Best book of the season - I cheated and chose three! | Dan H 講師コラム

Whenever anyone asks me to choose my favourite book I always say "That's impossible!".

I have so many favourites and it depends on:

1) Fiction or non-fiction?
2) Easy read or something more challenging?
3) What time of year it is.
4) Do I want to be scared, amused, provoked, entertained or intrigued?

So for the best book of the season I have cheated and chosen three different ones:

1) The first is Northern Lights by Philip Pullman:

This is the first book in a series of three for young adults called the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.

It is the story of a twelve year old girl called Lyra and a creature called a "daemon" whose name is Pantalaimon. It is a fantastical, exciting and adventurous novel with some deep themes. It also features a talking polar bear! It's ideal for autumn as the evenings are getting darker and colder.

I highly recommend this for fans of Harry Potter looking for a more challenging read.

2) Book number two is The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

This is a scary and haunting book written in the early 1950s in the shadow of World War Two. It's described as the "most famous catastrophe novel of the twentieth century" and features killer plants, which is less strange than it sounds. Seventy years later the book is still thrilling and much of it is set in Southern England so many of the places are familiar to me. It's a good, creepy page-turner for autumn!

3) My final choice is a little bit different. It's called Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori.

It features eighty different trees and talks about the science, history and culture of each one. Obviously autumn is heavily associated with trees and this book is the perfect accompaniment. It's full of fascinating stories and facts, and has the most beautiful illustrations.

You can see pictures of my favourite seasonal books below.

I love talking about books and I know many Cafetalk students do as well. If you would like to talk about your favourite books with me, and look at the English in them together, then why not request my "Let's talk - books" lesson.