Reading and Literacy
The West Bridgford School Subject Specific Reading List
Staff across school have suggested reading material that you might enjoy based on your subject interests. There is a wide range to be found; something to suit everyone from KS3 – KS5, from fiction – blogs – non-fiction texts.
Browse by department below and if you enjoy what you read don’t forget to recommend to a friend.
Art and Design
KS3
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye needle – Clare Hunter
KS4 and KS5
Slay in your lane - Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene
Saving Bletchley Park - Dr Sue Baker
Wally Funks Race for Space - Sue nelson
Handprints on Hubble; an Astronauts story of invention - Kathryn D Sullivan
Business
Tycoon - Peter Jones
Computer Science and IT
KS3
Foundation Trilogy - Isac Asimov
KS4
Do androids dream of electric sheep? - Philip K Dick
KS5
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions - Brian Christian
Once Upon an Algorithm: How Stories Explain Computing - Martin Erwig
Economics
KS4
The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford
Freakanomics - Levitt and Dubner
Moneyball - Michael Lewis
Economix - How our Economy Works (in words and pictures) - Michael Goodwin
KS5
Factfulness - Hans Rosling
Nudge - Thaler and Sunstein
The Great Divide - Joseph Steiglitz
Postcapitalism- Paul Mason
English
KS3
Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift
Bridge to Terrabithia - Katherine Paterson
The Extraordinary Life of Stephen Hawking - Kate Scott
Little Leaders: Visionary Women Around the World - Vashti Harrison
KS4
1984 - George Orwell
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
KS5
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The Diary of Samuel Pepys
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Food Technology
KS3
Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street
A Year in Fleurville Recipes from Balconies, Rooftops, and Gardens
The Kew Gardens Children's Cookbook: Plant, Cook, Eat
The World in My Kitchen: Global Recipes for Kids to Discover and Cook
KS4
A History of Food in 100 Recipes - William Sitwell.
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat - Bee Wilson
Dinner with Mr Darcy: Recipes Inspired by the Novels and Letters of Jane Austen - Pen Vogler.
An Edible history of Humanity - Tom Standage
Eat to save the Planet - Annie Bell
French
KS3
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Allons-Y! & Bonjour (Available from the MFL library )
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
Astérix in Britain - Renée Gosciny
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Adventures of Tintin – Hergé
KS4
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Ça va? (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
Le Petit Nicolas by René Goscinny
No et Moi by Delphine De Vigan
https://www.thefrenchexperiment.com/stories
KS5
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Chez Nous (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
www.newsinslowfrench.com
Le Hobbit – J.R.R Tolkien (from the MFL library)
L'étranger– Albert Camus (from the MFL library)
Geography
KS3
Half a creature from the sea – David Almond
The Rain – Vingina Bergin
Millions – Frank Cotteral Boyce
Not as We Know It – Tom Avery
KS4
A short history of nearly everything - Bill Bryson
How bad are Bananas? - Mike Berners-Lee
Prisoners of Geography - Tim Marshall
Lord of the Rings - J RR Tolkien
KS5
This is the Way the World Ends- Jeff Nesbit
Off the Map - Alastair Bonnett
Factfulness - Hans Rosling
Worth Dying For - Tim Marshall
German
KS3
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Das Rad (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
https://www.thegermanproject.com/stories
https://luxdigi.at/
Die Kleine Raupe Nimmerstatt by Eric CarleThe German version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
KS4
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Schuss (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
Jungösterreich magazines - https://joedigi.at/
German Short Stories for Beginners – Lingo Mastery
KS5
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
www.newsinslowgerman.com
https://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/de/spr/unt/kum/dfj.html
German Short Stories: Deutsche Kurzgeshichten Ernst Zillekens - (New Penguin Parallel Texts Series)
History
KS3
The Time Traveller’s guide to Medieval England - Ian Mortimor
Treason - Berlie Doherty
Black Tudors - Miranda Kaufmann
Why do we remember? The Great Fire of London by Izzi Howell
American Indian Stories - Zitkala-Sa
-Black and British: A short essential history - David Olusoga
Lumber Jills: The Unsung Heroines of World War II - Alexandra Davis
KS4
The Great Gatsby- F Scott Fitzgerald
Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
Regeneration- Pat Barker
KS5
12 Years A Slave - Solomon Northup
Podcasts:
In Our Time
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/downloads
The Rest Is History
Law
KS5
Nutshells, Criminal Law - Paul Dobson
Nutcases, Criminal Law -Penny Childs
Law Review -Hodder education.
