Why reading is social rather than solitary

Although reading is termed solitary, some of my best times on holiday have been when we've been sitting beside each other, each immersed in our own book. And in fact here reading becomes very social, because a laugh will make…

Lucky dip reading

Saw a good post on the Guardian website about “lucky dip” reading – buying a book you know absolutely nothing about. It makes the valid point that people who shop online are less likely to stumble on new books than…

Reading 8 or 9 hours a day

George Lamming also said something quite amazing in his speech, and I forgot to mention it in my last post. He mentioned that he reads for 8 or 9 hours a day, and has done throughout his life. If he…

American vs. British readers

Some interesting analysis of US and UK reading habits, courtesy of the summer edition of The Author magazine: American readers prefer romance; British ones prefer literary fiction Men make 35% of book purchases in the US; 42% in the UK…