It’s not just our bodies that have been getting the fitness treatment this year. To feed our minds it has been decided to create a Create-a-Brand library.

From his years of experience in literature and doctorate in English, Simon has put together a selection of timeless popular classics, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to The Big Sleep. ‘Simon’s Library’ will fit neatly on the small shelf space above Dan’s head.

In a chalk-and-blackboards tone, Simon told us,  “You will all read one book a week - and you will enjoy it,” handing us each a carefully chosen first item. This has come as a slight shock to some of the team (naming no names); Saturday evening TV time will have to take a backseat for a bit.

So who is reading what? Dan has turned up his raincoat collar to investigate Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled thriller The Big Sleep;

Neil, twirling his cane, has stepped into the shadows of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray;

Sav has fallen down the rabbit hole of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland;

and Louise is enjoying the sounds of broken glass and the upper class in Evelyn’ Waugh’s comic Decline and Fall.

And Archie? Archie has been given an extra special book to ease him into the exercise gently.

We’ve asked for a 1000 word essay of his reflections on the story when he comes back from half-term break.

 

While waiting for that, we’re all going to get stuck into our new books, as a little learning can go a long way (“…or, as Alexander Pope said, be a dangerous thing…” - Simon).