Who reads what.

I mentioned in a recent thread, I have expanded my hobby of hunting second hand books. I had heard from other people's experiences that 'Labour and Lib dem supporters tend to be better read than Tory supporters' and thought 'what rubbish' but it turns out to be utterly true! I don't know about 'better read' but certainly more widely read and more academic. In London, charity shops, jumble sales and church fetes turn out the best finds in Lib Dem wards followed by Labour wards and lastly Tory who seem to read rubbish or perhaps are too stingy to donate to charity?! I was at Hampstead 'friends of Lib Dems' summer fete yesterday and got 15 books that are recently published, quality academic titles.

Another trend is that Methodist Church fetes tend to have better quality books than CofE and CofE are better than Catholic.

Hackney, Dalston and South East (camberwell, Walworth) are hotbeds for books on art and other creative stuff. North London generally good for academic books (Golders green of course for Jewish books).

Another thing that shows is the affluence of the city. That people can afford to give away books worth no trivial sum. I was in Leicester recently and was expecting there to be lots of cheaper books around but the selection was terrible - there really was only unsellable junk.

It is fascinating going through other people's reads - I reckon there is a thesis in here somewhere.