Guilty reading pleasures

Celebrities reveal their guilty reading pleasures

Do you have a guilty reading pleasure? The kind of books that you devour at home, but probably don't tell your book club about.

You're not alone if you do - almost a third of UK adults are too embarrassed to admit to loving a particular book, according our new poll.

Whether it's Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code or the latest thriller, one in three of us has a guilty pleasure author that we love to read in private, but would not necessarily admit to reading in public.

Released on the eve of the very first fundraising Read for RNIB Day, our survey reveals the books topping the list of guilty pleasure reads.


The guilty pleasure reads revealed

In first place is JK Rowling's Harry Potter series (31 per cent), with The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (28 per cent) following second, and Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding (19 per cent) third.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson admitted to his guilty literary pleasure:

"When I have a spare moment to read a book, I regularly return to Ludwig Wittgenstein's great philosophical work of the 20th Century, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus."

And while many of us might now be nodding, or secretly admitting to owning our own 'guilty pleasure books', you probably wouldn't ever think that there are avid readers who might not get the chance to read the books they want.


What if your books weren't available?

While many of us rush off to the shops to get hold of the latest novel, celebrity tell-all book or to read Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, in stark contrast, blind and partially sighted readers face a dramatically limited choice of titles.

The choice of books available in formats that blind and partially sighted readers have access to is very limited. In fact, new research released today shows that just 7 per cent of all books are available in fully accessible formats - formats like braille, large print and audio books.

Many of the titles you take for granted as being able to read just don't exist for blind and partially sighted readers. Whether it be a mystery, biography or thriller, your latest page turner might not be available in a format readable by the increasing number of people with sight loss.


Sight loss is on the increase

It is predicted that by 2050 the number of people with sight loss in the UK will double to nearly four million, which means RNIB's work is becoming increasingly important and in demand. This is why we need your help.

Sue Scott, who lost her sight seven years ago, said:

"One day I realised that not only could I not see anymore, I couldn't read either. You don't realise it, but reading is everything and when you lose your sight you realise how important it is. From reading the newspaper or an email from a friend, to reading a private letter from the doctor or a bill you don't want others to know about. You become totally reliant on others and you lose your privacy and independence.

Read for RNIB Day is a great idea and will help raise money for reading services for blind and partially sighted people, like me. It doesn't matter what the activity or challenge is, as long as its reading related and you're having fun and helping to raise money. I hope that lots of people get involved."


What can you do to help?

Julian Fellowes, Oscar-winning script writer, author and Chairman of RNIB Talking Book Appeal, says:

"Reading is a tremendously important part of my life and I firmly believe that it's one of the pleasures that can be enjoyed one hundred per cent by blind people, thanks to Talking Books.

Please join Read for RNIB Day and read something amazing in October to help RNIB raise much-needed funds which will help even more blind and partially sighted people gain better access to reading services and equipment."

Last updated: 14 October 2011

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