Newcastle University

What would you say books mean for you? It’s slightly different from what books give you, I suppose.

[Pause] Yes. I think there’s some books that you do go back to. I suppose it means … It’s a hard one, really, isn’t it? I think it’s … I think books are quite exciting. [laughter] You know, you go into a library or Waterstone’s or something, and you can just pick up a book and flick through and read what’s on the back and so on. It’s sort of that potential and excitement of, I might learn something new, or that might be an interesting story, or that might give me some new ideas about something, or open another world to me. So I think they’re quite exciting. At the moment at home they’re a bit of a, a bit of a drag, in the sense of I’ve got far too many of them and I’ve got not enough space, and I’ve got to get rid of some [laughter] to make some space. But … I find it difficult to give books away, which I think is a ... which is silly really, but there’s almost … I suppose you’ve invested a part of yourself in them and you sort of have a connection with them, so you … So it’s hard to give that … them away sometimes. Sorry, that’s a bit rambling and I don’t know if that’s …