The 2025 monthly challenge is drawing to a close. We had to wait until the last day of the month to get in a theatre visit for this month, and unbelievably it was the eleventh different venue of the year.

So, November’s outing went something like this:

Production: The Long Drop

Venue: Diss Corn Hall

Only about 25 hardy souls made it to Diss Corn Hall on a cold November night to witness a reasonably good production.

It covers five decades and tells the story of five different women all in Holloway Prison sentenced to the death penalty.

This is simply a story about women. Regular women who have, for a variety of reasons, ended up on the wrong side of the law. Some stories we can all relate to, some not so much, but either way they deserve to be heard.

It was a good production, in a beautiful venue. It doesn’t threaten the top spots, but good all the same.

Goes in at number 8.

1. An Inspector Calls
2. Dracula
3. Things We Do For Love
4. Jekyll & Hyde
5. Norwich Spooky Story Walk
6. Charley’s Aunt
7. 1984
8. The Long Drop
9. Metamorphosis
10. Shakespeare Revisited
11. Edgeland

One outing left to complete the year!

‘Eat & Run’ by Scott Jurek

It’s a running book. Scott Jurek is a famous ultra-marathoner and vegan. Every chapter is about his experiences running different races, followed by a recipe.

The book is a pretty standard book about running: the highs and lows.

‘I Am Number Four’ by Pittacus Lore

Teenage Fiction. Friendly alien comes to Earth from another planet, he is number four of nine in total, only a load of evil aliens follow him to kill him.

The evil aliens, for some reason or another, have to kill the nice aliens in number order, number three is dead, so number four is next.

It’s not a bad book – it’s the first in a series of six – it’s also been made into a film.

‘Play’ by Luke Palmer

Teenage Fiction. Follows four lads, Mark, Luc, Matt & Johnny, who grow up together at school.

It’s a good book. Explores the friendships between the lads as they battle with drugs, relationships, growing up and trying to survive.

‘Mind over Miles’ by Russ Cook

After a few thrillers, a couple of teenage fiction novels and the odd best-seller, we are back to a running book. In fact, I haven’t read a running book since June. so it was nice to read this.

Russ Cook, or better known as the Hardest Geezer, is a bit of a celebrity after his epic run down the length of Africa. He completed the 10,000 mile run in 352 days and I remember watching the odd social media post at the time. So when I saw he had written a book about the adventure I thought I’d give it a go.

I probably overuse the phrase ‘definitely worth a read’, but this is definitely worth a read. I really enjoyed it.

It’s more than just a book about a bloke doing lots of running. Of course, he came up against various obstacles, some bigger than others: attempted kidnapping, armed robbery, denied border crossings, and a plethora of running issues. But it also explores his own problems with drinking and gambling.

A story of grit and determination. You can’t read it without being inspired!

I’m off to book in the next 100km race.