What is West Reading? October Edition

October is one of the best months of the year. Chilly afternoons, comfy hoodies, leaves falling, a warm drink, and a new book. There’s only one problem, there are so many books, and so little time. So, here are some books students at West think are worth an autumn afternoon.

Eighth-grader Jamison Lenz, a violinist and pianist for the KW string ensemble and band recommends Twilight by Marissa Meyer. Twilight is about a teenage girl named Bella Swan who moves to a new town in the middle of the year. At her new school, she meets Edward and the fantastical mystery that comes with him. I think most of us have at least heard of the almost infamous movie adaptation starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, but fewer have read the source material. “They mixed fantasy and real-world elements. It’s not super crazy and far-fetched,” says Jamison when asked about her favorite characteristic of the book. While the novel has many supernatural elements, the realistic aspects add a much-needed balance. Twilight is part of a four-book series with two extra stories, Midnight Sun and Life and Death. Each of the four main books also has a movie adaptation. If you’re looking for an easy-to-read fall romance with some adventure, then Twilight might be the book for you.

Junior Patrick Kinsella, a lacrosse player and member of Ski Club, recommends A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. This novella follows a boy named Alex who takes part in heavily illegal and immoral activity with his group of friends, resulting in the authoritarian government of the dystopian world he lives in trying to “reform” him. If this sounds interesting to you, I’d highly recommend looking up a list of trigger warnings online before reading, because this book contains a lot of graphic and upsetting material. Despite the dark material, Patrick speaks very highly of the book. He says that this story is an interesting look into free will. “Usually people are a product of their environment, but Alex had friends and a nice life and two parents who lived in the same house, but he’s still evil.” When asked if he would recommend this book to others, he said, “Yes, but be careful. There’s a lot of very rough content.” A Clockwork Orange was also adapted into a movie in 1972 by critically acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick.

Junior and tennis player Elizabeth Heerdt suggests The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This novel is set at a prestigious college in Hampton, Vermont. The main character, Richard Papen, joins a secretive Greek class of five others, and a murderous mystery unfolds. While the book is long, 592 pages to be exact, and heavy in plot, every page is worth it. “Written with immense vocabulary,” is how Elizabeth describes this book. “It was really good. It’s the type of book where you have to set it down and stare at the wall and be like, what just happened?” If you’re looking for something similar to If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, something a bit more mature than One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus or the academia vibe of movies like The Dead Poets Society, you should definitely add The Secret History to your list.

Junior and baseball player Joey Ward recommends A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. A Game of Thrones is a fantasy book following families (The Starks, Lannisters, and the Baratheons) fighting for control over a land called Westeros. The main character, Ned Stark, is brought to the capitol to become the “Hand of the King,” after the last one died. As Ned Dives deeper into the rabbit hole of this suspicious death, he uncovers many dark secrets. A Game of Thrones has many intense and fantastical interweaving plot lines. Joey says that his favorite aspect of the book was the “mystery of it” and he highly recommends it to anyone interested in the fantasy genre. “I thought it was really good. It was the longest book I’ve ever read, but it was worth it.” A Game of Thrones is the first installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The novel has also been adapted into a show of the same name which is highly regarded, as well as having a spinoff, House of the Dragon, both of which are available to watch on Max