And if these suggestions don't give you enough ideas for summer reading, why not check out the library's Book Advisor posters, or their map of the world (outside the Kayton Library), which gives you ideas for books connected to places you might be visiting over the summer. Plus, Mr Gardner has put together an epic list of reading suggestions for the 4th, 5th and 6th forms, which you can find along with other suggestions on the blog's reading lists page here. Have fun choosing your summer reading!
Mr Adelman: Some of the most memorable books from my teen years are Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and my senior year term paper book, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. While the last one felt more like a lesson in discipline and patience than pleasure reading, each book stood out not only for its impressive writing, but for its commentary and ability to make me question my own beliefs.
Dr Mayfield: Far too much French romantic Organ Music
Mr Adelman: I’ve just finished On the Edge: the Art of Risking Everything by statistician and election forecaster Nate Silver and found it thoroughly interesting and would recommend to anyone with an interest in the advantages and limitations of making cost-benefit analyses in everyday life. Now, I’m keen to read his first book, The Signal and the Noise, alongside New York Times columnist Roth Douthat’s new book Believe - an argument for religiosity and God that starts with secularists’ skepticism.
Miss Dillon: My book group has planned that I should read Death Comes to Pemberley by P D James and The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods so I'll read those first. I also want to read The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope. I have been reading a lot of nineteenth century fiction this year. The Odd Women by George Gissing and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte were both interesting. Added bonus is that nineteenth century novels can’t have been written by AI.
Miss Ahmed: Recently, I discovered Elif Shafak, alongside Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - arguably two of the best female writers of our time. I recently watched One Hundred Years of Solitude on Netflix and the book comes highly recommended. So with a long, hot summer stretching ahead of us, I’m adding Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and the latest from Shafak and Adichie to my reading list.
Mr Thumwood: Herodotus’ Histories and The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller)
Mr Harris: I’ve started reading The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, so will aim to finish that (although I’ve had to return my library copy!). I’ve also recently purchased How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto, which looks promising.
Mr Adelman: Picking an all-time favourite across genres is a nearly impossible task. I generally prefer nonfiction (specifically political nonfiction), so I’m inclined to say Bowling Alone by the legendary Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam. Opening with the paradox that bowling participation is rising while bowling leagues are declining, Putnam eloquently describes the decline of 'social capital' in the US while accurately predicting the rise in political polarisation that followed the book’s release.
Miss Ahmed: Asking a book lover their favourite book is like asking a painter of their favourite colour… I can’t pick one! My cultural heritage has drawn me to books by Indian and south Asian writers and I remember enjoying Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, Arundhati Roy and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz is an epic masterpiece too. I was given The Life of Pi (Yann Martel), The General’s Son (Miko Peled) and White Mughals (William Dalrymple) to read and all have stayed with me. There are so many amazing books that I have been lucky to have read and loved but I cannot mention them all here.
Miss Brennan: My favourite book is probably Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I’ve read it maybe five times, and each time I’m struck by the quality of the writing and the emotional gut punch of the ending. The author whose books I’ve read the most is Elif Shafak.
Mr Thumwood: Douglas Coupland
Mr Harris: Would probably have to be J. G. Ballard.
Dr Mayfield: Bach
Mr Adelman: I can’t think of my all-time favorite quotes—perhaps because I’m conflating book and movie quotes--but one memorable line that I read recently comes from Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein’s new NYT Bestseller Abundance: 'We have a startling abundance of the goods that fill a house and a shortage of what’s needed to build a good life.'
What were you reading when you were a teenager?
Miss Dillon: I read anything and everything as a teen, including enough dire fantasy novels to fill several skips. DragonLance Chronicles anyone? Some books I remember either enjoying or making a big impression were The Beacon at Alexandria by Gillian Bradshaw, Fire Starter by Stephen King, If This Is A Man by Primo Levi and The King Must Die by Mary Renault.
Miss Ahmed: I was a voracious reader as a child and have very fond memories of reading from an early age. My earliest loves were Aesop’s fables, Anderson’s fairy tales and Greek and Roman myths and legends. This love of ancient storytelling stayed with me and when I studied literature at university, I loved ancient literatures and the earliest storytelling, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and One Thousand and One Nights; it seems I have always loved stories with a message, idea or belief, and that has stayed with me.
As a teenager, at school, I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World, not only for their great storytelling, but for their cautionary message and warnings of dystopian futures … which could not be more relevant now! I also remember being introduced to HG Wells and Edgar Allan Poe by my brothers. While studying for A levels I loved the English greats: Hardy, Austen, Dickens and of course Shakespeare, as well as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, alongside my Greek literature.
Miss Brennan: I was reading the classic dystopian and sci-fi/fantasy series that were just starting to take off—The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments, Matched, Graceling, and of course the GOAT, Percy Jackson.
Mr Thumwood: Lots of Isaac Asimov!
