Summer Reading List for Teachers

Author: Bethany Spencer

Posted: 28 Jul 2017

Estimated time to read: 3 mins

One of the best parts about the summer holidays or a trip away is the chance to read without interruption. Nothing can beat having the time to really get stuck into a novel and not having to squeeze in a couple of pages on your morning commute or before bed.Close up of a bookshelf in library.jpeg

After a bad holiday reading experience of trying and failing to engage myself in On The Road - Jack Kerouac, I sought out the help of my fellow bookworms at Satchel HQ to provide me and you with some book suggestions for some summer reading that can keep us engaged over the summer:

The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

“The Handmaid’s Tale is set in an alternative reality, in a dystopian period where the characters follow and live by a particular regime influenced by a specific passage of the Bible. Pollution and emissions are at an all time high, resulting in men and women unable to conceive. Women have their rights stripped of them completely - those that can bear children become handmaids to the wealthy, where they take part in bizarre rituals. The story follows one woman, a Handmaid’s journey throughout all of this.

It’s a difficult read, but one that will infuriate you due to the helplessness and treatment of the women involved. It resonates quite a bit and feels almost as if recent events in the world could be leading us in this direction, but an amazing read all the same.”

Suggested by Nabeelah, Social Media Executive

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

“What became one of the greatest protest novels of the Vietnam War was originally written in 1932 and follows the story of an American WW1 soldier who wakes up in hospital after having been caught in an artillery shell explosion. The plot follows an injured soldier, Joe Bonham, as he learns of and tries to come to terms with the extent of his injuries.

Drifting in and out of memories, dreams and the present day, Johnny Got His Gun brings to light the true horrors of war and the extent of the injuries which soldiers have to endure.”

Suggested by Bethany, PR & Content Executive

Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone - Eduardo Galeano

“Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone is a history of all humanity from the Garden of Eden to the 21st century, played out in 600 brief episodes. Short, digestible and beautifully written, the passages provide us with an account of the world presented in moments of cultural significance, the lives of the world’s great artists and thinkers as well as through the eyes of its forgotten and unheard. The poetic sweep of the last few thousands of years in the form of short vignettes takes special care to assert the place of those who have been neglected, mistreated and denied their memory. Women, slaves, indigenous peoples and scores of others whose lives have been misappropriated and misunderstood are presented here, their stories placed at the centre of a long global timeline.

Eduardo Galeano has provided a powerfully evocative, emotional and fundamentally human history of our species. Poetic and lyrical it is both enjoyable and provocative, challenging our notion of how we write history - and who ‘we’ are.”

Suggested by Hamish Forbes - Account Manager

Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel García Márquez

“This short but powerful novella set in a small Colombian coastal town in the 1950s follows the community of the town in the run-up to the climactic murder of the title.  It objectively explores their collective responsibility in the murder of Santiago Nasar, while vividly telling the story of those few who tried to prevent it and those who did nothing.

Based on a true event, Márquez combines his experience as a journalist with his distinctive surreal style that he is known for in 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'.”

Suggested by Victoria Allen - Product Marketing Executive


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