Books

I don’t read anything like as many books as I used to. Partly this is because I don’t use public transport to get to work but I think the main reason is that I don’t have enough time or, more likely, I don’t make enough time. I had a great example of this last week when we were in Norfolk.

The cottage had two downstairs living rooms: one had the TV and couches in and the other just had a couple of chairs and a coffee table – a nice little quiet area that I could settle down and read. I had taken along Back Story, David Mitchell’s autobiography, which I had loaned out of the library after hearing a funny anecdote on the Graham Norton show about Olivia Colman (literally) pissing herself laughing on stage. The rest of the book is just as funny and engaging and actually reads in Mitchell’s resigned comedic tones. As it was, I had already renewed the book once and had only read any of it when I was waiting at Kwik Fit for my MOT test (at least my car's MOT test – I  had mine the week before at work and was amazed that I passed that as well).

The problem at home, and the reason I had time in Norfolk, is because of distractions. For some reason aimlessly watching TV or flicking through Teletext pages seems to be a far more worthwhile activity than reading. The internet is also another astonishing time waster. Not just writing emails or reading on-line articles but endless, aimless browsing. I could spend entire days just clicking on successive Wikipedia pages or browsing through videos on YouTube. Even worse are the likes of fan forums or the complete waste of time that is Facebook. It’s not even as if it was the extra living room that made a difference as my bedroom at home was originally intended as an additional downstairs living room - the reason I don't read in there is probably more to do with the wireless connection not reaching that far.

I finished the David Mitchell book half way through the week’s holiday. I also discovered that those adverts he did with Robert Webb were intended to sell Apple computers rather than Microsoft’s products but this gave me the chance to start reading another book: Hugh Dennis’s Britty Britty Bang Bang, his examination of what it is to be British. I had read through around 100 pages of this at the end of the holiday and was determined to make time at home to read the rest of it. Well, I’ve been back home for a week now and I haven’t read a single page since.