There is a particular art and pleasure to rereading – a fact agreed upon by many of the authors and critics I’ve consulted recently. Dip into the books-about-books genre and you’ll discover that authors almost invariably exhort...
Reading is usually seen as a silent, solitary activity, but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re reading aloud with a child or a friend, having a spirited discussion in a book club setting, or joining in with a “One Book, One ...
What makes the difference between those books you just can’t tear yourself away from, and the ones that take a lot of time and determination to finish? “It was a real page-turner…I just couldn’t put it down…it kept me up long p...
The history of bibliotherapy Over the past weeks I’ve been looking at how reading can be a means of pleasure, education, and self-development. But I also happen to believe – and I’m not the only one, not by a long shot – that a...
What makes the classics so ‘classic,’ and why should modern readers still seek to experience them? Nothing to be frightened of As Arnold Bennett reflected, it is easy to feel daunted when approaching the literary canon – “The a...
For those of us whose university days are in the past, for whom books are now non-obligatory, what is the point of reading? Is it now just an escapist leisure activity, or should it be a tool for continuing one’s learning? So: ...