As World Book Day approaches, we turn our focus to the enduring value of literature in shaping our understanding of the world. In this article, staff members across Horizons Education Trust have taken the time to share their no-nonsense book recommendations in a bid to share and inspire!

No frills, just practical insights into books that have left a lasting impact. Join us in acknowledging the significance of reading and the knowledge it imparts ahead of World Book Day, 2024.

Amy Spittle, Communications Executive – Horizons Education Trust:
 
I have too many favourite books, it seems, so it is hard to list one, but I can earmark favourite books from different parts of my reading life. I used to devour pony-books throughout school until my mum bought me Harry Potter the week it launched. She bought it to amuse me on a plane journey, and was somewhat dismayed to see me read it in one sitting, before we made it as far as the departure gate.
Later, I undertook an English Literature degree, and spent a few years wading through worthy books which started to affect my joy of reading – a hobby became a chore, and so I turned to old friends, Stephen King, Wilbur Smith and Jilly Cooper, who were all heavy hitters in their own right, but significantly less commendable in the lecture hall.

Now, I read most genres and try to change what I’m reading each time, so I never feel stale or like I am reading the same book twice in a row. A book that I always return to, however, is Stephen King’s The Long Walk (published as Richard Bachman). It’s a novella with a dystopian setting where 100 boys embark on a walk that you won’t ever forget. Think Lord of the Flies meets the Hunger Games – but no spoilers. Check it out!

I used to feel that all books must be finished, be it a pleasure or a hardship, otherwise one wasn’t “a reader”. Later in life I have learnt to give a book 20%. If you aren’t gripped by then, it’s ok to part as friends and try something else.

With that in mind, I would like to give an honourable mention to Life of Pi and White Tiger. I read both books in the same period of time, and I was blown away. Do you ever get that feeling when a book is so good, you can’t bear to start another? You are still in their world, and revelling in the story that sadly had to come to a close. 

I hope that you find some inspiration in the list below compiled by our resident bookworms at Horizons Education Trust, and this opens up opportunities to talk about what you’re currently reading with those that you know and love. As the inimitable George R. R. Martin once said…

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.”

George R.R. Martin