About

About The Reading Lists

So what is this all about? Well, the Reading Lists is a passion project. We think reading is essential and it pains us that so many people don’t do it. To be able to read is a true gift, a gift that a sizeable portion of the world’s population doesn’t receive. Our mission is to inspire more people to pick up great books and lose themselves in exotic worlds, learn complex lessons or perhaps just relax for a moment. We work very hard to keep the site updated with amazing content.

Why Reading Lists?

Reading lists are brilliant. Why? Well, because there are an awful lot of books out there. The average lifespan in the UK right now is 81.5 years, let’s say you start reading when you turn 13, and you read one book a month for your whole life. That is 822 books. Sounds like a lot, right? It’s really not when you compare it to the estimated 129,864,880 books that exist in the world. This means that you will only read approximately 0.0006% of the world’s books in your lifetime. This cruel fact of life is what fuels our desire to filter those millions of books and discover the very best. It’s kind of like Pareto’s famous 80/20 rule, except that it is 129,864,880/822 – not as catchy, I suppose.

Whose Reading Lists can we Expect?

We love the wide spectrum of guests we get to speak to for the website. We’re eager to pick the brains of the world’s most awesome people. We get to speak with entrepreneurs, philosophers, authors, musicians, athletes, investors, artists, psychologists and more. If you have someone in mind who you think would be the perfect interview candidate, then please feel free to get in touch. Scouring the world and reaching out to brilliant people is our job now, so any help would be much appreciated!

The Team

Anouska, Editor

Taking over as editor of The Reading Lists from Phil in late 2024, Anouska is the ultimate bookworm. She has worked in book publishing for 30 years, on titles ranging from self-help to cookery, and almost everything in between. She starts every day with a good coffee and the latest Wordle. Her reading tastes range widely across fiction and non-fiction, and choosing a favourite author would be like choosing a favourite child — simply not possible.

Phil, Founder

The founder of The Reading Lists is Phil. A self-confessed book nerd, with an addiction to buying books faster than he can read them. His full-time job is running a social media marketing agency, but he remains passionate about working evenings and weekends to create great website content and run the social media for TRL. He can usually be found reading non-fiction or thriller fiction.