Hot Reads
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J K Rowling
Heavily hyped fourth instalment of a phenomenally successful series that has captured the imagination of millions of readers, young and old, across the globe.
In this book, the teenage Harry has a certain gawky charm that fits well with his advancing adolescence. It is Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march.
Sealed with a Kiss – Sarah Manning
When Edie first spots moody, dark, delicious Dylan at college, she just knows that this is the start of a roller-coaster, big-time love story, and now she's got their epic story all down on paper in her secret diary. But, hey, this is just between you, me and Edie...OK?
The Official Theory Test for Car Drivers - The Driving Standards Agency
Essential reading for learner drivers. This is the official book, which includes all of the car theory test questions and explains the answers. Written by the Driving Standards Agency, the people who set the tests.
Elsewhere – Gabriella Zevin
Fifteen year old Elizabeth "Liz" "Lizzie" Marie Hall has found herself in “Elsewhere” after dying in a bicycle-meets-taxi accident. After taking a long ride on the SS Nile, Liz has finally realised that she's not in a dream after all, but really, truly dead. Gabrielle Zevin has managed to make a truly believable story that is realistic, entertaining, and emotional, all at the same time.
The Hunted – Alex Shearer
In a future world where people live to be 150, humans have paid the price for their longer lives - the cost being their fertility. Children have become a commodity: they are bought and sold, won and lost. When Deet wins Tarrin in a card game he rents him out to childless couples. They pay for Tarrin to play in their houses, and they pretend he's their child for an hour or two, but as Tarrin gets older, Deet is keen to secure his future and his interest in 'The Peter Pan' operation grows. While Tarrin faces a difficult dilemma, someone is watching him. Someone who has plans of his own.
The Tarot Reader’s Daughter – Helen Dunwoodie
Rosa is surprised to discover tarot cards hidden in the wardrobe of her down to earth mum. Inextricably drawn to the cards, Rosa is rather shocked to find that she has a talent for using them, but even more shocked by her mother's fierce reaction to this. Unable now to resist the temptation to discover more, Rosa delves into her mother's background and finds it weirdly tangled with that of the mother of her new friend, Andy. As the two of them investigate what happened when their mothers were young, they tentatively develop their own feelings for each other too.
The Merrybegot – Julie Hearn
This is the story of Nell who lives with her grandmother, the local cunning woman and healer, in a west country village in the seventeenth century. When one of the minister's daughters falls pregnant, she and her sister attempt to conceal it by accusing Nell of putting a curse on them. The witchfinder general, Matthew Hopkins, is called in and in an atmosphere of fear, the local villagers turn nasty and Nell's grandmother falls victim to their hatred. Nell is all alone, and in great danger.
Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
When world renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyse a mysterious symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati... the most powerful underground organisation ever to walk the earth.
Bridget Jones Diary – Helen Fielding
This laugh out loud chronicle charts a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a single girl on a permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement in which she resolves to: visit the gym three times a week not merely to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and not fall for any of the following: misogynists, megalomaniacs, adulterers, workaholics, chauvinists or perverts.
Knife Edge – Malorie Blackman
In the second of the Noughts and Crosses series, Knife Edge explores the new relationship between Persephone Hadley (Sephy) her relatives and the general public, as she is left in a world where Noughts and Crosses envy each other. Having been left alone to bring up the half nought, half cross baby daughter, Callie Rose, Sephy is left hated and despised by all but her closest relatives and friends.
Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
Lyra lives in a society where experimental theology is regarded as the true science, and this seems quite natural in a world where everyone's soul is separate and visible. For every individual shares the journey of his life with a daemon, an animal form which stays close and shares all intimate thoughts and which by its very appearance can reflect the most subtle state of mind. Lyra discovers that she is perfectly poised in this battle of Good against Evil and the Witches of the North hint at her fulfillment of a prophecy.
out, been bullied, or had to cope with the difficulties of a new family life.
Pass It On – J Minter
Rumors are spreading about Jonathan and his friends. Jonathan's dad seems to have lost all his money. David's dad is a sham. Arno's parents are splitting up. And if the parents aren't enough, the girls aren't making sense either. Who will hook up? Who will get dumped? And what happens when the guys betray each other? Find out in the next instalment of The Insiders.
Soul Love – Linda Waterhouse
Why was I so bothered by the boy in the deck chair? He was too cute for his own good... Probably treated girls like arm candy, like Jackson did. And when there was any real trouble he'd walk away too....
The Rough Guide to Rock – Jonathan Buckley
Features over 3000 album reviews, 1200 biographies, 300 original images and 268 classic album covers, covering all areas of rock music and touching on the fringes of dance, hip-hop, blues, country and soul....
