English reading list for advanced students

The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood

The award-winning, best-selling novel from Canadian Author Margaret Atwood.  The story of two sisters and a secret

ISBN 978-0385720847

The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

The childhood experiences of fraternal twins and the way seemingly small events can change lives forever

ISBN 978-0006551096

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Roddy Doyle

An Irish lad named Paddy grows up in Barrytown

ISBN 978-0749397357

Notes on a Scandal, Zoe Heller

Musings on moral dilemmas and the people who get caught up in them

ISBN 978-0141039954

The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-time, Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel about an autistic boy and his quest for the truth

ISBN 978-0099470434

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

The story of Lennie & George and their American Dream

ISBN 978-0141923475

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald brilliantly captures both the disillusion of post-war America and the moral failure of a society obsessed with wealth and status

ISBN 978-0141182636

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton

The return of the beautiful Countess Olenska into the rigidly conventional society of New York sends reverberations throughout the upper reaches of society.

ISBN 978-0140189704

Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

A hilarious and merciless parody of rural melodramas, Cold Comfort Farm (1932) is one of the best-loved comic novels of all time

 ISBN 978-0141441597

Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell

George Orwell’s final masterpiece

ISBN 978-0141919959

The Go-Between, L.P. Hartley

The haunting story of a young boy’s awakening into the secrets of the adult world, The Go-Between is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society.

ISBN 978-0141187785

The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

The poignant story of one of James’ most magnificent heroines

ISBN978-0141441269

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s tale of a boy’s journey down the Mississippi on a raft

ISBN 978-0141439648

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

This controversial novel caused thousands of readers to take a stand on the issue of slavery and played a major political and social role in the Civil War period.

ISBN 978-0140390032

The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins

An engaging mystery set in Victorian England.

ISBN 978-0141439617

Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens

The story of a young lad struggling to overcome the misfortunes of his family

ISBN 978-0141920221

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin

Classic Austin comedy

ISBN 978-0141439518

Dreams from my Father, Barak Obama

Obama’s remarkable life story

ISBN 978-1847670946

The History of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr

Marr covers British history from the end of the Second World War onwards

ISBN 978-0330511476

The English: A Portrait of a People,  Jeremy Paxman

Paxman endeavours to understand the English mentality

ISBN 978-0141032955

A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn

“A brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories.” Library Journal

ISBN 978-0060838652

On Royalty, Jeremy Paxman

No other book will tell you quite as much about kings, queens, princes and princesses: who they are and what they’re for.

ISBN 978-0141012223