Within our library collection, we have a varied selection of 'reading for pleasure' books including fiction, sport biographies and books to support wellbeing. These are available for all students and staff to borrow. Why not check Heritage Online to see if we have any of your favourites in our catalogue?
If you don't have a library account, just come to the desk between 9am and 5pm weekdays with your staff ID and we can set one up for you.
The National Literacy Trust (2006) define reading for pleasure as; "Reading we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction we will get from the act of reading."
Clark, C. & Rumbold, K. (2006). Reading for pleasure: A research overview. National Literacy Trust.
Image CC0 PD, from Piaxbay
Reading is the foundation of all studies and the bedrock of communication and critical thinking skills. Those who develop the habit of reading have a greater likelihood of success in their immediate and long-term future. College-aged students are also at the point in their lives when reading can open up worlds – can indeed motivate and inspire them for the future.
Dewan, P. (2013). Reading Matters in the Academic Library: Taking the lead from public libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly,52(4).309-319. https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=lib_pub
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Seuss. (1978). I can read with my eyes shut! Random House Children’s Books.
Must Try Harder tells the remarkable story of a life transformed by facing up to fear. Paula McGuire’s funny, heartfelt, and above all, inspiring story shows us that we each have the power to do amazing things.
Eleanor Segall's life was just beginning. An aspiring actress and a family girl, she never thought her future would be derailed by mental illness. After a spate of depressive episodes, panic attacks, and social anxiety, Eleanor found herself in The Priory at age 16. The diagnosis? Bipolar Affective Disorder.
But Eleanor didn't let it stop her for long. Now a successful blogger, journalist, and pillar of the mental health and Jewish communities, she writes about finding recovery and hope after being unwell. Her story is of picking herself back up again and surviving against the odds.
A natural on a horse since he was able to walk, and imbued with a pure love of riding, Declan Murphy became one of the most brilliant jockeys of his generation before his world came crashing down at the final hurdle of a race at Haydock Park. His skull shattered in twelve places, he was believed to be dead, the last rites were read and the Racing Post prepared his obituary. Miraculously, and the word is not used lightly, he survived and defied medical thinking in recovering to the extent that eighteen months after his fall, he was able to saddle up for one more race. As usual, he won.
For 23 years, Declan has been unable to tell his story, to bring to words existence on the frontier between life and death, to describe the incredible bond between man and horse. But now, in an extraordinary collaboration with Ami Rao, she has helped him find those words, a way to piece together what happened before, during and after, what it all meant and what it means to us all. It is a story of triumph, fear, love and loss, by turns primal, heartbreaking and inspirational, and ultimately, it is the story of hope, and of life.
In her own words, Simone takes you through the events, challenges, and trials that carried her from an early childhood in foster care to a coveted spot on the 2016 Olympic team. Along the way, Simone shares the details of her inspiring personal story - one filled with the kinds of daily acts of courage that led her, and can lead you, to even the most unlikely of dreams.
A missing girl.
A family torn apart.
An unsolved mystery.
Twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia Scott's older sister vanished without a trace. Her disappearance had a devastating effect on their family.
Now another teenage girl is missing, and the circumstances of her disappearance are hauntingly similar to Julia's . . .
It's up to Lydia and Claire to revisit their past, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago.
Will they be able to face what they find along the way?
Charlotte and Sam were partners. In life, and in crime, but that's all behind her.
Until now, years later, it comes rushing back when her estranged ex-husband Sam suddenly goes missing. And someone threatens to expose what she did.
Desperate to escape her mysterious tormentor, Charlotte boards a luxurious superyacht in the Caribbean. But it soon becomes clear that the open ocean isn't the haven she thought it was.
Because they are onboard too. And now there's nowhere left to run.
