It's past my bedtime, my microphone has given up the ghost, and I've got something to get off my chest: the National Year of Reading. I've been having a dig into where the money is going, and by my calculations the £150,000 set aside for libraries works out at around £41 per library. That's a fair few biscuits, but not many books.
So I'm putting forward some ideas of my own for getting adults reading again:
Book monitors: volunteers in tabards helping nervous shoppers find the right book, the way a good cheese shop lets you try before you buy
Making reading cool again, with more famous faces seen with a book in hand
Audiobooks and graphic novels as an easy way in
Five minutes a day, with reading streaks to keep you going
Libraries on trains for long commutes and delays
World Book Day for adults: a book voucher for everyone, no dressing up required (and maybe a free biscuit)
Are my ideas ridiculous? Have you seen the National Year of Reading making a difference in schools? I'd love to know what you think.
Then it's our October book club roundup of The One You Least Suspect by Brian McGilloway. I've read the second quarter, up to around page 188, and share how it's making me feel, with no spoilers. If you're not reading along, you can stop listening at that point.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Philippa Hall. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Philippa Hall och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