Tort Law -Chris Turner
The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
Law, Liberty and Morality -H.L.A.Hart
Maths
KS3
Mickey and the Animal Spies - Anne Miller
The Parrot’s Theorem - Denis Guedj
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time- Mark Haddon
Murderous Maths Series - Kjartan Poskitt
Mathemagic - Raymond Blum
The Indisputable Existence of Santa Clause - Hannah Fry
Alex’s Adventures in Numberland - Alex Bellos
KS4
Humble Pi, A Comedy of Maths Errors - Matt Parker
Hello World - Hannah Fry
What if? - Randall Munroe
The Indisputable Existence of Santa Clause - Hannah Fry
The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets - Simon Singh
KS5
Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin A Abbott
17 Equations That Changed the World - Ian Stewart
Maths on the back on an Envelope - Rob Eastaway
The GCHQ Puzzle Book - GCHQ
Fermat’s Last Theorem (Not for the faint-hearted) - Simon Singh
The Music of Primes (Not for the faint-hearted) - Marcus de Sautoy
Music
KS3
If I Stay – Gayle Foreman
Swing Time – Zadie Smith
XOXO – Axie Oh
When You Get The Chance – Emma Lord
Let Me Hear a Rhyme – Tiffany D Jackson
Every Good Boy Does Fine – Jeremy Denk
Music: A Very Short Introduction – Nicholas Cook
Music – Nicholas Cook
Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day – Clemency Burton-Hill
You Are The Music: How Music Reveals What It Means to Be Human – Victoria Williamson
KS4
The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945 - Władysław Szpilman
An Equal Music – Vikram Seth
Kiss and Tell – Adib Khorram
Forward March – Skye Quinlan
The Piano – Jane Campion
In The Key of Genius – Adam Ockleford
Protect Ya Neck! A Music Industry Survival Guide – Christian Farrad
The Confident Performer – Dr David Roland
The Rest is Noise – Alex Ross
How Music Works – David Byrne
KS5
Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
The Importance of Music to Girls – Lavinia Greenlaw
The Unsinkable Greta James – Jennifer E Smith
I Was Born for This – Alice Oseman
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall – Kazuro Ishiguro
Musicophilia – Oliver Sacks
Psychology of Music: From Sound to Significance – Siu-Li Tan, Peter Pfordresher, Harre Rom
The Study of Orchestration – Samuel Adler
The Power of Music – Susan Hallam
How Musicals Work and How To Write Your Own – Julian Woolford
Philosophy and Ethics
KS5
Plato: A Beginner's Guide, chapter 3 - Roy Jackson
The Great Philosophers: Aristotle chapter - Brian Magee
Extracts from Phaedo in Antony Flew: Body MInd and Death - Plato
Psychology
KS5
The principles of Psychology – William James
The Little Book of Psychology - Ralls, E., & Riggs, C.
TED Talks - https://www.ted.com/talks?topics%5B%5D=psychology
Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences - Fine, C.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat - Sacks, O.
RE
KS3
The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and our Health—and a Vision for Change
Philosophy for Kids: 40 Fun Questions That Help You Wonder...about Everything!
