Essential for the future of humanity. Facebook etc destroy human empathy & turn us into partisan arseholes. There is no insistence to delete, even though the arguments are sophisticated & undeniable. Social media are human behaviour modification tools, addictive & impact real flesh relationships. Read & delete or read & don't. Your choice. It could have been longer and better written.
#tenargumentsfordeletingyoursocialmediaaccountsrightnow
#lanier

Part 1 of 3: 1000 years in the future where towns move on wheels, called "traction towns", that eat other towns (people become slaves, metals used for fuel to keep the predator town moving), all set during post a apocalyptic world where "the ancients" have destroyed the planet.
Tom Natsworthy, Hester Shaw & Kate Valentine (all 15-16 yrs old) save the world from the recreation of a bomb using relics. It's a teen book.
#mortalengines #philipreeve

A wardrobe basic; an easy, diary style, holiday read. I read it in a day, it served that purpose. It's a pudding book. Not main course. The premise is relevant - on point - the prose is unsophisticated. That said, I enjoyed the drunkenness of Rachel. So many women are that. I have been. Hence, it's on point. About Rachel, on a train that sees into houses - invents the lives of occupants - then becomes embroiled.
#thegirlonthetrain
#paulahawkins

3 words: R E A D. T H I S B O O K

Clear the fog. Connect with what matters.
About Tom who ages 1 year for everyone else's 15 & his love, loss, & state of mind. Once he learns this, he is instructed not to love or disclose his age, or he is in danger.
It's Benjamin Button meets the dark side. We meet Tom as his mother is killed, for witchcraft, in 1590s, specifically because it's noticed that he isn't aging.
#matthaig
#howtostoptime

This is Margaret Atwood meets Lord of the Flies meets Luke Skywalker, the 2nd part in a trilogy.
It's dystopian fiction and it's what it doesn't explicitly describe that gives it power.
Make no mistake, even though it won a Guardian Children's Award, it's sophisticated and adult themed (without explicit Handmaid's Tale type detail).
I was vetting it for a 10 yr old, who broke down in tears and couldn't finish it.
#patrickness
#theaskandtheanswer

I LOVE this book.
It's marketed as Dystopian Margaret Atwood for young adults, but really it's for everyone.
It has echoes of The Handmaids Tale, but less explicit. I was reading to vet the book for a 10 yr old. It covers genocide, misogyny, responsibility, war, love, adulthood... everything. Now I'm desperate to get hold of part 2 - it's a trilogy.
*Spoiler alert* Manchee. Omg. ***weeping***
#patrickness
#theknifeofneverlettinggo

It's about a 12 year old boy, who loses his mum to cancer, and his feelings around fear of that loss in the days before she finally dies.
I think it's pitched for 12 year olds. The monster is his repressed fear and anger, to whom he converses throughout the book.
My 9 year old daughter raved so much about it that I had to read it. She said that it was the first book that made her actually cry.
#patrickness
#amonstercalls

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but for adult men. I was attracted to the cover, but it's 3 hours of my life I can never recover.
It's about an alcoholic man who gets off on hurting women, by waiting until they fall in love with him and then dumping them. Then he has it done to him. The End. There. That's it. And it's written like that. He says the book is his experience, so he's a rapist too.
#diaryofanoxygenthief #anonymous

This is described as a children's book. This it is not. Never give it to a child. It is explicit. It won the Waterstones Children's Book of the Year Award 2013. Words fail me.
#ketchupclouds #pitcher

I couldn't not add this book from my past. This is my favourite pre-school story. I love this book. Five years on, I recite exerts to my 9 year old, who loves those memories.
It's actually about a ballerina dog, who wants to see his name in lights, and he does.
#dogsdontdoballet
#kemp

A book for idealists that believe in karma, destiny and that hard work and kindness is proportional to glory and riches. In real life, the good die young and young innocent kids sometimes die too. Oh well... It's escapism, and clean, with no loose ends.
It's a comedy about young prisoners that spend all day digging holes as punishment, to build character. And yes, it does. #holes #sachar

Don't read the blurb on the back. It's a massive spoiler. The book is a commitment, ending abruptly, meaning that I now have to read Eldest (book 2 of 4), as the ending wasn't satisfying. That irritated me slightly.
It is a journey, not only is the book long but it follows the journey of a 15 year old, across a Kingdom, searching for his destiny, which isn't even slightly realised in book 1.
#eragon
#theinheritancecycle

Poetry for mathematicians. Presented like poetry.
Superb for A level maths, even though it's target market is engineers. A good fixer for difficulties with differentiation or integration.
It's like a dictionary, but instead of it referencing every word, it contains exhaustive worked calculus examples.
#kastroud

After feeling slightly patronized by The Alchemist, a most over-rated book, I thought I'd give the author another go. And man, that is time in my life that I'll never get back.
It's exactly what it says on the tin. About Veronica, who has given up on life, for no good reason. An irritating and self-indulgent 'character'.
#veronicadecidestodie
#paulocoelho

Masses of short stories from strong women. Inspiring. Beautiful illustrations too. A proper old skool book. The type of book that reinforces my belief that Kindles are sent from the devil himself.
#goodnightstoriesforrebelgirls

A rite of passage into adulthood. If you are not able to refer to things as "Orwellian" then you won't seem clever.
Read it, be able to talk about George Orwell and your attractability rating soars.
It's about a bunch of pigs who declare equality between animals on a farm, but that doesn't last long.
A super easy and satisfying read.
#georgeorwell
#animalfarm

A bit depressing really. The impact of childhood bullying.
#catseye
#margaretatwood

Showcases total lack of communication in relationships. A must read. Melancholy though.
#onchesilbeach
#ianmcewan

The only Margaret Atwood one that I wasn't overly fussed about.
#margaretatwood
#oryxandcrake

One of those books that's a must read for pub quiz's.
#rebecca
#daphnedumaurier

This book was on the GCSE English reading list in 1988. It probably put off all my peer group from ever picking up another book again.
#underthegreenwoodtree
#thomashardy

A must read classic. Themes include abortion and detailed descriptions of foetuses. Probably not for pro-lifers.
#theciderhouserules
#johnirving

A must for every pregnant woman without a single maternal bone in their bodies. The end is harrowing. Don't let anyone tell you the end before you finish it. It will spoil it. The film is nothing like the book. The book is way better. In fact, don't even bother with the film.
#lionelshriver
#weneedtotalkaboutkevin

I read this at 15 years old, after finding The Young Ones hilarious. Never looked back.
#BenElton
#thisothereden

Recommended to me by a savvy 9 year old. Loved it and I'm 46. About a strange group of children who enjoy eating meat and going out at night. Think American Werewolf in London, for children.
#theconsidinecurse
#garethpjones

I was reading this book on 9/11. I never re-read books. I'd make an exception here. It's challenging but SO satisfying.
#theblindassassin
#margaretatwood

A heart warming easy read. The central character is a young teenage boy with Aspergers.
#markhaddon

I loved this book. I could feel the love and desire for a parent to shape a kind moral compass in every page. I think I irritated my 9 year old by talking to her about It, because she was a little young. A good read for anyone who wants to understand why society is arranged in the way it is. A particularly good narrative to explain how inequality and debt began, in a historical context.
#talkingtomydaughterabouttheeconomy

A fast paced, tongue in cheek dystopian and thoroughly comedic easy read. Showcases human failings. A must for misanthropic beings. Even without social networking where sharing minutiae further fuels vanity, we are all still destined for hell and the destruction of planet earth.
Stan and Charmaine, a pair of losers.
#theheartgoeslast
#margaretatwood