Today is supposed to be Blue Monday. Not, as you might think, a day when we are all supposed to go around cheerily whistling Joy Division oh God how embarrassing New Order tunes, but actually the most depressing day of the year. It’s the third Monday in January, and A Scientist Somewhere has calculated that [...]
I love libraries. I love the smell of them, their silence and seriousness. I love the public-spiritedness of them. And I love their fundamental purpose: to let me have books, for free! And, these days, films and CDs too. I love the recognition that their existence implies that culture and entertainment are important, so important [...]
Book festivals are a good thing. Pretty much anything that involves books and words and reading is a good thing, in my book, if you’ll pardon the pun. But do you know what’s wrong with book festivals? There aren’t enough books in them. Take Aye Write, the Glasgow book festival for example. In fact you’ll [...]