Recommended Reading Lists
Academic > Recommended Reading Lists
- 1 = most accessible
- 5 = most challenging
Action
| Author | Title | Reading Level |
|---|
| Bainbridge, Beryl | The Birthday Boys | 1 |
| Brown, Dan | The Da Vinci Code | 3 |
| Garland, Alex | The Beach | 3 |
| Grisham, John | The Rainmaker | 2 |
| Harris, Robert | Archangel | 2 |
| Hemingway, Ernest | Fiesta | 4 |
| London, Jack | White Fang | 1 |
| Ludlum, Robert | Bourne Identity | 2 |
Biography
| Angelou, Maya | I know why the Caged Bird Sings | 3 |
| Bryson, Bill | Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid | 2 |
| Chang, Jung | Wild Swans | 4 |
| Dahl, Roald | Going Solo | 1 |
| Frank, Anne | The Diary of Anne Frank | 2 |
| Hornby, Nick | Fever Pitch | 3 |
| McCourt, Frank | Angela's Ashes | 4 |
| Mandela, Nelson | The Long Walk to Freedom | 2 |
| Pelzer, Dave | A Child called It | 3 |
| Simpson, Joe | Touching the Void | 2 |
Coming Of Age
| Boyne, John | The Boy in Striped Pyjamas | 1 |
| Dahl, Roald | Boy | 1 |
| Haddon, Mark | Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time | 1 |
| Hill, Susan | I'm the King of the Castle | 1 |
| Hines, Barry | Kes | 1 |
| Hosseini, Khaled | The Kite Runner | 4 |
| Lee, Harper | To Kill a Mockingbird | 2 |
| Lee, Laurie | Cider with Rosie | 2 |
| McEwan, Ian | The Daydreamer | 1 |
| Magorian, Michelle | Goodnight Mister Tom | 1 |
| Martel, Yann | The Life of Pi | 2 |
| Mitchell, David | Black Swan Green | 3 |
| Sachar, Louis | Holes | 1 |
| Steinbeck, John | The Pearl | 1 |
| Waterhouse, Keith | Billy Liar | 3 |
| Westall, Robert | The Machine Gunners | 2 |
Cult
| Burgess, Anthony | Clockwork Orange | 4 |
| Salinger, J D | The Catcher in the Rye | 3 |
| Heller, Joseph | Catch 22 | 4 |
| Kerouac, Jack | On the Road | 4 |
| Kesey, Ken | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 3 |
Detective And Spy
| Christie, Agatha | Murder on the Orient Express | 1 |
| Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 2 |
| Higson, Charlie | Silverfin | 1 |
| Horowitz, Anthony | Alex Rider series | 1 |
| Rankin, Ian | Knots and Crosses | 3 |
| Smith, Alexander McCall | No.1 Ladies Detective Agency | 1 |
Fantasy
| Colfer, Eoin | Artemis Fowl | 1 |
| Nicholson, William | The Wind Singer | 1 |
| Nix, Garth | Sabriel | 1 |
| Paolini, Christopher | Eragon | 2 |
| Pratchett, Terry | Discworld Series | 1 |
| Pullman, Philip | Northern Lights | 2 |
| Rowling, J K | Harry Potter | 1 |
| Sedgwick, Marcus | Floodlands | 1 |
| Stroud, Jonathan | Golem's Eye | 2 |
| Tolkein, J R R | The Hobbit | 1 |
| Tolkein, J R R | Lord of the Rings | 3 |
Historical
| Bainbridge, Beryl | The Birthday Boys | 1 |
| Cornwell, Bernard | Sharpe series | 1 |
| Harris, Robert | Imperium | 2 |
| Harris, Robert | Pompeii | 2 |
| O'Connor, Joseph | Star of the Sea | 3 |
Horror & Ghosts
| Banks, Iain | The Wasp Factory | 4 |
| Harris, Thomas | Hannibal | 4 |
| Hill, Susan | The Woman in Black | 1 |
| Stoker, Bram | Dracula | 4 |
| Shan, Darren | Lord Loss | 1 |
Humour
| Adams, Douglas | Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 2 |
| Bryson, Bill | Notes from a Small Island | 1 |
| Fry, Stephen | Hippo | 2 |
| Haddon, Mark | A Spot of Bother | 3 |
| Naylor, Grant | Red Dwarf | 1 |
| Pratchett, Terry | Discworld series | 1 |
| Wodehouse, P G | Jeeves and Wooster | 1 |
Other Cultures
Africa
| Achebe, Chinua | Things Fall Apart | 3 |
| Adichie, Chimanamada | Half of a Yellow Sun | 3 |
| Coetzee, J M | Disgrace | 5 |
| Conrad, Joseph | Heart of Darkness | 4 |
| Courtemanche, Gil | A Sunday at the Pool in Kilgali | 3 |
| Courtenay, Bryce | The Power of One | 3 |
| Godwin, Peter | Mukiwa : a boy in Africa (968.9104092) | 4 |
| Gordimer, Nadine | A Guest of Honour | 3 |
| Gurnah, Abdulrazak | By the Sea | 2 |
| Hemingway, Ernest | The Green Hills of Africa | 3 |
| Hope, Christopher | White Boy Running (968.06) | 4 |
| Lessing, Doris | The Grass is Singing | 4 |
| Okri, Ben | Dangerous Love | 4 |
| Paton, Alan | Cry, the Beloved Country | 3 |
| Smith, Alexander McCall | No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency | 1 |
Australia
| Chatwin, Bruce | Songlines | 3 |
| Courtenay, Bruce | Four Fires | 3 |
