Changes

Don't get me wrong - this is not the hellish spawn of book-seller hype that you might think. There is the usual browser's delight (remember when there was a common non-internet use of that word browser?) in turning the page to something unexpected, which might make your day, or at least for better conversation down the local. It's just that when I wanted to hearken back to my bygone days of absorbing (to whatever extent I don't know) trivia and plain numerical fact, I found a plodding bias towards what I wasn't interested in.

However if I'm right this annual approach of the unremembered, unmemorable and plain unwanted will, this time next year, be the bane of charity shop owners throughout the land, as piles of copies will be sitting unsold on their shelves. It might well take the entire year that replaces this already out-of-date volume for many of those given it this Christmas to read through it all. I read it in a few days - because I wanted to for the Bookbag, but didn't find it nearly as educational, entertaining and enjoyable as I thought it would be.