Books to read for free online

For classics try Project Gutenberg. Once in the site use the search bar to look for a title or click on one of the bookshelves and I suggest S1 /S2 select from one of the lists for children.  A few great titles to try are:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Railway Children by E Nesbit

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Peter Pan by J M Barrie

Kidnapped by R L Stevenson

The Call of the wild by Jack London

Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery

For any S1 readers struggling to get hold of books try the weekly book from Oak National Academy. The books are only available for one week. Sometimes they are suitable for high school, sometimes not.  

Don't forget you can access Borrowbox on the West Lothian Libraries site.  Remember if you want to hear authors read their books try the Author Reads on the previous post- will be adding more to that list each week.

Author Reads

These books are all read by their authors and are available for you to listen to in full on Youtube. Simply click on the book image and you should be taken to the correct page.

All suitable for S1/S2 and above, so enjoy. Pop me a wee email and let me know what you think.

A story of survival. The country has been flooded and Zoe is alone, desperate and has to escape the marauding gangs.

For those who love fantasy, sci-fi adventures.

The story of a rather unusual boy who lives in a graveyard.

For those who like wit and the supernatural.

This is the second book of the series. Book one The Last Wild was read during the first lockdown. Piers is doing a daily read of each chapter of this second novel during this latest lockdown.

For those who like adventure stories, who love animals and are interested in the environment.

Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy is one of her earlier books and a stand-alone story.

For those who like to break the rules!

And if you want more then Cathy Cassidy has also read Love from Lexie a book about friendship and about not fitting in.

For the months of February and March there is a selection of books to listen to for free on the World Book Day Website. Follow the link and go down to Fiction at the bottom of the page. Select from the following and more.

Stories of those who have had to leave homes behind.

 

Have just finished reading "The beekeeper of Aleppo" by Christy Lefteri. An incredibly moving yet uplifting tale of survival. It tells the story of Nuri a beekeeper and his wife Afra an artist. They start the novel living with their son in the beautiful city of Aleppo in Syria. As war ravages the city they have to make the difficult decision of whether to leave their beloved city and if so where to move to. After much trauma they journey first to Greece and finally onto the UK. They suffer incredible loss and face the most unimaginable horror on their journey. We are so accustomed to the images in the news but this novel really brings home the impact on the lives of those who have had to flee their countries. This book is one for our senior pupils and staff.

There are a number of books on this theme I would recommend for younger year groups. The recent graphic novel "Illegal" by Eoin Colfer follows a boy on his journey from Africa to the UK. Catherine Bruton's "No Ballet shoes in Syria" and  Onjali Q Rauf "The boy at the back of the class" both tackle the issue of prejudice as refugees try to settle in the UK. And one from a few years back by Catherine MacPhail "Mosi's war" is more in the style of a thriller but is essentially about a refugee boy living in Glasgow whilst waiting for asylum.  For older readers I would also recommend Ruta Sepetys " Salt to the sea" (watch trailer linked on side bar). These are all important stories, all different but essentially remind us that we are all human and in this world together and need to have empathy and understanding for each other.

Something to look forward to...

The Chaos Walking trilogy was one of the first series of dystopian fiction I ever read. For some reason I had always persuaded myself that sci-fi or future themed books were just not my thing. The brilliant writing of Patrick Ness, his original ideas, the way we understand and feel the emotions of Todd through NOISE, the adventure, the twists and turns and yes the sadness all make for a brilliant read and changed my view of dystopian fiction. It is yet another series about good and evil, but this one really packs a punch. 

So the film is due out later this year and here is the trailer as a wee taster. We have multiple copies of all three books in the library. If you can, read them first!