Dear Reader

Welcome to BookCrossing and thanks for being a part of World Book Night 2011, the largest book giveaway in history. 1,000,000 specially printed copies of 25 different books changed hands on March 5th 2011 and began their journey from reader to reader. This book is one of them. World Book Night has joined with BookCrossing to help track these books as they travel. You can be a part of that journey by making a comment in the book's journal here on BookCrossing. Your journal entry can say how you got the book, what you thought of it, your plans for it or whatever else you might like to add.

On BookCrossing you may choose to remain anonymous or join (it's free). If you join, you’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry for this specific copy of this book (other copies of the book are travelling with their own ID number. Every copy of every book has a unique ID). It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and spam-free.

Thanks in advance for being part of World Book Night and BookCrossing. And happy reading and sharing.

This book is being released via BookCrossing on 5 March 2011 as part of the inaugural World Book Night. With the full support of the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading Agency with libraries, World Book Day and the BBC, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.

Read and release!

I am a giver for WBN 5.03.11 :)

Hope you enjoy this book.

Unfortunately, this did not get released as planned. However it is now being sent to a fellow Bookcrosser who I know will give it a loving home :)

I started out on a walk to the post office to mail out a WBN copy of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, (as I have started a bookring with it). So my dear cat decided to follow me, and trotted behind me and she was meowing really loudly, (well more like wailing). She does this often! Anyway, as always, when I reached the doctor's surgery she stopped, as there is a road to cross to get to the small shopping centre, and luckily she won't go any further! She usually goes back towards our house and waits under a parked car until she sees me coming back again.

So this time, I was on my way back, and almost home when I spotted our postman with a couple of packets in his hand and he was disappearing through our front gate. He never hangs around. If I'm not in, he's back on his bike and off in a jiffy. So I started to run, (I had forgotten about the cat), and our dear cat, seeing me run past her hiding place, naturally thought I was playing with her and she decided to chase me. She was out from under her car hiding place like a flash of lightning and chased after me and darted inbetween my legs. I saw this black flash emerge at 100 miles per hour out through my legs and then she stopped as if to say "I won"! Anyway, I can't stop in a flash like she can, so I sort of sidestepped to avoid her and sprained my ankle!
I limped the rest of the way home, and saw the postman go off on his bike again, but minus the packages, (because luckily they both fitted through the letterbox). I got to the gate and wondered where the cat was. I looked around and she was just sitting there, in the place where she had made me trip, contentedly washing herself!! Grrr!
This book was in one of the packages, along with a postcard showing a beautiful mystical view of The Lake District. You know how smells and aromas can bring back memories, well, for me, pictures can too. Just looking at the view on the postcard really did bring back such a wonderful feeling, and memories of the time, many years ago when I was there, camping for a week, (on a slanted hill, in an old sit or lie tent with no built in groundsheet, and it rained all week. I slept in a sleeping bag with wet jeans on!! But I had a magical time.
Thank you for this great book, thank you for the wonderful postcard, and thank you for your generosity! I am really pleased to get a chance to read this wonderful little book again, and to play a part in the history of a WBN book! Thanks Diane.

Just popped in to say that I started reading this book today! This will be my 'upstairs book'! Watch this space for a review.....

UPDATE on sprained ankle. It's still swollen and I'm wearing a support sock-bandage around it to keep the swelling down!

I loved this book. It brought back so many memories of foods from the past and brand names which I have forgotten since living here in The Netherlands. I felt really sorry for Nigel, as a boy, and I felt that, at times he was really neglected.
There were some unsavoury parts in the book which I would rather not have read, but all in all I found it a delightful book. I would have got it finished much sooner had I not been reading another WBN book at the same time, "Dissolution", and which drew me in and I wanted to get it finished. Just about 20 pages left to read in that one now. A really good book too. Before that I read the most wonderful WBN book, Northern Lights by Philip Pullman....Oh WOW! That was a wonderful book. I loved it and just couldn't put it down, even though it was the sort of book I would never have picked up in a book shop. I highly recommend it, if you get a chance to read it.
Anyway thanks Diane for this great book. Toast will be travelling to its next reader soon!

We went to church today, and I passed this book on to Elizabeth and Maureen, who will both read it, one after the other!

I hope you girls enjoy it! Happy Reading!

I'm off to church later this morning, and I was getting my box of WBN books ready to take with me, when I remembered that I was given this book back by Elizabeth last Sunday after the church service.

She said that she had finished reading it, but Maureen decided not to read it after all.
Elizabeth liked the book and said it brought back many memories of when, years ago, she used to visit her grandmother in England and Nigel mentioned lots of things in this book that Elizabeth's nan had in her house. She rated it with 5 stars out of 10, and said she would prefer it if I put this short review on here for her.

Now this book will go back into my WBN box to take to church with me, and hopefully to be lent out to more readers.

Yesterday I had an expat meet-up and I showed my World Book Night box of books to all these friends from English speaking lands, who live here in The Netherlands. The result was amazing. Every single book got taken home by someone, (to be returned at a later date, so that I can lend them out again). I know English books are hard to come by here, but these friends are all apparently STARVED of English books!!!!

