My grandfather was a self-employed illegal bookmaker, so he knew
> something about books. He was also a dab hand with saw and chisel. On
> Christmas Day 1955, he proudly presented my father with a hand made
> set of mahogany library steps. We only had a small bookshelf so having
> climbed the steps, one would have to bend down to pick up the book.
> You’ll notice I say “the” book. Because there was only one book in our
> house, Arsenal Forward, A Story of Football.
>
> Apart from the Daily Express, reading was never encouraged in our
> house. And I don’t think we suffered from not having had dreamy
> summer’s afternoons enjoying a fragrant browse under the apple tree at
> the end of our garden. We had footballs to kick and catapults to aim
> and rivers to fall in. I do like Adrian Mole for all the reasons you
> mention (I saw the televised series). I like to think of my childhood
> as Just William; which I never read either.
>
> And as for doing book appraisals for school, what a waste of time.
> You can find all the appraisals you need on the web. Why write an
> appraisal? Is it punishment for reading a dreary book published a
> hundred years ago?
>
> I’ll give you a challenge: Write a 1000 word appraisal of the Virginia
> Wolff novel of your choice. Virginia is household name where fine
> literary folk gather, but can anybody honestly say they have read her?
> My dear, she is unreadable.
>
> I’m absolutely certain that Sophie-G will decide if and when and what
> she wants to read. But it won’t hurt her intellectual development if
> she doesn’t because she obviously has a bright and enquiring mind.
> Gone with the Wind won’t embellish that.
>
> From the House of One Book, my brother and I went off into the world.
> He, an English honours graduate and now one of the most successful
> newspaper and magazine publishers in Australia. Me? Well, you know me.
> A bellicose old advertising copywriter who has had a lot of fun and
> success in the business.
>
>
> G.
>
>

You don’t have to like everything that everone else reads. I too cannot sit still if it is a book I find boring. That would include “Gone With the Wind” and all of the Bronte’s. The worst book I had to read when I was your age was “The Scarlet Letter” Boring…..Get real! What counts is that you do read something. I prefer history and mysteries. Find what you like and stick to your guns. Stick to your guns kid!

I’m not even sure that my 17 year old daughter (heading for 25 rapidly) reads anything other than school work (but like Sophie-G is a whiz with text messages and Messenger) whilst my 19 year old son reads tomes relating to internet security and programming – although, to be fair, that probably has more to do with work and University.

Whatever happened to Romeo & Juliet or Julius Caesar or Alice in Wonderland (which mushrooms had Lewis Carroll been eating?). Thinking of Shakespeare, has anyone else seen that a satirical writer – Martin Baum – has written a “yoof guide to Shakespeare” which apparently features such literary classics as “Romeo and his fit bitch Jools”, “Much Ado About Sod All” and “Two Geezas Of Verona” and delights in telling us in “Amlet” that “Dere was somefing minging in de State of Denmark”.

French I can translate, but this? Well wicked!

But Harry Potter worked for me… especially the movie version of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

My son saw the movie. He loved it. I told him that, what a shame, the book had soooo much more in it – especially the dragon scenes, “Oh yes,” I said, “They’re described in DETAIL, all of them, not just Harry’s!”

As years before the kids had got ME hooked on Harry Potter (they were in a French school, and they asked, “Please buy them in English, Mom, so we’ll read them before anyone else in our class!” They then didn’t touch them, and one day I just happened to open book 1 page 1… Bam! Hooked on Harry!), so I did have the entire series at home, up to book 6 at that point.

My son read book 5 in a week, went on to 6, then went backwards and read the lot. We were both in downtown Geneva at 7:30 am on July 21 last year, at the opening of the bookstore for Deathly Hallows. He got the kid’s version, I got the adult one (different covers!).

He now calls me from bookstores, “Have you read this? What did you think of that?” and reads almost as much as I used to.

I will forever be grateful to Harry.