Summer reads

According to my very reliable source @malfletcher, 45% of the US population said it read at least one book last year.

Mal’s most recent tweet is an advice to close your laptop and open a book, in order to turn your ‘deep’ and creative brain on.

I do tire of spending time on the internet and find that reading books or writing in my journal is far more rewarding. It allows the freedom and space to think, imagine and articulate myself.

Mal’s other comment is that a reading list should be like a balanced diet, consisting of something from each major group ie. fiction, bio, motivation, worldview etc.

I take a look at my reading list for this summer:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
3. Eclipse by by Stephenie Meyer
4. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
5. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
7. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
8. The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
9. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis

Largely, children and teenager’s books… but I must say I am doing well as I only read 8 books for the whole of 2008/2009. Quantity or quality? I cannot decide.

The Alchemist was really cheesy, The Lovely Bones was disturbing, Mr Ripley made me want to fine dine, Chesil Beach made me cry until my feet hurt, Dawn Treader made me swoon over the characters and adventures, and Twilight just made me giggle a lot.

Mal Fletcher is a social commentator with the think tank 2020Plus.