Most people made a "catch" journal entry here before they left, using my computer, with me standing over them to make sure we got those journal entries!!! There was a computer here .....so why not!!! So many release notes to be made and so many JE's afterwards that I got too tired. So left some Almelo people until today, as the Almelo expats are coming together again today for coffee!!

This book went home with Suze from Aalderinkshoek, Almelo.
Enjoy!

Whoops, I made a journal entry and not a controlled release note for the book. Here we go again! This book was released yesterday to Suze from Aalderinkshoek, Almelo. She is an ENGLISH-BOOK-STARVED-EXPATRIATE, apparently! So now I will be feeding her books! She will be here soon for coffee. I will twist her arm to make a "catch" JE, since I can watch her and help her to do it if need be!
Enjoy!

Yessss....you persuaded me to leave this message. Thrilled to get to read this book, and already half way thru it. Took it home last night and there were only two books left to choose from out of big box. Who doesn't love Nigel Slater? Also it's not a big book.
This site looks difficult. I might need help later to leave a review.

Suze here! I read the book over about 3 days which was good for me considering the fact that I don't consider myself a reader! I only usually read The Daily Mail online a bit every day until I get bored. But who could get bored with Nigel Slater. I love his cookery programs. I think he had quite a sad childhood which came as a complete surprise to me. This book was very nostalgic for me. I remembered all those sweets from the good old days!
I could have given this book back to Nicole after a week but our good friend, and neighbour, Lies jumped on it. She had already read one book and her boyfriend was reading it after her. So she needed something to read and asked to read this one, too. She is also here with Nicole today so Nicole is going to get her to make an entry on here after I have finished! Anyway, that's not the end of the story. After Lies read it her boyfriend wanted to read it, too. Now he is not a reader and he took ages, plus he didn't know any of the foods or sweets that were mentioned because he is Dutch! Then Lies gave it back to me and my neighbour and her daughter were visiting. The daughter is learning English at school and asked if she could borrow it. so off it went, home with Miranda, aged 15. I don't know if she understood it but she said she did and she said it was a good book. I went to see them yesterday and there was a Nigel Slater cookery book on their table. So I was curious and asked about it. Apparently Miranda liked what she did understand and ordered the cookery book from Amazon! I wonder if she will manage to cook anything from it. I said I will help her. I keep looking at Nicole to see if i have written enough and she says I can write what I like!
Ok now we eat again and then I will seek out another book before my friends here get the best ones.

I read the book after Suze because she said it was good. I liked it too. I lived in America for 11 years even though I am Dutch. So I got used to reading in English. It was a good book, but I only know some of the foods that they talk about. I have watched Nigel Slater on tv here and his meals look nice. Very different from Dutch eating. Anyways this was not a cookbook, but it was the story of Nigel. I am glad he found out that he liked to cook. That gave him reasons to do things. My boyfriend Henk said he has not read any books since 10 years and now suddenly he has read two of Nicole's books just because I have read the, That is love. Me lucky! He don't give me much to say on this book. He sayd it was interesting. That's it.
Bye, Lies and Henk

Well thanks to Suze, Lies and Henk we have another two reviews here.
It has been such a busy day. We are trying to do so many things. I am with about 12 friends and these JE's are taking ages to get through on my computer! I hope this book gets taken home by someone else this evening.

Sorry I'm so late with these release notes, but I was a bit overwhelmed with having so many books come back to me, and go out at the same time in April. Anyway, on April 21st this book went home with Lynne from Schelfhorst, Almelo. I don't think Lynne will make a JE unless I am with her to help her. So it probably won't be until after the book is read.

Lynne here and I enjoyed reading this marvellous book. It was so interesting and reminded me in some places of my own childhood. I never would have guessed that Nigel had such a sad time sometimes as a child. Some places were sad. I'm glad he found his way in this world, in the end. I know I'm a slow reader, but even I finished this book in about a week and a half, and I have been longing to borrow another one from Nicole ever since then. I thought I had to wait for the expat meeting to get one. Anyway I'm here now, and I'm going to pick another book. Who would have thought that a non-reader like me would end up longing for another book! All thanks can go to Nigel Slater and Nicole for turning me almost into a reader!

It's wonderful that this book got yet another good journal entry. Everyone seems to love Nigel !!! Here at our much needed expat group meeting I am getting a bit overwhelmed with all the books being brought back to me today, standing over people and getting them to write reviews, lending them new books etc. Confusion at its worst, but I love it !!
I think I will retire the 2011 WBN book box for a while while I now promote the 2012 WBN book box. I do not have all the 2012 titles this time as they are proving so hard for me to get. However, I do have a few here to lend out. I'm sure this book will be going out to new readers in the future, after my 2012 titles are exhausted ......so until then.....

Well I never did get around to offering this book to others again.

It's a great read and quite sad in places. Please write a journal entry.