Although I have lots of books I'm determined to read over the next few weeks, I'm getting distracted by all the titles being recommended by various sources at the moment.
It's that time of year when the newspapers start publishing summer reading lists, and we've just learnt the longlist for the Booker Prize (details about our Booker Book Group discussion below). And the former president Barack Obama usually issues his recommended reading about now, too...
But I was particularly interested to see an interview with one of our Olympic champions last week as she referred to her reading material when she was struggling with an injury.
Lola Anderson won gold as a member of the women's quadruple sculls rowing squad and she said that when she was unable to train she took the time to read. The books she found particularly inspiring and enlightening were 'The Mountains Sing' by Nguyen Phan Que Ma and 'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee.
Both books wrestle with the challenges faced by women in holding on to their identities throughout times of intense trauma, and Anderson commented: “At the end of the day, what we do is only sport. These women have gone through much worse and I can take a leaf out of their book."
We know for ourselves how novels help us to empathise and come to understand the nuances and complexities of life, and it's interesting to see how fiction can bring perspective to people who are single-mindedly pursuing such all-consuming, intense goals, too.
This was also presented in a tv series I've recently discovered. I'm rather late to the party as I understand AppleTV's 'Ted Lasso' was compulsive viewing for many during the pandemic. I can see how it would have been a perfect antidote then, just as it remains today. It's incredibly positive, uplifting, life affirming and entertaining. But it also features books in its storyline about a London football team.
Characters read management manuals and memoirs, are given a first edition of 'Sense and Sensibility' and are enthralled by Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'.
But the manager also, in one episode, hands each of his players the gift of a personally selected novel. These books are met with mixed responses, as might be expected from young sportsmen, and I wish there had been more development of this plotline.
It reminded me of a short article I read years ago, which unfortunately I'm unable to source today. I think it was a Scandinavian football manager who did this same thing - he believed in the power of reading fiction but not only did he give his players a book, he also made sure they had time dedicated in their training schedule to read it!
Perhaps if his initiative had had huge success we would all know more about it but, whatever the response, it's very special to have a book recommended to us for a particular purpose or reason, and it's always interesting to learn how people have been changed or affected by a book.
Thank you for reading.