World Book Day Quiz: the answers

In our last post of the term, we're bringing you the answers to this year's epic (some would say marathon) World Book Day quiz, before announcing the winner.  Did you get any of them right? Will it be you?? Read on and find out ...

Round 1 - Can you judge a book by its cover? - was set by Mr Harris. For Cover No. 1, suggestions included Moby Dick, Jaws, The Kraken, Eragon and Swallows and Amazons (does that look like the Lake District to you???), but the answer, as most of you knew was ....

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Cover No. 2 proved much more puzzling. Suggestions included Ted Hughes's The Iron Man, Macbeth, and The Book Thief - at least one of which was on the right track, because the pile of burning books at the central figure's feet was a clue ... 

... that this was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. But only 8 of you recognised it. 

Cover No. 3, stark and simple, reminded some of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. A couple of you leapt on the solitary letter above the picture and suggested V for Vendetta. But the letter isn't the first in the title: it's the first in the author's name.  So the correct answer was Virginia Woolf's 1927 novel, To the Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is a clue.  

The 'woolf' theme continued with Cover No. 4, which produced many animal-based suggestions, some of them more plausible than others. But it wasn't The Call of the Wild, The Jungle Book, The Just So Stories, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Fantastic Mr Fox, Beo-wolf (we see what you did there) or Jaws ...  

It was White Fang by Jack London.  With those teeth, how could it not be???

Books of the Week

Today's post comes from some of Dr Gaydon's tutor group, who reflected on their half-term break reading and wanted to offer their thoughts up for those looking for something to read over the next holiday…

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple

Recommended by Aarav Kurdikar
This is a book about the author's time in Delhi. He talks about the city’s history and the places he visited as well as providing many anecdotes about his experiences. 

It's worth reading as it's a great insight into other people's lives and cultures.

International Women's Day

Today is our second post celebrating International Women's Day, with recommendations from Mr Kemp, Miss McLaughlin and Mr Gardner

Mr Kemp

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer who splits her time between America and Lagos. Many Paulines will know her from her TED Talk, ‘The Dangers of a Single Story’, which is often taught in junior schools. 

Many others will know her from her debut coming-of-age novel, Purple Hibiscus, the jewel in the crown of the IGCSE English Literature syllabus. If you haven’t read Purple Hibiscus, do. It’s a really brilliant story of a clever, awkward teenage girl growing up under the tyranny of her religious fanatic father, and the tyranny of a corrupt military government. 

It sounds quite heavy, and in parts it is, but it’s also a joyous story of finding one’s own voice. Despite it being about a 15 year old Catholic Nigerian girl in the 1980s, it’s actually really relevant to our times.  Americanah, her 2013 novel about Nigerian immigrants in America, is even better. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a really wonderful writer, and one of the few authors on the curriculum who has been sampled by Beyoncé.

World Book Day

 It's World Book Day!!! And that means it's time for the Book Blog's annual World Book Day Quiz.  

This year's questions have been put together by Mr Harris, Mr Kemp, Dr Cocks, and Mr Gardner of the English Dept; Mr Green, Dr McDonnell and Dr Ruddick of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Soc; Mr Perrin, Head of Modern Languages; Mrs Cummings, the Kayton Librarian; and Mr Dormandy, the Head of Drama.  

So - it's time to pit your wits against theirs. How much do you know about book covers? Famous Literary Faces? Shakespeare plays and their characters? Done a bit of Tolkien? Seen a few James McAvoy films? Dipped into the occasional Victorian novel? Read a book by a woman writer? Decoded a cryptic crossword?  Then this year's prize could be yours for the taking ... The link to the quiz is here, and it closes at 9.00 on Monday morning: good luck!!!

Books of the Week: #BreakTheBias

Next Tuesday 8th March is International Women's Day, which is the centrepoint for a two week programme of talks, events and lectures at SPS, all linked to this year's theme #BreakTheBias. 

So this week and next week, we're dedicating our Tuesday Book of the Week post to women writers and their work. Today, Mrs Cummings explores how you can use your reading choices to Break The Bias and try something new, Mr Harris shares his enthusiasm for the work of Virginia Woolf and Dr Cocks recommends two novels by contemporary women writers.