He's got his 12, which are yours?
This September, when you return to your office, sunburnt and hungover from your holiday, you will find a small rectangular parcel waiting on your desk.
You probably won't open it immediately. First, you'll grab a coffee, check your email and swap gossip with the people at the neighbouring desks. Not until mid-morning will you have a chance to pull the piece of string that ties the parcel and unwrap the layers of brown paper.
Inside, you'll find a book.
To make us feel better about going back to work, the government is giving each of us a book. A free book. Some of us will throw our book away. Others will swap it for a pint or try to sell it on ebay. But a few will fold back the cover, flick through the first few pages and start reading.
So, what book do you want? You can choose one from a list of twelve. Go on, pick one. You can take it home. You can dump it on your bedside table or keep it in the loo to impress guests. You could even ... read it.
Ok, ok, I'm joking. The government isn't really going to give you a book. That is, unless you're eleven years old.
This September, all children starting secondary school will be given a free book. They can choose one from a list of twelve.
I don't really see how anyone could criticise a scheme like this. What could be wrong with spending taxpayers' money on free books? People have tried, of course. The Telegraph, for instance, complained that there weren't enough famous names on the list.
Although Anthony Horowitz and JK Rowling have indeed been passed over - perhaps because almost every British household must own at least one of their books already - the twelve are a solid assortment of prizewinners and bestsellers like Malorie Blackman, Eva Ibbotson, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Philip Reeve (winner of last year's Guardian children's fiction prize). I haven't read every book on the list - though I wrote one of them - so don't feel qualified to judge its merits, but most of the authors will be familiar to anyone who has any interest in children's books.
Now we just have to persuade the government to extend the scheme to the rest of the population.
So, tell me this. What book would you choose to find on your desk, wrapped in brown paper and string? And, if you were going to pick the twelve books that each of us could take home for free, what would they be?
