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In the 2015 Reading Challenge — complete at least fifty-two books from 52 categories — I find by the end of April that I’ve fallen a little behind. And it gets worse: I’ve resorted to a bit of cheating.

Yes, I know, “cheat, and you cheat yourself”. When I was a classroom teacher I couldn’t understand the classroom cheater — why would anyone want to pretend to be brainier than they were, especially when they would almost always be caught out? And video game ‘cheats’, which allow you to progress to higher levels without the graft, they’re not only accepted but have for many years been built into games, a kind of institutionalised acceptance that cheating’s OK. What about those ‘Get more followers!’ invitations, encouraging you to pretend that you are really popular on social media by buying up votes, just like corrupt politicians?

So, yes, I’m cheating…