“All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time.” – John Ruskin

9th April 2008

The April theme for the National Year of Reading is “Read all about it” a familiar cry at newspaper stands wanting you to read all about their stories.
Recently, though, I’ve come to look at it differently: I will admit that, instead of reading ALL about it, I’ve started several books and shock horror…………haven’t finished them! More a case of “Read a bit about it”

I’m taking a chance admitting that here - everyone knows that if you don’t stick with a book until the bitter end, the reading police will find you and stop you from ever reading another. This explains why I’m always having the following conversation,

“So how was the book?”
“Awful!”
“Why did you read it then?”
“Well I felt like I had to finish it once I’d started”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I just did”
“Aaaah! I see………… the reading police!”

Well in my capacity as a Reader Development Worker it is my great pleasure to break it to you that actually they don’t exist. How brilliant is that?! Even more brilliant is the fact that at any one time you can borrow 12 Library books and you don’t have to finish any of them, if you don’t enjoy them, just return them and try another 12. It’s my guess that somewhere along the line you’ll discover some great books you’ll really want to commit to long term!

If there’s a title that you fancy reading but aren’t sure whether you want to take it home why not visit Lovereading where you can download opening excerpts of certain books to help you get a feel for the story, before you “Read all about it”.

Let me know the books you’ve started reading only to give up on before the end, then perhaps people who did stick with them can explain what kept them hooked.

Rachel W.