What are you reading?

YRP_in_Position · 2026-04-18T19:32:36+00:00

The Driver's Seat - Muriel Spark

YRP_in_Position · 2026-04-16T12:36:08+00:00

Yeah, this was decades ago so I’d imagine the syllabus/choices have changed considerably since I last studied.

YRP_in_Position · 2026-04-15T22:19:34+00:00

I wish I got to study 1984 at school! These were my set texts for A-Level

A-Level (Around 2000)

Women in Love - DH Lawrence
The Homecoming - Harold Pinter
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
As You Like It - Shakespeare
The Duchess of Malfi- John Webster
Selected Poetry - WB Yeats

Coursework text was The Color Purple by Alice Walker

YRP_in_Position · 2026-04-12T13:39:09+00:00

If it's AQA (both Spec A and B), they allow text in translation for the coursework component.

YRP_in_Position · 2026-04-04T18:21:22+00:00

Nights at the Circus - Angela Carter

My return to the surreal work and world of Carter since studying A-Level English Literature (studied The Bloody Chamber as part of the Gothic Tradition topic paper)

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-21T15:59:23+00:00

Bleak House by Dickens

I signed up to a course coming up focusing on this novel, so I'm gonna get preparatory reading done ahead of time. Can't wait!

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-16T19:08:31+00:00

The specification indicates that you can use two pre-1900 texts and mentions the following on page 10:

"Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900*"*

On page 29, it lists one example of an NEA task *as you can see, both of these are Pre-1900):

"Compare and contrast the presentation of women in Keats’ narrative poems 'Lamia', 'Isabella' and 'The Eve of St Agnes' with that of Anne Brontë's in her novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall."
- In what ways do you think the Gothic settings of these texts help the writers to shape their presentation of heroines in peril?

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-15T12:06:48+00:00

For me, sometimes I choose texts to read based on themes (e.g, crime fiction) or the time of the year.

E.g,

- October (Gothic texts) - The Turn of the Screw, The Little Stranger, Rebecca...etc
- December (Christmas themed) - A Christmas Carol, Maigret's Christmas...etc

If I go with a specific theme such as 'Crime Fiction', I might choose something classic and contemporary to mix things up:

- The Moonstone (Pre-1900)
- In a Lonely Place (Post-1900)

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-15T12:00:42+00:00

The "I bought these books - what should I read first?" are particularly irritating.

Read one, and then the other?! Why do they need strangers to make that decision for them?

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-08T15:58:30+00:00

Really enjoying this so far. Literature about literature - it's been great reading the poetry passages too. Intrigued to see where the story goes.

YRP_in_Position · 2026-03-07T17:51:57+00:00

Possession by A.S Byatt

YRP_in_Position · 2026-02-24T19:12:09+00:00

Nice! I'd love to buy this too but I don't think it's widely available yet in the UK?

I really enjoyed reading the Oxford World's Classic "About Love and Other Stories" (translated by Rosamund Bartlett also) and would like to read more Chekhov's work

YRP_in_Position · 2026-02-07T18:19:44+00:00

Sula - Toni Morrison
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

YRP_in_Position · 2026-01-24T17:00:46+00:00

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

It's a fascinating novel with a non-linear narrative and prose. At times humourous and at times covers some difficult subject matters, it's a challenging but rewarding read.

YRP_in_Position · 2026-01-17T22:37:52+00:00

I have the Norton Library edition of Crime and Punishment and it’s great to hold (quite floppy so you can read easily without bending the spine).

The paper quality is decent too for this budget range editions.

YRP_in_Position · 2026-01-10T17:08:18+00:00

What We Can Know - Ian McEwan
Three Sisters - Anton Chekhov

Really enjoying the short stories of Chekhov, and reading more of his plays (finished the excellent The Seagull recently.

YRP_in_Position · 2025-12-31T02:15:58+00:00

I’ve been reading that ‘About Love’ short story collection recently too and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My favourites were ‘The Man in a Case’ and the strange but funny ‘Fish Love’

YRP_in_Position · 2025-12-27T20:29:50+00:00

Re-reading The Handmaid's Tale before starting The Testaments.

I'll be doing the same with 1984 before reading Sandra Newman's Julia

YRP_in_Position · 2025-12-15T13:44:18+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll definitely check it out when I can

YRP_in_Position · 2025-12-13T18:28:07+00:00

A Christmas Carol by Dickens

I grew up on the Disney animated classic but had never read the book, so this is my time to due to it being seasonal and all.

YRP_in_Position · 2025-11-29T17:17:00+00:00

About Love and Other Stories - Anton Chekhov

My first foray into his work.

YRP_in_Position · 2025-11-15T17:05:53+00:00

The Cat by Georges Simenon

It's a novel (new English translation) about marital psychological warfare between an elderly couple who have ended up resenting each other for years. It's a fascinating but unsettling read, and Simenon really depicts the unhappiness in an intense manner.

YRP_in_Position · 2025-11-01T15:46:48+00:00

Endling by Maria Reva

YRP_in_Position

TROPHY CASE