English

Working with the English Anthology for AQA A by Imelda Pilgrim ISBN: 043510604X £5.50 Written by a senior examiner, this book takes you through activities for the 'Different Cultures' poems in the Anthology. It also helps to develop skills for answering in the exam.		Revise the English and English Literature Anthology for AQA A by Tony Childs ISBN: 0435102885 £5.50 Also written by a senior examiner (not Imelda Pilgrim - Amazon mistake, not mine), this book offers revision questions and guidance on the exam. It's a good buy as it covers all exams that involve the Anthology.
AQA English GCSE Specification A: Students' Book by Geoff Barton ISBN: 019831888X £10.50 This book covers the basics for both English and English Literature GCSEs.		Comprehension to GCSE by Geoff Barton ISBN: 0198314477 £10.50 An excellent way of devloping comprehension skills for Paper One of AQA'a specification A English GCSE.
GCSE English for AQA A by Imelda Pilgrim ISBN: 0435106023 £9.99 Written by a senior examiner, this book is the companion of Working with the English Anthology for AQA A. It covers pretty much everything other than the Anthology for English.		Basic Skills in GCSE English for AQA A by Imelda Pilgrim ISBN: 0435106031 £9.75 As the title suggests, a good book for brushing up on your basic skills in reading and writing.

Media Studies

More Than Meets the Eye: An Introduction to Media Studies by Graeme Burton ISBN: 0340762047 £15.99 Now in its third edition, this book is an excellent all-round textbook. It has material to suit GCSE and A Level study.		AS Media Studies for OCR by Richard Harvey et al ISBN: 0340801301 £varies - available used Aimed specifically at OCR's AS Media Studies specification, this book has material on key concept areas and each of the assessment units.
A2 Media Studies for OCR by Tanya Jones et al ISBN: 0340847778 £13.99 Like the AS version, this book is specifically targetted at OCR's A2 Media course. It has advice on production work and guidance on undertaking the research task.		The Cinema Book edited by Pam Cook ISBN: 0851707262 £25.00 A highly recommended starting point for any work you do on film. It covers film history, genre theory, production techniques and lots more besides!
Photoshop Elements 3 (PC) £59.97 An excellent value for money image editor. This will do most things you will need to do for GCSE and AS/A2 Media. Definitely one to carefully consider.

Home Page Recommendations

Atonement by Ian McEwan ISBN: 0099429799 £6.39 A novel set in upper-middle class England in 1935, France in the second world war and almost present day, Atonement tells the story of Briony Tallis and both her crime and her attempt to atone for it. As with many of McEwan's novels, the ending forces the reader to question the impressions created earlier in the reading, making a re-reading all the more tempting.		Sonny Liston Was A Friend Of Mine by Thom Jones ISBN: 0571201903 £5.59 This is a very powerful set of short stories. Jones' writing is very energetic and edgy, well suited to his subject matter of boxing, the Vietnam war and social outcasts. The first story is particularly memorable.
Underworld by Don DeLillo ISBN: 0330369954 £7.00 An imposing novel in every sense, Don DeLillo's epic is thoroughly worth the effort. Whilst engaging the reader with a vast time span - the second half of the twentieth century - he still manages to offer closely observed details from the lives of his characters. To single out anything would be to detract from the riches this novel offers.		Genome by Matt Ridley ISBN: 185702835X £7.19 A science book - as in real science. Admittedly 'pop science', Genome is still a very insightful book. By concentrating on the story of the discovery of one gene from each chromosome, Matt Ridley makes what could by rather dry illuminating and at times compelling.
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski ISBN: 038560310X £14.00 Without a doubt a strange book - at times you have to turn the book upside-down, on its side and double-back on yourself. I assure you, it's not a pretentious as it sounds. The first hundred pages especially are effective in creating suspense and horror, as the story of a film about a mysterious hallway is introduced. As much an experiment in how layout can interact with content as an intriguing story, this is definitely one book you will remember.		Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks ISBN: 0099387913 £6.39 Birdsong is highly recommended for its exploration of trench and tunnelling life during the First World War. This is a challenging novel, with graphic content, and reading it is certainly a powerful experience. Everyone should read this novel, but anyone preparing for AQA's A2 English Literature Synoptic Unit should consider it essential.

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