (or otherJeeves and Woosterstories)Bertie Wooster is young,wealthy and idiotic, andJeeves is his brilliantvalet who has to get himout of trouble.HUGHES Ted andHEANEY Seamus(editors)The Rattle BagHUGHES Ted andHEANEY Seamus(editors)The School BagPOETRYZEPHANIAH BenjaminPropa PropagandaTalking TurkeysWicked World!DUFFY Carol AnnNew Selected Poems1984-2004The World’s WifeFIRST WORLD WARpoets like Vera Brittain,Ivor Gurney, WilfredOwen and Siegfried Sassoon found in anthologies such as:In Time of War (editedby Anne Harvey)REAL LIFE IN FICTIONATKINSON KateBehind the Scenes atthe MuseumRuby Lennox tells thestory of her ordinaryfamily in an extraordinaryway.The Penguin Book ofFirst World War Poetry9
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11BATES H.E.Love for LydiaLydia Aspen is not theshy girl she seems atfirst, but someone whocreates havoc amongstthe young men whoadmire her.HILL SusanI’m the King of theCastleCharles’ mother takeson the job of housekeeper for JosephHooper and his sonEdmund, a mean andmenacing bully.BROOKS KevinLucas *The appearance of amysterious boy in asmall town creates tension and ill-feeling.HINES BarryA Kestrel for aKnaveBilly finds an escapefrom a life of povertyand neglect by rearing a wild kestrel.COE JonathanThe Rotters’ ClubThe friendships of agroup of boys in a grammar school in the 1970s.HOSSEINI KhaledThe Kite RunnerThe friendship oftwo boys growing uptogether in Kabul.FAULKS SebastianA Week in DecemberThe events of a weekbefore Christmas in2007 told by very different characters who alllive in London.HORNBY NickHigh Fidelity Rob wonders whyhis girlfriend left him,so decides to get intouch with the exgirlfriends on his ‘topfive break ups of alltime’ list.FRAYN MichaelSpiesKeith and Stephen live ina quiet London suburbat the time of World WarII, but Keith believes hismother is a German spy.The two boys set out todiscover the truth.KNOWLES JohnA Separate PeaceGene remembers hisfriend Finny and theirtime at school duringWorld War II.10
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11NICHOLLS DavidOne DayEmma and Dexter meeton the night before theirgraduation in 1988.What will they be doingon that day next year?And the year after that?And twenty years fromthen?LE CARRE JohnThe Constant Gardener A British diplomat triesto uncover the truthabout his wife’s murder.McCARTHY CormacThe Border trilogy (Allthe Pretty Horses; TheCrossing; Cities of thePlain) Three young Americanmen cross the borderbetween Mexico and theUSA to seek a better life.The Road Spare, bleak tale of a father and son journeyingthrough an apocalypticlandscape.SMILEY JaneA Thousand AcresThe plot of King Leartransplanted to ruralAmerica in the twentiethcentury.SMITH ZadieWhite TeethThis follows the friendship of two wartimefriends: one English, theother Bangladeshi, andtheir families, in presentday London.McEWAN IanSaturdayA fateful day in the life ofHenry Perowne, a successful surgeon.TREMAIN RoseThe Road HomeLev arrives in Londonfrom Eastern Europewith little money andno prospects, only thedetermination to start anew life.MITCHELL DavidBlack Swan GreenJason is thirteen, hasa stammer and lives ina dull English village inthe 1980s, but his life isabout to change.MURDOCH IrisThe SandcastleThe quiet life of teacher,William Mor, is disturbedwhen a young paintervisits his school to painta portrait of the headmaster.WAUGH EvelynThe Loved OneA cruelly witty satire onthe funeral industry inHollywood.11
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11SCIENCE FICTIONISHIGURO KazuoNever Let Me GoThree friends appearto have a happy life atboarding school untilthey discover a horrifying truth about theirexistence.ADAMS DouglasThe Hitchhiker’s Guideto the Galaxy“Space is big. You won’tbelieve how vastly,hugely, mind-bogglinglybig it is. I mean, youmay think it’s a long waydown the road to thechemist’s, but that’s justpeanuts to space.”WYNDHAM JohnThe Day of the TriffidsBill Masen was one ofthe few people not tobe blinded by a meteor shower, but nowhe discovers that giantflesh-eating plants called‘triffids’ are wreakinghavoc on Earth.ASIMOV IsaacI, RobotA classic collection ofstories upon which thefilm was based.BLACKMAN MalorieNoughts and Crosses*A Romeo-and-Julietstyle love story set in aracist dystopia.WARBALLARD J.G.The Empire of the SunThe experiences of ayoung boy at the handsof his Japanese captorsduring World War II.BRADBURY RayFarenheit 451In a futuristic Americabooks are illegal andfiremen start fires ratherthan put them out.FAULKS SebastianBirdsong Stephen Wraysford’slife in France,describedbefore and during WorldWar I, is gruelling butunforgettable.HUXLEY AldousBrave New WorldThe ‘brave new world’of the title is a placewhere there is no waror sadness, but wherehuman beings are grownin laboratories and havetheir lives controlled.Charlotte Gray The adventures of ayoung woman who waspart of the French resistance during the SecondWorld War.12
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT - GCSE READING LIST - YEAR 9, YEAR 10 and YEAR 11MORPURGO MichaelPrivate Peaceful*The poignant story oftwo brothers before andduring the First WorldWar.PEET MalTamar *Two young Dutchmen,who have been trainedin England as spies,are parachuted into theNetherlands to help withthe war effort duringWorld War II.REMARQUE Erich MariaAll Quiet on the Western FrontWorld War I from thepoint of view of theGermans as written by aGerman war veteran.ZUSAK MarcusThe Book ThiefA story narrated byDeath and set in NaziGermany.13
Three books from a series which features the Jaguar-driving, real-ale drinking, music-loving Inspector Morse. DONOGHUE Emma Room The disturbing narrative of Jack who is five and a prisoner, along with his mother, in an under-ground room. DOYLE Arthur Conan Sherlock Holmes stories Encounter the famous intellect and crime-solving abilities of
