Wendover: Celebrating our Love of Reading
28 March 2025 - Wendover
This Term, we celebrated World Book Day and our very first ‘Giving Day’, so I thought for this Term’s blog, we would celebrate our love of reading by telling you some of our favourite books and what they mean to us.
Mrs Woodward
I know I am one of many when I say that the Harry Potter series is my ultimate go to read. No series has ever given me that same feeling as reading The Philosopher’s Stone for the first time. I grew up with Harry; every time a new book was released, I was the exact same age as him. I remember vividly being in Lower Sixth, in our common room, and every single person reading the last book of the series; you could hear a pin drop! Every single person, completely consumed by the magic of Harry Potter. Another fun fact is J K Rowling went to both my primary school and secondary school, so there are small references to where I grew up throughout each book. For example, Godrick’s Hollow is based on the village I grew up in, Tutshill. There is even a reference to the ‘Tutshill Tornados’, a quidditch team! Reading is certainly my favourite past time, but whenever I may be feeling anxious or overwhelmed, I always turn back to Harry!
Ottilie Lower V
My name is Ottilie, and I’ve been in Wendover for just over two years. One of my favourite pastimes is reading in Long Corridor. I must say picking a favourite book is hard, but I would have to go with The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It follows a 17-year-old girl called Avery, who at first is very poor but then inherits a lot of money from Tobias Hawthorne, a billionaire who she has no connections to. However, in order to claim her inheritance, she must live in his mansion for a whole year. There she meets many challenges, such as sudden publicity, but most importantly, the Hawthorne brothers, who at first feel anxious about her sudden arrival. As Avery spends more time in the mansion, she finds many mysteries left by Tobias, leading her to be caught in a very risky and dangerous game.
I love this book since it has an infinite number of plot twists, making it very hard to put down. It is also written in the first-person perspective of Avery, which makes it so enjoyable to read as it allows you to closely follow her thoughts, emotions, and discoveries as the story unfolds. My favourite part about this book is Avery’s relationship with the brothers, which begins as a cold, almost forced friendship but gradually evolves into a close bond as they realise they must work together to solve the mystery of the inheritance.
Mrs Amor
My favourite book is The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien. It is a book that represents breaking out of the normal everyday hum drum life and taking chances, being brave in the face of adversity, finding courage and having determination. Above all it is about the bonds of friendship.
Martha Lower IV
My favourite book is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. This is because it is an amazing book, with plot twists and tense moments from start to end. Pip is also a very relatable character and very determined, making us want to find out even more what happened. I did not guess the ending as it was such a huge plot twist!
Sophie Lower VI
Hi, I’m Sophie, the Wendover House Librarian! I’m new this year, and I was so excited for my first World Book Day at Wycombe Abbey. I found the costumes so fun, since that wasn’t something that we would do for World Book Day at my previous School; my friends and I decided to dress up as Shakespeare characters, myself being Lady Macbeth. It all went well until the evening, when I realised I had used a dye (to colour my hands red for blood) which was almost impossible to remove, so my hands were bright red for days! In honour of World Book Day, I’d like to share my favourite book, ‘The DaVinci Code’ by Dan Brown. This book is a mystery thriller, following a symbologist and the granddaughter of a murdered member of a secret society, the Priory of Sion, in their quest to find out the truth behind the Holy Grail, Christ and Mary Magdalene. It is a very exciting novel, which I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in mysteries and exciting action scenes. Happy reading everyone!
Maddie Upper V
My friend Mia (Upper V Pitt) and I are currently working on creating a bespoke cookbook for Wycombe Abbey. Our vision is to invite every member of the Wycombe Abbey community—both staff and students—to contribute their own recipes, whether it be a cherished childhood favourite or a dish that represents their cultural heritage. We launched this project with the aim of celebrating our School’s rich diversity while providing a platform for students to express their individuality. Through this initiative, we hope to foster a stronger, more inclusive community. Our cookbook is set to be published during the 2025-2026 school year and will be available for purchase by all members of Wycombe Abbey. All proceeds will be donated to our School Charity, Mary’s Meals.
Kitty Lower VI
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: My favourite book of all time is The Great Gatsby. I love the exuberance of 1920s America, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s descriptions of Gatsby’s parties shows the excessive consumption and magnificence of the upper class at the time. However, it does so much more than just describe pretty parties, it is a classic American Dream tale, yet it is littered with sadness and danger, adding suspense to the plot. Ultimately, it is a tragic love story that shows even the largest material wealth cannot make you happy if you are not surrounded by people who love you.
Miss Flemming
My favourite book is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I loved Doerr’s previous novel All the Light We Cannot See, and so when Cloud Cuckoo Land was published a few years ago, I couldn’t wait to read it. The novel is a book-within-a-book, centred around the journey of a fictional Ancient Greek codex which connects characters across centuries and oceans, including two children during the siege of Constantinople in the 15th century, an old man in present-day Idaho, a starship in the 22nd century and many more. Each world is richly developed, and Doerr interweaves the characters’ lives in ways I’ve rarely seen in other novels. While the story is very long, I found myself unable to put the book down and part with the characters he had created until I’d read it to the very end – a warning to anyone who’s planning to read it, carve out a good chunk of time for yourself because you’ll be there a while! In terms of the writing itself, it’s incredibly lyrical, and genuinely some of the most beautiful writing I’ve ever read. Despite the moments of despair and suffering depicted, the novel is ultimately a beautiful testament to human survival and our capacity for hope, and the power of the stories we tell one another. It was a joy to read and a story that will stay with me forever. I’d recommend it to everyone!
Miss Franks
I’d like to think that Wendover has the best House library! I try to keep it stocked with a mixture of classics and new releases which will encourage our girls to read for pleasure in their spare time. Having been a bookworm all my life, I love nothing more than swapping recommendations, lending books to friends and talking to the Wendover girls about their latest read. As a child, my favourite book was Inkheart by Cornelia Funke; the ability the main character possessed to be read characters out of their books, and then to read himself into the world of a book, encapsulates the escapism I can always find in a good book. Now, one of my favourite tropes is the endurance of literature and art through times which are otherwise threatening to humanity; Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a classic, whilst Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel follows a travelling group of actors determined to keep Shakespeare alive in the midst of a population-decimating pandemic. If anyone is looking for a read over the Easter break, I’d really recommend Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon. This 2024 release won the Irish write the Debut Prize for Fiction and is based on Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian War, specifically an episode where the Athenian prisoners stage a production of Euripides’ Medea in the quarry which is serving as their prison. It’s a meditation of the power of stories, the emotional succour they give, and also their ability to unite us across cultures, political divides and, ultimately, time.