Residents Share Their Passion For Reading On National Book Lovers Day 2024
Residents at The Lawn, the Alton-based residential care home run by charity Friends of the Elderly, have been reminiscing about their love of books and reading to celebrate this years’ National Book Lovers Day.
“Many of our residents are book enthusiasts and love nothing better than settling down with a cup of tea and a good book,” said Emma Cranstone, The Lawn’s Activities Coordinator. “They are real bibliophiles as they really do have a deep love of books, reading and the written word.”
Rita Rowling, who has been a resident at The Lawn since May 2023, has a favourite book that had a big impact on her life. “The book is called A Little Girls Gift. It’s about a little girl called Jane who had Leukaemia. She knew she was going to die and go to Heaven, so she wanted to give her eyes to a blind lady so she could see. Jane was so brave and it’s a true story, as she was the first person to donate her eyes in Canada. It’s such a moving book, it’s been passed down my family through the generations,” said Rita.
“My parents were too busy to read to us as children, but I used to Listen to the ‘Just So’ stories on Children’s Hour on the wireless,” said Alan Bourne, who has lived at The Lawn since February 2024. “Just William was a lovely book to read, he was naughty just like me.
“I think my favourite author has to be Charles Dickens, as when I was younger I’d pick a character from his book I was reading at time and pretend I was in the book. I also like Jeffrey Archer’s books; they are pretty good.”
Resident, Sally Gordon who has lived at The Lawn since October 2022 said: “I love reading anything really. A mixture of everything depending on my mood, but I read a lot of Jane Austen she’s such a good writer. I love Little Women, the characters Beth, Meg and Jo are my favourite.”
Alan Newman, who has lived at The Lawn for a year added: “My favourite character in a book is James Bond, 007, I really wanted to be him.”
“I loved all of Enid Blyton’s books,” said Diana Hunt, who has been at The Lawn since September 2023. “I remember Five Go On A Journey and Hopping Timothy the most. I also love all of Jane Austin’s books. Her characters always fit so well into the stories.
“I’ve read all of Charles Dickens’ books too. He had lots of criminals in his stories, which made me decide never to be a criminal,” added a chuckling Diana.
Eileen Rolfe made The Lawn her permanent home in May 2021 continued: “I like romance books like Mills & Boon, the Irish writer Robert Lynd and Robert Eustace’s mystery and crime stories. I don’t like horror tales. If I was reading something scary, I’d just put the book down and not read it. Romances and mysteries are much nicer.”
Elizabeth Anderson who moved to The Lawn in January this year, said: “As a child, I loved Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers books. Evidently, Mallory Towers boarding school is based on the school Enid’s daughter attended and the main character – Darrell Rivers’ name was made up from Enid’s second husband’s name, Kenneth Darrell Waters.”
Quite differently, Elizabeth’s favourite book is Jay Blades’ autobiography ‘Making It’. “He’s a very interesting chap,” said Elizabeth. “He was a naughty boy growing up, then in his early 50s, he started on TV on The Repair Shop, then wrote a book. He’s a very talented man as he was only diagnosed with Dyslexia when he was 31.”
“Reading is a wonderful, relaxing pastime for our residents,” added Alina Gutu, the Registered Manager at The Lawn. “It stimulates the brain, creates new neurons and helps with brain function.
“One of our residents said he hasn’t picked up a book for a long time, but his TV was broken and whilst we were waiting for the repair man, Emma took him to our Library and found a large print book that took his fancy. He hasn’t put it down since and said he’s so happy to be reading again.”
“We have also started our Talking Book Club,” added Emma. “The first Club meeting was a great hit. We listened to Gloria Hunniford’s ‘Always With You’. It was a great success, the residents said they really enjoyed it and that they loved the idea of talking books. We’re just deciding what to listen to next.”