Thud! – Terry Pratchett
Sam Vimes, stars in the latest entry in Pratchett's popular Discworld series. "Thud" is the sound that commences the novel, as a dwarf is bludgeoned to death; it's also the name of a chesslike match that recreates the battle of Koom Valley, a long-ago fight between trolls and dwarfs. As the anniversary of the battle approaches, ancient politics and the present-day murder cause tensions between the trolls and dwarfs to boil. Pratchett's fantastic imagination and satirical wit are on full display.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp, but always polite 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up?
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor of Symbology, receives an urgent late night call while in Paris: the curator of the Louvre has been murdered. Alongside the body is a series of baffling ciphers. Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Da Vinci and further. Unless Landon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret - and a stunning historical truth - will be lost forever.
Mates, Dates and Great Escapes – Cathy Hopkins
A school trip to Florence seems like the perfect escape for Lucy. She wants time away from Tony, who is pressurising her to take their relationship further. In Italy she meets an American boy, who is also visiting Tuscany, and she thinks he might be the ideal way to get over Tony. He seems to be the perfect gentleman, and Italy introduces Lucy to a world of culture and sophistication. Will she be able to move on from Tony? Or is it a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire?
Boy2Girl – Terence Blacker
Is he a girl? Is she a boy? Sam's brilliant disguise takes comic literature to new heights. Matthew Burton's life has been fine until his American cousin crash lands into it. Sam was only ever a distant rumour, a hippy kid who travels around the States with his wacky mother. Now he's an orphan, dumped suddenly on the Burtons' doorstep. According to Sam, everything in England sucks, and pretty soon he's making trouble for Matthew and his friends. They want revenge and Operation Samantha is born. Sam sets about rewriting the rules for how boys and girls behave; he discovers an entirely new side to his personality. Soon it's not only Sam that is changing
Then he ate my Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennison
The sixth book on the confessions of crazy but lovable Georgia Nicolson. Laugh your knickers off at Georgia's tales from her trip to Hamburger-a-gogo land (the US) and her attempts to entice Masimo, the Italian stallion. Can Georgia become the composed sex-kitten she aspires to be!? Surely not.
Sugar Rush – Julie Birchill
Saucy, shimmering, loud and larger than life - come get your sugar fix! It's survival of the fittest at Ravendene Comprehensive - the terrifying teenage jungle for which Kim Lewis must trade her safe, posh private school. But help is at hand - in the unlikely form of the rude, raucous, toxic and tantalising Maria (aka Sugar) Sweet, queen of the 'Ravers'. As Kim falls quickly under her spell, and gambles her good-girl past for an exciting life of late-night parties and daring emotion, she must ask herself a disturbing question: has she fallen in love with her best friend?
Catcher in the Rye – J D Salinger
A 16-year old American boy relates in his own words the experiences he goes through at school and after, and reveals with unusual candour the workings of his own mind. What does a boy in his teens think and feel about his teachers, parents, friends and acquaintances?
The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman
The second book in the "Dark Materials" trilogy. Will is 12 years old and he's just killed a man. Determined to discover the truth about his father's disappearance, he steps through a window into another world. There, he meets a girl called Lyra who, like himself, is on a mission.
Twentieth Century Fashion – Linda Watson
This reference guide of the trends, developments, designers and fashion movers and shakers of each decade. The main section of the book is then an alphabetical listing of designers.
Being Bindy – Alyssa Brugman
Australian eighth grader Belinda is in for a very rough time. First, her best friend, Janey, dumps her, Janey’s new crowd dresses provocatively, smokes pot, and is downright mean. As if the situation weren’t difficult enough, Bindy’s father begins to date Janey’s mother, and, from this point on, things only get nastier between the two ex-friends. Brugmans novel is filled with moments of grief, embarrassment, and humiliation. These experiences mirror those of anyone who has ever felt left
The Gathering Light – Jennifer Donnolly
The novel opens with the death of a girl at a lakeside hotel. Our heroine, Mattie, was given some letters by the drowned girl with the enigmatic instruction to burn them. Longing to find out more about the girl, Mattie reads the letters. While this happens in the present, we read flashbacks of Mattie's struggle to come to the hotel to work, her longing to be a writer, her romance with the boy she sees as too good for her and the promise that she made to her mother which is becoming harder to keep.
Kiss and Make Up – Sarah Manning
It's sizzling summertime, and Edie can't wait for the partying to start. Trying to forget about the dastardly Dylan, Edie's taking her new squeeze Carter to Glastonbury to have some fun, but guess who's there already looking totally gorgeous? Dylan, that's who.
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