Reading to someone, or being read to, is a beautiful, intimate act. It is a comforting balm against the world, a time to abandon screens and a rare moment that forces one to be present.

It allows you to discover something new with a friend, a relative, a partner, for you to share something sincere that has shaped you, or for you to learn what has made them.

Better still, it allows the author to sing.

All of those techniques of language you studiously committed to memory are great on the page but magical when spoken. Assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and the rest – they’re more than theory!

Take this sentence from Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory (the very story that so rudely made me cry): “Possibly we doze; but the beginnings of dawn splash us like cold water: we’re up, wide-eyed and wandering while we wait for others to waken.”

Academically, you can recognise literary techniques. But read them aloud and I challenge you not to smile.

Loading

Fewer of us than ever are taking the time to read, and even when we do, it’s questionable just how much we understand. There are growing concerns of illiteracy, or merely functional literacy, around the world – so much so that in the UK, 2026 is the National Year of Reading, backed by the government.

We are also more lonely than ever, struggling to find real connection despite living in a reality defined by being more connected than ever.

The cure for each of these is simple: read more, be together more.

Christmas is the perfect time for you to give it a try. If you’re nervous to suggest it, there’s probably a child around you can pin it on. If not, blame C. S. Lewis. Or me. I’m very easy to blame.

Reading aloud is an act of defiance, an incitement to communal experience and, simply, joyful. Besides, why should kids have all the fun?

The Telegraph, London

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.