The Skylight by Louise Candlish #Skylight @louise_candlish #QuickReads @readingagency @midaspr

 

Discover the joy of reading with Quick Reads. Short books and great stories by bestselling authors!

The need

1 in 6 adults in the UK struggle with reading and 1 in 3 adults do not regularly read for pleasure. England ranks 23rd out of 23 OECD nations for literacy level amongst 16-19 year olds. In addition, studies have shown that those who do read for pleasure have higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with difficult situations.

The programme

Quick Reads provide a route into reading that prioritises great story telling and adult-focused content while ensuring the books are written in an accessible and easy to read style. The books are written by some of the most popular authors in the UK - including Andy McNab, Jojo Moyes, Anne Cleeves, Ian Rankin and Benjamin Zephaniah - so they can be a brilliant entry point to new genres, authors as well as the spark to reignite or build up the joy of reading.

The Quick Reads programme has collaborated with over 30 publishers to produce a total of 135 titles since 2006 (many still available to borrow from your public library or buy from The Reading Agency's bookshop) with over 5 million copies distributed and over 5.7 million library loans. Each  year, The Reading Agency work with bestselling authors to produce six new titles. See the full back catalogue.

The programme is in the final year of funding received through a generous donation from best-selling author Jojo Moyes who has funded the programme for three years.

The 2021 series

A new set of six titles will be published on 27 May 2021.

The titles include: The Baby is Mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic); The Skylight by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster); Saving the Day by Katie Fforde (Arrow); Wish You Were Dead by Peter James (Macmillan); How to Be a Woman, abridged by Caitlin Moran (Ebury); The Motive by Khurrum Rahman (HQ).

Find out more about the books and buy them for a little as £1 from The Reading Agency's bookshop on bookshop.org, Hive, Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith. You can also borrow the titles from your public library. The titles are available in paperback and eBook.

Impact

Quick Reads are an extremely valuable tool for boosting reading skills, confidence and engagement in learning. They can act as an entry point to different authors' work in diverse genres, and have led to thousands of adults reading, completing and enjoying a book for the first time. Our long-term goal is to build a nation of readers by getting Quick Reads into every home in the UK!

How to take part

Quick Reads are available to purchase for a little as £1 from The Reading Agency's bookshop on bookshop.org, retailers such as Hive, Amazon, Waterstones and WH Smith and bookshops across the country. They can be borrowed from your local library.

We work with public libraries, prisons, colleges, hospitals and adult learning organisations to ensure these books are accessed by those who may find reading difficult as they are a perfect entry point to reading for pleasure.

Quick Reads are perfect for supporting the Reading Ahead programme either as reading material or to use as rewards and incentives. Find out more about Reading Ahead.

Get involved

Order Quick Reads and support The Reading Agency through our bookshop.

Find out more about the 2021 titles.

Take a look at our other reading programmes for adults, such as Reading Ahead and World Book Night.

Contact lily.staunton-howe@readingagency.org.uk with any questions.

They can’t see her, but she can see them…

Simone has a secret. She likes to stand at her bathroom window and spy on the couple downstairs through their kitchen skylight. She knows what they eat for breakfast and who they’ve got over for dinner. She knows what mood they’re in before they even step out the door. There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there?

Until one day Simone sees something through the skylight she is not expecting. Something that upsets her so much she begins to plot a terrible crime…

From the author of Our House, the British Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year

 I was delighted to get the chance to read The Skylight, the Quick Reads book by Louise Candlish. I'm a fan of her writing and her psychological thrillers are always really well done.

The Skylight is 89 pages of utter tension. I'm in awe of any author who can create such a compelling story in such a few pages. The reader becomes part of Simone's world in an instant, and it's a strange and quite distressing place to be.

Simone is an odd character. She lives on the top floor of a large house and from her bathroom window she can look down on the glass skylight that the young couple who live downstairs have fitted in their kitchen ceiling. Nobody knows that Simone can see out because the glass in her window appears to be frosted, but it isn't, and she knows everything about the daily routine of the couple downstairs.

Sometimes it's best to keep your nose of out of other people's business. It certainly would have been best for Simone. She sees something that angers and upsets her and she is determined that she will not be taken for a fool.

Simone has a history .... she may be quiet and blend into the background, but she's capable of a lot.

What a thriller this is! I zoomed through this in an hour, hardly moving as I watched Simone become more desperate and just a little bit crazy.

An excellent story with a sting in the tale. I loved it! 

Louise Candlish is the Sunday Times bestselling author of fourteen novels. 

Our House, a #1 bestseller, won the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year at the 2019 British Book Awards, was longlisted for the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award. 

It is soon to be a major ITV drama made by Death in Paradise producers Red Planet Pictures. 

Louise lives in London with her husband and daughter. 

Visit her at LouiseCandlish.com or connect with her on Twitter @Louise_Candlish.