| Grenville, Kate | Secret River | 4 |
| Hulme, K | The Bone People | 4 |
| Marshall, James Vance | Walkabout | 2 |
| Winton, Tim | Dirt Music | 3 |
America
| Angelou, Maya | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | 3 |
| Capote, Truman | Breakfast at Tiffany's | 4 |
| Faulkner, William | Go Down Moses | 5 |
| Fitzgerald, F Scott | The Great Gatsby | 3 |
| Greene, Graham | The Power and the Glory | 3 |
| Lee, Harper | To Kill a Mockingbird | 2 |
| Plath, Sylvia | The Bell Jar | 4 |
| Proulx, Annie | The Shipping News | 4 |
| Steinbeck, John | Of Mice and Men | 1 |
| Taylor, Mildred | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry | 2 |
| Twain, Mark | Huckleberry Finn | 2 |
| Walker, Alice | The Color Purple | 4 |
| Wolfe, Tom | Bonfire of the Vanities | 4 |
South America
| Allende, Isabel | Daughter of Fortune | 4 |
| Marquez, Gabriel Garcia | Love in the Time of Cholera | 4 |
South East Asia
| Desai, Anita | A Village by the Sea | 3 |
| Desai, Kieran | Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard | 3 |
| Forster, E M | A Passage to India | 4 |
| Hosseini, Khaled | The Kite Runner | 4 |
| Naipaul, V S | An Area of Darkness | 4 |
| Roy, Arundati | A God of Small Things | 3 |
| Rushdie, Salman | Midnight's children | 5 |
| Seth, Vikram | A Suitable Boy | 4 |
China
| Ballard, J G / Empire of the Sun / 3 |
| Chang, Jung / Wild Swans / 4 |
| Hersey, John / Hiroshima / 3 |
| Mah, Adeline Yen / Falling Leaves / 3 |
| Tan, Amy / The Joy Luck Club / 4 |
Sci-fi
| Adams, Douglas | Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy | 2 |
| Asimov, Isaac | Foundation trilogy | 4 |
| Banks, Iain M | Use of Weapons | 3 |
| Blackman, Malorie | Noughts and Crosses | 1 |
| Bradbury, Ray | Fahrenheit 451 | 1 |
| Clarke, Arthur C | 2001: a Space Odyssey | 2 |
| Cooper, Susan | The Dark is Rising | 1 |
| Grant, Rob | Red Dwarf | 1 |
| Herbert, Frank | Dune | 3 |
| Huxley, Aldous | Brave New World | 3 |
| Jacques, Brian | Redwall | 1 |
| LeGuin, Ursula | Earthsea | 1 |
| Lewis, C S | Narnia | 1 |
| Orwell, George | Nineteen Eighty-four | 4 |
| Pratchett, Terry | The Colour of Magic | 1 |
| Tolkein, J R R | The Lord of the Rings | 3 |
| Verne, Jules | Journey to the Centre of the Earth | 3 |
| Vonnegut, Kurt | Slaughterhouse 5 | 3 |
| Wells, H G | War of the Worlds | 3 |
| Wyndham, John | Day of the Triffids | 2 |
Sport
War
| Cornwell, Bernard | Sharpe series | 1 |
| Faulks, Sebastian | Birdsong | 3 |
| Remarque, Erich Maria | All Quiet on the Western Front | 3 |
| Vonnegut, Kurt | Slaughterhouse 5 | 3 |
| Westall, Robert | The Machine Gunners | 1 |
Novi reading list 2007-8
| Author | Title | Reading Level |
|---|
| Adams, Douglas | Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | 2 |
| Asimov, Isaac | Foundation series | 4 |
| Bainbridge, Beryl | The Birthday Boys | 1 |
| Blackman, Malorie | Noughts and Crosses | 2 |
| Bradbury, Ray | Fahrenheit 451 | 1 |
| Bryson, Bill | Notes from a Small Island | 1 |
| Dahl, Roald | Boy | 1 |
| Dickens, Charles | Oliver Twist | 3 |
| Doyle, Arthur Conan | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 2 |
| Doyle, Roddy | Paddy Clarke ha ha ha | |
| Golding, William | Lord of the Flies | 2 |
| Haddon, Mark | Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time | 1 |
| Hardy, Thomas | The Mayor of Casterbridge | 5 |
| Harris, Robert | Pompeii | 2 |
| Hill, Susan | The Woman in Black | 1 |
| Hines, Barry | Kes | 2 |
| Horowitz, Anthony | Stormbreaker | 1 |
| Hosseini, Khaled | The Kite Runner | 1 |
| Lee, Harper | To Kill a Mockingbird | 2 |
| Lee, Laurie | Cider with Rosie | 2 |
| McEwan, Ian | The Daydreamer | 1 |
| Magorian, Michelle | Goodnight, Mister Tom | 1 |
| Nicholson, William | The Wind Singer | 1 |
| Nix, Garth | Sabriel | 1 |
| Orwell, George | Animal Farm | 2 |
| Paolini, Christopher | Eragon | 2 |
| Pullman, Philip | Northern Lights | 2 |
| Sachar, Louis | Holes | 1 |
| Stoker, Bram | Dracula | 4 |
| Stroud, Jonathan | Golem's Eye | 2 |
| Walker, Alice | The Color Purple | 5 |
| Waterhouse, Keith | Billy Liar | 3 |
| Wells, H. G. | The War of the Worlds | 3 |
| Westall, Robert | The Machine Gunners | 1 |