Finding time to read with Quick Reads

We have a house filled with books of all kinds; children’s books, reference books, cookery books, sporty books, fiction, non fiction, the list really is endless.  My love of books and reading is one gift that I have thankfully been able to pass on to all of my children.  We have books in every room in the house and that is a deliberate tactic to encourage us all to reach for a book when we have time or when we feel the need to read.

Over the last couple of years, however, I haven’t been the best example when it comes to reading.  I read a lot online and spend far too much time generally in front of a small screen and I was conscious that the ‘to read’ pile by the side of my bed was becoming increasingly taller.  Over the Christmas break, I did try to read and it was lovely.  I like nothing better than a soak in the bath with a good book or snuggling under the duvet for a relaxing read before I go to sleep.

Once I was back at work and trying to squeeze too much into my days again, the reading stopped.  It is something that I am so conscious of, yet there always seems to be something else to do or I am simply too tired. I know that any type of reading is good.  When I was faced with my eight year old son being more resistant than the others to the idea of reading, I did look for articles online for him to read and it did.  Online offers a wealth of information on any topic that you find interesting, which is both wonderful and amazing.  However, for me, all of the electronic devices in the world won’t ever replace the feel of a book, there is something really special about losing yourself in a real book.

So what is a busy mum to do? Well Quick Reads might well be the answer. Quick Reads have been around since 2006 and they are a charity who commission well-known authors to write short books that make reading accessible to everyone. They are exactly the same as any other book that you would buy or borrow, but shorter which makes them easier to read for adults who are lacking time or in confidence to read. Quick Reads are sold through all major book retailers in the high street and online for £1 each and they are also available to borrow in libraries.

I was sent a selection of the 2014 books to read along with a sneaky bar of Galaxy as Galaxy support Quick Reads and I was pleased to see that all of the books were written by authors whose books I hadn’t read before.

• A Cruel Fate by Lindsay Davis
• Hidden by Barbara Taylor Bradford
• Blackout by Emily Barr
• Four Warned by Jeffery Archer
• The Escape by Lynda La Plante
• Rules for Dating a Romantic Hero by Harriet Evans

Ten days later, I can report that I have read three of the books already.  Emily Barr’s Blackout, appealed to me and I was quickly drawn into the intriguing story of Sophie, who wakes up in a strange room in a strange city with nothing but the clothes she is wearing and has no idea how she got their.  As she slowly pieces her memory back together, she finds that she is in Paris and a long way from her husband and baby in London.  How will she get back and what happened during the three days that she can’t remember.  A real page turner, I thoroughly enjoyed Blackout and wanted to read more.

A Cruel Fate by Lindsey Davis is very different to the books I would normally read.  Set during and based on real events from the English Civil War, Martin Watts, a bookseller and Nat Afton are captured and taken prisoner by the king’s men.  Kept as prisoners of war and tortured by Oxford Castle jailer William Smith, Davis paints a very real and quite disturbing picture of the terrible conditions in which many of these prisoners lived and died.  Can Nat’s sister rescue him?  Will Martin be able to escape?  I found this Quick Read quite compelling reading and as Oxford isn’t far from me, it is always interesting to find out more about local history.

Finally, I picked up Rules for Dating a Romantic Hero, which is probably the sort of book that I would normally go for. A mini sequel to A Hopeless Romantic, this quick read carries on the story of Laura Foster; an ordinary girl who has bagged one of the most eligible bachelors in the country.  They have been together for four years and everyone keeps asking when they are going to get married.  She loves Nick, but his family’s disapproval of her is making life difficult enough and then he starts keeping secrets from her.  Will Laura get her happy ever after?

According to a recent study by Quick Reads about our reading habits, showed that one in five adults and only just over a third of 18 – 24 year olds read for pleasure.  As for how we read, the study showed that 61% of adults still read books, eReaders and other electronic devices are the primary source of reading for the rest.  It is unsurprising that technology has influenced our reading habits, the study showed that this is a positive influence with eReaders in particular having a positive effect with the ability to change the appearance of text, being able to look up words and having immediate access to a wider range of texts being given as examples.

So the news is good; we are still reading and in many cases reading longer.  However, the study did also highlight that worryingly, as parents, we are stopping reading with our children too young.  One in five parents admitted to only reading with their children once a week or less and a staggering 70% of parents stop reading with their children before they are twelve.  Of course there are lots of reasons why; children becoming confident readers at an early age and parents assuming that they don’t need to read with them anymore or children not wanting to read with their parents of preferring to do something else.

This of course has a knock on effect.  Literacy levels are already on the decline and we as parents do a really important job to support our children’s literacy skills by reading to them, with them and listening to them read at home.  They gain such valuable experience from this time with us; both in terms of development of literacy skills and of spending quality time together.

But I know that life is busy and it is easy to let other things get in the way, but we do have to remember that we are the biggest role models in our children’s lives and by creating that time to read with them, it will help them to see it as a valuable activity too.  In addition, we should be letting them see us read.  We should be setting a good example.  And by we, I also mean me.  I want my children to see the pile of books by the side of my bed disappearing and I want us to spend time at the weekend where we all snuggle down and read.  Of course, it doesn’t always have to be books; magazines, newspapers and articles on the tablet are fine too, but I want my children to experience the pleasure that I have always had from reading.

The boys in particular have been really impressed to see me read three books in just over a week and it has inspired them to get reading again and to finish their current books.  As for me, I have discovered three new authors and have just ordered two new books from two of the authors as I enjoyed their books so much.  For me, I think that Quick Reads are a good investment of time and money.  Quick and easy to read, inexpensive and a good way to try out new authors and new types of book, I am looking forward to reading the other two books that I have been sent and I will certainly be looking out for any more that come out later on in the year.

If you want to find out more about Quick Reads, visit their website and I strongly recommend you go and invest a pound of your money on one of these books, you won’t regret it.

I was sent the Quick Reads books for the purpose of this review.  All opinions are my own.