Where the idea of reading for pleasure has gone. Much as I love initiatives to encourage reading, the fact we need these initiatives tells its own tale. I find that sad.
How you can never predict in advance which characters/books/authors are going to take off. It makes you wonder how many are overlooked who shouldn’t be.
When comic novels will be considered seriously for the serious book and arts prizes. The same applies for genre novels, especially science fiction and fantasy. Wodehouse, Tolkein and Lewis would have been worthy winners of the Booker.
Where people are supposed to go to borrow books when all the libraries have gone. Borrowing books is a good way of testing an author out. Often people then go on to buy works they like… People who read and appreciate literature generally rarely riot. But then what do I know?!
Why grammar is not studied so much these days in schools. I love the way they’ve expanded literature (by the end of junior school my son had already been introduced to Dickens - this didn’t happen in my day) but grammar seems to have slipped. This is not just due to texting but schools need to find a way of making grammar fun - after all language is all about clarity and for that you do need a decent grasp of grammar.
How books are undervalued in a way they’ve never been before. They used to be the privilege of the rich - I’m glad that’s no longer the case - but unless you are a celebrity or your book sells millions and appeals to a wide age range, books are not appreciated. I appreciate that makes me sound a bitter harridan (!) but books, when available to more and more people as education standards rose, were loved. Penguin Books developed that but now?