For challenge, escapism and pure enjoyment it's time to pick up that book and rediscover the joy of reading
| Published date | 22 January 2022 |
| Publication title | WalesOnline (Wales) |
Christmas seems a long way off now, but I’ve been reflecting on what made the festive season of 2021 somehow surprisingly nice.
I’ve decided that, in large part, it was about making the best of not being able to do things. Meeting in big groups for work dos risked missing more important family Christmases, so most of us decided to hunker down and enjoy some home comforts instead.
Now, no parent would deny the incredible joy and fun that children bring to our lives and Christmas is a special time when that is even more evident. But most of us are also prepared to be honest and to wistfully concede that there are some things that we miss as a consequence of having young kids.
Lovely as it mostly is, it’s basically relentless, isn’t it At times, carving out 15 minutes to have a shower feels like a challenge on a par to swimming the channel or undertaking a solo expedition across Antarctica.
This Christmas, our daughters’ much-loved Auntie Emma from Ystradgynlais stayed with us. As the decorations came down, we all resolved that, in an ideal world, children should have at least three parents. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.
Sharing the kids reminded me of the old Christmas luxury of a lazy day in front of the fire reading a novel. It made me realise that having proper time to read is the thing I miss most about life with a four and an eight-year-old.
Obviously as an academic, work-related reading continues unabated, but what I really miss is the entirely curious, speculative picking up of a random book and just reading it with no expectations other than an anticipation of enjoyment – books by authors that someone casually mentioned in the pub or from a casually-browsed book review in the weekend papers.
I feel a bit guilty confessing that, for the past few years, my reading has been almost entirely dominated by sport and football. I guess that’s because it’s easy and pleasurable, fast food for the brain. I’ve indulged myself with sports biographies and autobiographies, ranging from Geraint Thomas to Neville Southall to Johan Cruyff the latter beautifully entitled My Turn. Coming out as the best of the bunch would be Leon Barton’s Brian Flynn, Little Wonder, Andrea Pirlo’s I Think Therefore I Play and Paul Ferris’ The Boy On The Shed. The worst was Ruud...
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