Read all about it

In a desperate attempt to flee the stuffy environment of my Office at lunch time, I escaped into the fresh air, and found myself at the library. Not having any money in my purse the day before payday, it was probably my subconscious guiding me into this cash-saving haven. Yay me.

And I'm not sure whether it is a hangover from my last post about Disney movies, but I left the book emporium carrying a copy of Lewis Carroll's The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. I realised that despite being a fan of Walt's take on the work, I have never actually read the book.

I am one of those people for whom classical literature was not completely ruined by studying English at school and University. In fact, "To Kill A Mockingbird" (read for the first time in Year 10) is my hands-down favourite book, closely followed by "Pride and Prejudice", that I discovered in Year 12 and then gratefully revisited courtesy of Colin Firth and the BBC. [Editor's Note: Full marks to the Beeb for the just-out-the-water-in-a-wet-shirt scene, a personal fave]

By way of observation, the number of light, frothy books in libraries and bookshops these days never ceases to amaze me. I know you're not always looking for a movie (or a film for that matter) that will 'change your life', but there's only so much of the Bridget Jones genre that I can take. Boy meets girl; boy shags girl; boy shags girl's best friend; girl drinks countless vodkas with real friends to get over it; boy meets untimely demise masterminded by slighted girl and pissed posse; girl finally feels vindicated and receives unrelated job promotion. Bo-ring, but undeniably just the thing for a rainy afternoon.

But just before you think I'm getting a bit self-righteous and book-snobby, I am also keen to get stuck into the second book I borrowed today, one about a bunch of horny 20-somethings who respond to a newspaper ad and then wake up on a desert island and the anthropological experiment begins. WA-HEY. Perhaps a modern homage to The Lord of the Flies? Nah, more likely it will be Big Brother in speedos. Bring it on.