Let’s reread our favourite children’s books
Revisiting old book friends can provide solace and inspiration…
Revisiting old book friends can provide solace and inspiration…
Rather than striving to read more books, how about really reading the books we choose?
Does fiction offer a glimmer of hope in these cold, dark months?
‘If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.’ – Oscar Wilde
What will become of the dictionary, the atlas?
On why we may not read classic literature – and how we may do so.
Is Jack Frost making you shiver? Why not escape the winter chills with a little literary sunshine…
One of the most influential, and thus valuable, books ever published…
Is life too short… or should we give each book a fair chance?
Do you read ebooks? If not, you’re missing out on some great advantages…
In this long winter, we must contend with isolation, loneliness, feeling cutting off from community and friends. Could the answer be a book club?
It’s cold outside. Time to curl up and lose yourself in a good book – but where is your cosy corner?
What better Christmas gift than a book? Well, perhaps one that is also an object of beauty, an intricate and marvellously clever work of art…
Confession: I have not one, or two, or even three copies of Jane Eyre. I have nine. Why collect different editions of the same book? For several reasons…
Classic literature endures for a good reason: it’s powerful and beautiful writing. But in our modern era, the language of these books can make for challenging reading. So should we translate classic literature into modern English?
‘I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.’ So wrote Jorge Luis Borges, and I quite agree. What is truly wonderful about this idea is that paradise is within our reach! We each have the ability to create a little haven at home, with a home library.
‘The dappled sunlight filtering through tree branches – is there a word for that? The seeds of a dandelion drifting on the breeze – do we have a word for that? Should we?…’
‘The world may never have had the fairy tale were it not for Perrault and a group of other intellectuals challenging the status quo in literature in the 17th century…’
‘Reading is a passport to distant lands. From the comfort of your armchair – or your bed, or your window seat, or your garden bench – you can visit the Himalayas or the Grand Canyon or the Pyramids…’
‘Finding a book that speaks to you feels like finding treasure. There’s a magic to it – a spark of energy when you realise the book in your hand is one you’re going to read…’
‘Studies have shown that bibliotherapy is especially powerful for alleviating anxiety and depression, which makes reading so important for us all right now as we are trapped in a bubble of worry, fear and isolation. Reading is an act of self-love; it is a way to make yourself feel better…’
‘The best romances offer an opportunity for readers to learn about something new, such as an interesting occupation or a place. In my own romances, I take readers to fascinating locations around the world, like Lake Como and Venice and Cadiz, so that my books are like a passport to travel from the comfort of your own home…’
‘In these difficult times, the act of reading can transport us away from a world that feels dark and threatening and grant us a reprieve from our worries. When we read we connect to people. We are not alone…’
‘I will always read romances and write romances, and I will always be proud to do so, because it feels to me that every happy-ever-after is a candle of hope…’
Recently, the BBC published an article entitled ‘Is it time to re-think the love story?’ about a new study into what makes an enduring romance novel. What is it that makes us really fall in love with a romance novel?
Three hundred years ago, the first novel was published in English: Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The book was an instant bestseller (within a year of its publication it was into its fourth edition), and evidently it had a profound effect on readers, sparking debate on cultural imperialism and inspiring a wealth of ‘marooned’ narratives.
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