World Book Night 2021: Book Twenty-one

 

To Sir With Love by E R Braithwaite (Vintage Books)

Own eBook

I took quite a gamble leaving this book for my last. I'd read it before many years ago and it is a novel that left a big impression, and even a good twenty years on I could still recall lines from the book. Would a reread tarnish my memories, should I just stick to my 'book shadow' thoughts?

In this case I am really pleased that rereading the book was a pleasure, it was still the incredible book that I remembered. I had forgotten many details but as I read through the book it was a little bit like meeting up with an old friend after many years. I definitely had remembered the big themes.

Although the book is now over 60 years old I was struck by how little has actually changed in the world in so many ways. It is also interesting to think that this book is a contemporary to the setting for the Call the Midwife books, in so many ways the books complement each other and create a window back to the London East End of the 1950s

What Braithwaite has to say about education, racism, gang culture and London is still horribly accurate and in many ways A Dutiful Boy, which is also a World Book Night book this year, is the same story just about more recent times.

I am glad that I left this until last, and I am glad that my challenge did give me the opportunity to reread the book and fall in love with it all over again. 

What the Kentishbookboy read 2020

 

Book Bingo 2020

I stand in awe of my nephew, with everything that 2020 has thrown at him he's just one square away from completing his bingo chart from the start of the year!

I'm not 100% sure I can say the same about my sheet and Nanny has already said that she's totally lost her reading mojo this year. 

Although he had ticked off some of the squares at the start of the challenge the definitive list of what books he'd like to count for each square are:

Kentishbookboy's choice: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Non-fiction: Sharks and other deadly ocean creatures

Set in another country: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Norfolkbookworm's choice: The Highland Falcon Thief

Set pre 1950 - Carrie's War

A book from the School list - Varjak Paw

A book with magic in: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A graphic novel: The 13 Storey Treehouse series

A book recommended by a friend: The Train to Impossible Places

A funny book: 117-Storey Treehouse

A book from the school list - The Lion and the Unicorn

A book with animals in - The Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue

A book recommended by Nanny or Grandad - to be confirmed, possibly Wind in the Willows

Free choice: The Umbrella Mouse

A poetry book: A Poem a  Day

A book picked by mum or dad: Wonderscape

As well as this list of books Kentishbookboy has also shared his reading log with us, although none of us are convinced that this is 100% accurate as we suspect that there has been some rereading and sneak reading after lights out that isn't accounted for here! Well if he's anything like the Norfolkbookworm was as a child this is definitely the case!

As things stand, with just over a week of the year to go the Kentishbookboy is calling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as his top book of the year.

Theatre 2016: Review Thirty Eight

Les Miserables, Queen's Theatre London. December 2016.

This one really is squeezing in at the the end of my theatre going year and was a post-Christmas treat for Mr Norfolkbookworm, me and my parents. In fact we all gave each other the the tickets as Christmas presents!

Les Miserables is always going to hold a special place in our family as this was the first London show my sister and I were taken to. I still remember Dad coming home with the tickets and the anticipation of our grand day out. I think I was about 13 and my sister 8 or 9... I've seen the show twice more since then, once in London and once on tour in Norwich but not recently.

We had a lovely day, seats in the stalls with a great view (they were listed as restricted view but as we are short only Mr N missed a tiny bit of projected writing and despite knowing the show inside out we were still all swept up in the drama of the piece.

Dad and I agreed that it doesn't matter how many times we've seen it neither of us warm to Cosette and always find her the weakest part. We also all agreed that the show is really about Javert and not Valjean!  Every word of every song could be heard clearly and the staging was effective - many times the scene changes were done to expertly that we were surprised to see that they had taken place!

We jumped at the gun fire and wept at the sad bits and all four of us came out of the theatre feeling astounded at how good something so familiar can be.

This is the 2nd time we've had a family theatre outing at Christmas time and Dad is already asking what we can see next year - a new tradition is born, but the bar has been set very high!

Literary locations

 Exploring the locations of a favourite book.

Last year I read When Marnie Was There by Joan G Robinson on Mr Norfolkbookworm's recommendation.  I don't know how I missed it as a child. I know that I loved Robinson's other creation, Teddy Robinson and that I also loved timeslip stories.  All I can think is that I picked it up at the wrong age. Teddy Robinson is definitely aimed at beginner readers whereas the complex plot of Marnie is more suited to those 10+.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter I've discovered the book now and as well as being a top read from 2015 I think it might enter my top books of all time.

Another great thing about the book is that it is set in Norfolk and we can easily get to the village in which it is set. This past weekend there was an added bonus as the Mill, which plays a pivotal role in the plot, was open to the public for the first time in 40 years.

While I really wanted to get to the very top for the views (heights don't bother me) I was defeated by the ladder access. Mr Norfolkbookworm has no fear of ladders but the height was too much for him so sadly we have no views of North Norfolk from the top, but I consoled myself that the plot doesn't revolve around the top floors and so I did walk where the characters had their adventures...

Looking towards Marnie's house

The main village staithe

The channel to the beach

Burnham Overy Mill

With many thanks to the National Trust for opening the Burnham Overy Mill to the public making it possible to fully imagine the whole of the book.