Mr Harris: When I was 11-13 years old I was reading a lot of the young Bond and Cherub books. I sort of fell out of love with reading for a couple of years, and then it was reignited when my mum forced me to read The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which I think I devoured in about two days. I also became quite a big Louis de Bernières and Graham Greene fan during that time.
What are you planning to read this holiday?
Mr Adelman: I’ve just finished On the Edge: the Art of Risking Everything by statistician and election forecaster Nate Silver and found it thoroughly interesting and would recommend to anyone with an interest in the advantages and limitations of making cost-benefit analyses in everyday life. Now, I’m keen to read his first book, The Signal and the Noise, alongside New York Times columnist Roth Douthat’s new book Believe - an argument for religiosity and God that starts with secularists’ skepticism.
Miss Brennan: Two books on my to-read list are The Secret History by Donna Tart and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I am also excited to get my hands on Ocean Vuong’s new novel The Emperor of Gladness.
Mr Harris: I’ve started reading The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner, so will aim to finish that (although I’ve had to return my library copy!). I’ve also recently purchased How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto, which looks promising.
Dr Mayfield: Beethoven piano sonatas
What/who is your all-time favourite book/writer?
Mr Adelman: Picking an all-time favourite across genres is a nearly impossible task. I generally prefer nonfiction (specifically political nonfiction), so I’m inclined to say Bowling Alone by the legendary Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam. Opening with the paradox that bowling participation is rising while bowling leagues are declining, Putnam eloquently describes the decline of 'social capital' in the US while accurately predicting the rise in political polarisation that followed the book’s release.
Miss Dillon: The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien. It really captured my imagination as a child.
Miss Ahmed: Asking a book lover their favourite book is like asking a painter of their favourite colour… I can’t pick one! My cultural heritage has drawn me to books by Indian and south Asian writers and I remember enjoying Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy, Arundhati Roy and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz is an epic masterpiece too. I was given The Life of Pi (Yann Martel), The General’s Son (Miko Peled) and White Mughals (William Dalrymple) to read and all have stayed with me. There are so many amazing books that I have been lucky to have read and loved but I cannot mention them all here.
Dr Mayfield: Bach
Who’s your favourite fictional character?
Miss Dillon: Impossible to choose but I have a soft spot for Lila, the anti-heroine from My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.
Miss Brennan: Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, though followed closely by Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings.
Mr Thumwood: Hard to pick one, but I have a sense of kindred spirit with Paul Pennyfeather in Decline and Fall!
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| Jack Whitehall as Paul Pennyfeather in the BBC adaptation of Decline and Fall |
Mr Harris: A hard one to answer! Probably Rooster Byron from Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem.
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| Mark Rylance as Rooster Byron (The Telegraph) |
Dr Mayfield: Vierne: Finale from Symphony No 1
Do you have a favourite word/favourite line from a book?
Mr Adelman: I can’t think of my all-time favorite quotes—perhaps because I’m conflating book and movie quotes--but one memorable line that I read recently comes from Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein’s new NYT Bestseller Abundance: 'We have a startling abundance of the goods that fill a house and a shortage of what’s needed to build a good life.'
Miss Dillon: “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.” Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings)
Miss Brennan: What comes to mind is from Mary Oliver’s poem ‘The Summer Day’: ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?’
Mr Thumwood: 'He looks like no one else, acts like no one else, his clothes are increasingly like plumage, late at night he choreographs using plastic Army men, he fits no mold and has no friends, but I believe in my heart that someday something beautiful may come from him. – George Saunders, My Flamboyant Grandson (2002)
Mr Harris: Does poetry count? 'Groping back to bed after a piss / I part thick curtains and am startled by/The rapid clouds, moon’s cleanliness.' (Philip Larkin, 'Sad Steps')
Dr Mayfield: Top tune – can’t beat main tune from final movement of Sibelius Symphony no.5 – it's all about the Double Bass!
If you had to recommend one book that everyone should read, what would it be?
Mr Adelman: Keeping in line with my political nonfiction recommendations, I believe everyone about to attend university should read The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt. A leading psychologist known for his research on technology and anxiety, Haidt shows why the concept of 'safe spaces' and illiberal free speech policies at US Universities has led to groupthink and ultimately, distrust in higher education.
Miss Dillon: Pride and Prejudice
Miss Brennan: For fiction, Foster by Claire Keegan, which is short but powerful. For nonfiction, Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, which stuck with me for a long time after.
Mr Thumwood: Modern Nature by Derek Jarman
Mr Harris: This is cheating as it’s five books, but the Patrick Melrose series by Edward St. Aubyn. Only once you are old enough however!
Dr Mayfield: Elgar Enigma Variations
A massive thank you to all of these teachers for generously sharing their answers with us: we wish you a fabulous future after SPS. We'd like to give particular thanks to Dr Mayfield, not just for his innovative musical answers to our questions, but also for being the literal embodiment of all five of the school values - kindness, respect, humility, integrity and resilience - long before teachers had them written on their lanyards. Best wishes for a long and happy retirement - we will miss you!
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