10 BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ for an English Degree | Summer Reading List for English Literature

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Hi! just thought I'd add a note to this video: the books I've recommended are not the ones I think are the best in English Lit. nor the most enjoyable to read but purely the ones that will be most helpful to a range of topics! These are the books that other writers reference a lot and the ones I've been told to read the most during my degree - that doesn't mean there aren't amazing texts by a whole range of writers that you should also read! (It's also not the syllabus at Cambridge because a lot of the time it's up to the student what they want to read, there isn't really one syllabus for everyone. The official reading lists they provide cover masses of texts written in the English language)

[@jlupus8804]

Bible, Shakespeare, Dickens, Woolf, Ovid, Aristotle's Poetics, James Earl Joyce, Chaucer, Milton's Paradise Lost, A Consolation of Philosophy

[@sevinm6261]

I'm going to start my Masters in English at Cambridge this October and I'm a little concerned that I'm still not as well-read as I should be. This was incredibly helpful and gave me some good ideas for summer reading :)

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Thank you!! I'm so glad you found it helpful and good luck with your Master's degree! ☺️

[@chriswogan9789]

I really enjoy your vlogs and finding out what you are reading at uni. Your vlogs are really well organised. I'm interested to know more about what you'll be reading over the summer (both for your course and outside your course) and for your second year. I run a reading group in Northumberland so it's very helpful context!

[@GeorgieEllen10]

That's so cool! Not sure if you heard me mention in my vlogs but I'm from Durham/Newcastle area so also up North 😅 glad you've enjoyed my videos, will probably be sharing reading for my dissertation at some point this summer 😁

[@chriswogan9789]

@@GeorgieEllen10 Yes I saw that you're from the area, I moved here a year ago and when setting up the book club was told nobody up here read books! I'm a Joycean, and saw you touched on Joyce in your videos. I founded a fb group called Keep Calm and Read Ulysses; also interested in all the Brontes, Romantics and the Shakespeare (& contemporaries) plays. Good luck for your dissertation reading!

[@edinhorman959]

Thanks for the advice 🙏🏾 I will start english degree this year and I just subscribed to your channel hoping for a more valuable content from you.

[@lissadawes4243]

I love literature. I was an English Lit major too. Yay!! I love all your recommendations! I would also recommend Oscar Wilde. You gotta get some Wilde. I would also recommend Plato’s Republic. It helps to understand the underpinning’s to Sir Moore’s Utopia another one Id recommend. A secondary work would be C. S. Lewis’ The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature. It’s a great informative and introductory work of the time period. 😘

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Thank you! This list is only an introduction to English Lit. though - definitely not exhaustive so it's nice to see all of the books everyone else has recommended ☺️ I read The Importance of Being Earnest recently but haven't read any Oscar Wilde apart from that - one of my friends is obsessed with his literature though!

[@rosiep7412]

I'll be starting English at Cambridge this year and I'm really excited but also a little nervous as some people seem to have read a lot more than me! How heavy is the workload for your course? Do you find you have free time to do societies or do you spend all your time reading for the course? Do you also get any time to read for fun or is it all for the course? I've found your videos really helpful!

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Hi Rose! Congratulations on getting your place at Cam! I would recommend going back and having a look at some of my vlogs if you're trying to see an accurate representation of work/life balance and course content (my first day in the life explains the work load quite well, and the 'from books to ballet' one is about my Ballet show!!) I wouldnt worry too much about not feeling 'well read' - there will be some show-offs who seem to have read everything but most people haven't, and in general you'll find everyone has read different things which makes for nice debates in seminars!! Nope, definitely don't have time for reading for fun lol - the workload is quite heavy but you can do societies too (or just go to the college bar or formal or things like that), everyone at cambridge is very much of the 'work hard play hard' mentality haha. If you have any questions you don't want to ask on here feel free to message me on Instagram 😊

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Oh and please subscribe if you haven't already!! 🥰

[@rosiep7412]

@@GeorgieEllen10 Thank you very much! I watched 'From books to ballet' just after posting this comment and I found that really helpful for showing what it might be like with societies etc as that was something I had worried about! I'll watch the other video and be sure to subscribe! Thank you for being so helpful!

[@GeorgieEllen10]

No problem, happy to help! I know it's super nerve-wracking because you have no idea what it's gonna be like but you'll do great don't worry! 🥰

[@rosiep7412]

@@GeorgieEllen10 Thank you!

[@adzrazakiyaaa82]

hi, this is so helpful. i also majoring in english literature, but i feel like i'm not well-read. so, thank you very much for your recommendation!

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Glad you found the video helpful!

[@lydiapike5771]

This is so helpful! Thank you so much for making it ❤️

[@GeorgieEllen10]

No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed and found it useful ☺️

[@Richard.HistoryLit]

Is she 1/16th Angles?! Love the very occasional accent.

[@evansondiegeojwaya1140]

WOW ENJOYING TH CLASS

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Just a few of the books that I was told to read in first year :)

[@aryaan3866]

Did you read Tess of the d'urbervilles and waiting for Godot ?

[@GeorgieEllen10]

I started reading Tess but never got around to finishing it! Read waiting for Godot a few times though - one of my second year coursework essays was on Beckett 😁

[@aryaan3866]

@@GeorgieEllen10 i have passed my english honours graduation. Will start masters soon. I will get my tension less if you kindly say me the jobs which we can get except teaching with an english honours degree.

[@aryaan3866]

@@GeorgieEllen10 anyway i like your videos very much. I did follow your insta account.

[@GeorgieEllen10]

I think it seems to depend a lot on skills and not just your degree! I know people who have studied English Literature or another humanities degree who have done journalism, PR/marketing, law, business grad schemes, academia - so there are definitely lots of options

[@aryaan3866]

@@GeorgieEllen10 do you think that i can get job with an English degree with computer skills.

[@parvathyram4054]

❤️👍🏼thanks for sharing.

[@Sariebear4]

Thank you!! Do you have any advice for getting into English at Cambridge?

[@GeorgieEllen10]

I did a video a while back on how to write a personal statement for English including things to read when applying and another on Cambridge colleges 🙂 I'd recommend you go watch them as I can't type all of my advice out! Hope it's helpful, there will be a vid on interviews over the summer too 🙂

[@VALENTINOJC]

you are so pretty! loved this video!

[@whatisrealgrammer7615]

Awesome mam

[@JeannyMeyer]

I love your dress!

[@GeorgieEllen10]

Thank you!! 🥰