Today, we had a World Wide Web look at some of the famous folk from the Bedfordshire area to find out about their favourite reads. Here’s what we found…….
Nadiya Hussain born in Luton on Christmas day, rose to fame after winning the Great British Bake Off back in 2015 and has since written several books, including cookbooks for adults and children, and two novels.
The last book I read was... The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin – a book about the last seven days of a woman’s life, with a surprising amount of humour. I read it over six months when I could steal moments in-between baking.
The last book that made me cry was... The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. So upsetting. So beautifully written. I bawled solidly from about a quarter of the way through.
The book that makes me want to travel is... The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. The description of 1920s New York is so glamorous and opulent, it makes me want to live in that time and place.
My favourite book of all time is... The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein. I remember reading it for the first time when I was 17, being sat at home with my brothers and sisters, but feeling like I was in another world.
My favourite children's book was... The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. My teacher read this to me when I was five. The whole caterpillar-to-butterfly thing was magical to me then, and still is now.
Carol Vorderman MBE was born in Bedford on Christmas Eve, she co-hosted the game show Countdown for a number of years and has written a number of educational and diet books. Here are her favourite books:
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
My favourite when I was a child. I was an avid reader. My brother bought me this at a jumble sale. I used to read and read it. I loved the adventures. I was probably influenced by The Sound Of Music too.
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| eBook available |
The Children’s Encyclopaedia by Arthur Mee
This set of ten books was first written before the First World War, then updated. It’s not set out in any order so you get flags of the empire then a tale from the Bible, or how to light a fire with straw. I loved that surprise. Because they’re historic now, you learn about attitudes in a previous time and see things in context.
My Husband’s Wife by Amanda Prowse
I don’t read a lot of fiction, except those written by my best friend! She writes about women and always includes some kind of taboo but they’re uplifting. This is her latest, about passing your child to your ex-husband’s new wife.
[If you'd like to read the next novel Amanda Prowse wrote we have copies in UOB Library]
Julia Jarman is a children’s author who has written over 60 books and lives in a Bedfordshire village north of Bedford. Julia’s advice for aspiring writers is: read read read, write write write and don’t expect it to turn out right first time. Most writers do many drafts. I do.
Her favourite books as a child included:
Little Women (and all the sequels) by Louisa M Alcott
I became a writer because I wanted to be like Jo March in all these books.
Bows Against the Barons – a brilliant book by Geoffrey Trease. It’s about a boy who joins Robin Hood’s band of not-always merry men. I loved all Robin Hood stories. Fighting for a fairer world. He’s one of my heroes.
If you would like to take a look at the books we stock written by Julia please browse our Library Catalogue
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