The Big Read, and Other Stories 2

I’m sure, if you live in the UK, you’ll have heard of The Big Read. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s something the BBC are doing, trying to discover the nation’s best loved books. Two hundred books have been voted for around the country, and places from 22 to 200 have already been decided. There’s now a series of TV programmes where various celebrities get to tell us all about their favourite book from the top 21, and we get to vote on them. I’ve found the programmes pretty interesting, although I’ve only watched a few of them so far.

Out of the 21 books available to choose from, I think my favourites would be, in alphabetical order: Birdsong, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lord of the Rings and To Kill a Mockingbird. I’m not sure I could choose a top book out of those five.

If I had my way though, the entire Swallows and Amazons series would be in the top 21 as well. As it is, the first book in the series, Swallows and Amazons, is at 57, and the rest of the series don’t even appear in the list.

On another note entirely: Hooray! England are rugby world champions! I watched the game this morning and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I don’t think I’ve watched such a close game.

And changing the subject again… The Karen Vineyard youth club in Kenya are having their weekend away in Naivasha – without me! I wish I could be there as well, but I’m stuck in cold rainy England. Although I do like being here, it would be nice if I could live in both places at once.

Oh, and I think I’ll mention my shopping trip today: I noticed yesterday that my jeans are starting to wear out – the hems are splitting and there’s a hole worn in the leg. So I went into town to buy a new pair, and discovered that about half the jeans available were ‘distressed’. That is, they had split hems, holes, grass and oil stains, faded areas and basically looked just like my old jeans. I thought it was a bit silly. Am I getting old?