In addition to the excellent advice provided in your article on reading (The experts: librarians on 20 easy, enjoyable ways to read more brilliant books, 25 April), I would add the following. The old adage of not judging a book by its cover can both be helpful and not. Thrillers nearly all look alike, as do romances, teen fiction, fantasy and horror. One relatively small publisher has eschewed this policy by publishing its fiction in blue paperback jackets with white writing, and its nonfiction in white cover with blue text.
Anyone wanting access to some of the best world writing should check out Fitzcarraldo Editions. Its website provides excellent summaries of the works, and its roster of authors is varied, geographically and stylistically. Initially drawn in by the unpretentious nature of the book jackets, I have discovered authors such as Annie Ernaux, Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Tokarczuk and Jon Fosse – all Nobel prize winners.
John Dallimore
London
• Reading is one of my greatest pleasures and these are my top tips. If you’re over 40, make sure you have the correct reading glasses. I stopped reading for a few years until I realised it was because my varifocals weren’t up to the job. Don’t ever be embarrassed about your choice of material. Who cares if you love young adult fiction, Mills & Boon or sci-fi? If you don’t want the cover to be seen in public, read on an e-reader and no one will ever know.
Sign up to a free books newsletter. There are some great reads by self-published authors; concentrate on the story, not the lack of editing. Swap a streaming subscription for Kindle Unlimited for a month or two. I joined for the books, but stayed for the magazines. If you have friends with whom you talk about TV and movies, borrow (and lend) books too. You may find your new favourite author. Just make sure you treat borrowed books with respect.
Michelle Kimber
Plymouth
• Join a reading group. Ours meets once a month in the local pub. We preorder sets of 12 of the same book free from our local library service and hand those out. The following month we discuss the book and how we felt about it. We may discuss plot, characterisation or writing style, or we may just say whether we liked it or not. We only have one rule. That you don’t have to finish a book if you are not enjoying it. Through our book club we have read adult fiction, young adult books, biographies and other nonfiction.
The marvellous free service means that you don’t have to pay for a book you wouldn’t buy and you can dip your toe into works you would never choose yourself. Sometimes we surprise ourselves.
Ruth Anderson
Penrith, Cumbria
• Illness gives me plenty of time to read, though I have been an avid reader since childhood. One of the types of books that I most enjoy are those set in other cultures, either by people of that culture or people who know it well. It is mostly novels, but sometimes nonfiction. These books give me some understanding of people’s lives – the nearest I can get to walking in their shoes and seeing the world as they do.
Gill Gibson
Stowe, Buckinghamshire
• My way back to reading was trying to write a novel and just enjoying the pleasure of working with words. My novel is still under construction, but in my tea breaks I write letters.
Sam White
Lewes, East Sussex
• As another (albeit male) retired librarian, I was always seen with stereotypical glasses and, as often as possible, a bun – preferably a doughnut or chocolate eclair (Letters, 25 April).
Martin Stallion
Braintree, Essex
• Novellas and short stories are perfect for getting back into reading. Minimal time is required to finish them, so they can be picked up when there is a spare 30 minutes in your day.
Glenn Leeder
London
• Yes to listening to books. With failing eyesight and arthritic hands, the pleasure of holding and reading a book is increasingly denied, as is reading from a screen.
I listen to audiobooks all day and every day. Sometimes I binge-listen – fiction and nonfiction, podcasts and collections. I have relistened to many (Hilary Mantel especially) and have discovered that I have a good aural memory. I get more from the writing when I listen, of plot, style and analysis.
I was brought up on the BBC’s Home Service and Third Programme. I developed an excellent active listening facility and memory that I used when I was a proper person with a job.
In the 1970s I was a librarian – channelling Katharine Hepburn in Desk Set.
Gina Jolliffe
Brixham, Devon
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