how we read now

another reading survey published in the guardian today. i do love these lists, even if they've taken only a small sample of readers. This one is particularly revealing, as it confirmed that men are not our main consumers of fiction, yet they dictate what we read (publishing world) and value in our books (literary awards).
I do have to take issue with some of Prof Jardine's points though. Our most influential literary editors are female - Erica Wagner at the Times, Claire Armistead & Annalena McAfee at the Guardian and Jane Mays and Susie Dowdall at the Daily Mail and the industry's most influential book buyer is Caroline Ridding at Tesco.
What I thought was interesting was the number of translated works in the top 20 - 5 altogether - remarkable considering that british schools and universities are notorious for ignoring foreign (non-english) texts in their literary curriculums. but then we do study English Literature. i'm going to survey my male friends now to see what they come up with.

In other news, Annabel has recommended this site to me - super cute! I've flickr'd Yuko's vision of American Life-era Madonna above.