Newcastle University

So what would you say that books mean to you? How important a part do they play in your life?

A big part, yeah, a very big part. I mean, I love film, I watch a bit of television, I play the piano, I walk – I have a normal family life. But I would say books are a big percentage of that. I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t read for at least an hour, on average, probably more. One of the nice things about belonging to the library here is that I might come to the bookclub, but if I’m here half an hour early I’ve always got a book on the go that, you know, I can get a cup of tea and sit in one of those nice armchairs upstairs, and you’re just immersed in it. It’s more my form of entertainment than anything else that I do. […] I do that more than anything else in a day […]. Even when I was working, and you know what a teaching job’s like – it’s very full on, and can have periods where it’s very time consuming, I still read at night, every night. I suppose it’s a way of unwinding, isn’t it – that’s what it means to you, it’s a way of relaxing.