“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

-George R.R. Martin

This week, our host Catherine Hickey is joined by Eorann Kavanagh, Georgia Lee Flynn, and Sean O'Brien, to discuss the pleasure of reading during the summer holidays. It is, without doubt, one of the finest pleasures in life, to be sitting somewhere comfortable, in the sun, with nothing much to do, engrossed in a novel. We take a trip down memory lane to discuss some of the books that left a mark on us when we were teenagers, and planted a love of reading in us all. E-mail us at [email protected] if you have a particularly fond memory of falling in love with a book, and be in with a chance to win a book voucher.

The picks below are not an exhaustive list, if you want to try to get into reading and you would like to be pointed in a particular direction, talk to your teacher!

Georgia Lee's picks

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - Suzanne Collins

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Webtune - free app for listening to audio books (including the popular show Heart Stopper)

Graphic Novels & Manga...they're free, easy to read, and entertaining!

Catherine's picks

Romeo & Juliet - William Shakespeare

Harry Potter (series) - J.K. Rowling

Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred D. Taylor

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynne Barnes

The Shardlake Series - C.J. Sansom

The Thursday Murder Book Club - Richard Osman

The Giver - Lois Lowry

Eorann's picks

The Hunger Games (series) - Suzanne Collins

The Red Queen - Phillipa Gregory

Agatha Christie (any book!)

1984 - George Orwell

Animal Farm - George Orwell

The Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy (series) - Douglas Adams

Sean's picks

The Belgariad (series) - David Eddings

The Discworld (series) - Terry Pratchett

The Plot Against America - Philip Roth

The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin

This Perfect Day - Ira Levin

The Boys From Brazil - Ira Levin

The Pearl - John Steinbeck

The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling - Podcast (on Spotify)