Ethics: Behave Yourself! (ThinkAboutIt!: Philosophy For Kids)
Introducing- a graphic guide books: Descartes, Islam, Aristotle, Hinduism, Buddha
No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions about Core Buddhist Teachings
KS4
It’s not about the Burqa- Mariam Khan
Why we think the things we think- Alain Stephen
What would Nietzsche do? - Marcus Weeks
How Christianity transformed the world- Sharon James
Science
KS3Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor - Jon Scieszka |
High Voltage Danger Lab - Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith |
The Astronauts Handbook - Louie Stowell |
The Radioactive Boy Scout - Ken Silverstein |
What's Physics all About - Kate Davies |
Why is Snot Green - Kate Davies |
Will We Ever Speak Dolphin - New Scientist |
Greta's story: the schoolgirl who went on strike to save the planet - Valentina Camerini |
Hiding Edith - Kathy Kacer |
Stuff that scares your pants off - the Science Museum book of scary things - Glenn Murphy |
KS4
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes - Adam Rutherford
Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA - Brenda Maddox
The Vaccine Race: How Scientists Used Human Cells to Combat Killer Viruses - Meredith Wadman
The Body: A Guide for Occupants - Bill Bryson
The Radium girls - Kate Moore
The Poisoner's Handbook - Deborah Blum
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World - Mark Miodownik
Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World - Nick Lane
Mauve: How one man invented a colour - Simon Garfield
Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese
KS5
Biology
The Brain - David Eagleman
Creation: The Origin of Life - Adam Rutherford
Gene Machine: The Race to Uncover the Secrets of the Ribosome - Venki Ramakrishnan
I Contain Multitudes:The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life - Ed Yong
The Gene: An Intimate History - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature - Nick Davies
The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us - Alice Roberts
The Code of Life: How gene editing will rewrite our futures - Nessa Carey Hacking
Alice Roberts Tamed: Ten Species that Changed our World
Chemistry
Creations of Fire: Chemistry's Lively History from Alchemy to the Atomic Age - Cathy Cobb
Why Chemical Reactions Happen - James Keeler
Reactions: The private life of atoms - Peter Atkins
The Disappearing Spoon...and other true tales from the Periodic Table - Sam Kean
Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History - Penny Le Couteur
Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases - John Emsley
Why Does Asparagus Make Your Wee Smell?: And 57 other curious food and drink questions - Andy Brunning
Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements - Hugh Aldersey-Williams
Physics
The Physics of Superheroes - James Kakalios
The Goldilocks Enigma - Paul Davies
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield
How to teach Quantam Physics to Your Dog - Chad Orzel
In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Updated Edition - John Gribbin
How to Build a Universe - Brian Cox and Robin Ince
Big Bang - Simon Singh
We need to talk about Kelvin - Marcus Chown
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race - Margot Lee Shetterly
Storm in a Teacup:The Physics of Everyday Life - Helen Czerski
Sociology
KS4
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
Herland – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class – Owen Jones
KS5
Poverty Safari – Darren McGarvey
Who the hell is Karl Marx? – Manus McGrogan
Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump – Asad Haider
The Communist Manifesto – Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels
Invisible Women – Caroline Criado Perez
Why Ethnography Matters – Oli Williams
It’s Not About the Burqa – Mariam Khan
Is Britain unfair and unequal? – Joan Garrod
Global Culture and Popular Culture – John Storey
Hood Feminism – Mikki Kendall
Anti-Social: The Diary of an Anti-Social Behaviour Disorder – Nick Pettigrew
Spanish
KS3
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Que tal? (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
https://www.thespanishexperiment.com/stories
https://www.spanishbookshop.co.uk/spanish-readers
Short Stories in Spanish King - John.R
KS4
Mary Glasgow Magazines – Ahora (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
Teen Readers Spanish
https://www.spanishbookshop.co.uk/spanishbooks/series/TEES
Spanish Short Stories for Beginners – Lingo Mastery
Short Stories to Learn Spanish- https://www.lingomastery.com/
https://www.thespanishexperiment.com/stories
KS5
Mary Glasgow Magazines – El sol (from the MFL library)
https://www.thefablecottage.com/ - different levels bilingual tales
www.newsinslowspanish.com
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell