Material to keep your mind sharp during your time away from school

CS Lewis once said, ‘We read to know that we are not alone.’

Studies have shown that reading boosts our mood, expands our vocabulary and general knowledge, stimulates the imagination and enhances our sleep.

So why not ‘drop everything and read’ in the next few weeks?

Look up official Department of Education ’Prescribed material for the Leaving Certificate Examination’ in 2021 or 2022.

There are many interesting recommendations, such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Room, Educated, Wuthering Heights, Never Let Me Go.

The prescribed material for Junior Cert has some great offerings too, such as Noughts and Crosses, The Book of Lost Things and The Weight of Water.

Why not set up a book club on group Facetime with friends, or interact with family with an intergenerational book club?

If you find it impossible to read, there are plenty of stimulating podcasts to keep you entertained.

Senior students should enjoy ‘Desert Island Discs’, ‘Mothers of Invention’, ‘I’m grand Mam’.

For the sports enthusiasts, try ‘ That Peter Crouch Podcast’, ‘Liquid Football’ and ‘ Baz and Andrew’s House of Rugby’, while if history is your passion, listen to ‘You’re dead to me.’

Also read the newspapers, The

Kerryman, the weekend supplements, online articles and blogs. Become informed.

Also check out the brilliant Audible, which is offering hundreds of free audiobooks for teenagers in the current crisis.

The good news is that, although libraries are currently closed, you can still access e-books, audio books, magazines, newspapers and online classes with your library card number and PIN.

Why not read the book and then critique the film? Consider films and books such the Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones, Room, The Twilight series, Wonder, My Cousin Rachel, Gone with the Wind and The Fault in our Stars.

The legendary Game of Thrones writer George R.R Martin got it right when he said, ‘A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.’