My hobby My Hobby (Reading) My hobby is reading. Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers. Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read a novel, when a play on television can tell you1 the same story with colour, picture, and action? Why read the biographies of famous people, when an hour-long television programme can tell you all that you want to know? Television has not killed reading, however. Today newspapers and magazines are sold in very large numbers. And books of every kind are sold more than ever before. Books are still a cheap way to get information and entertainment. Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are published today as paperback books, which are reasonably cheap. A paperback novel, for example, is almost always cheaper than an evening in the cinema or theatre, and you can keep a book forever and read it many times. Books at home are a wonderful source of knowledge and pleasure, and some types of books should be in every home. Every home should have dictionaries. Every home should have an atlas of the world, with large maps. A good encyclopedia is useful, too, because there you can find information on any subject. In addition, it is useful to have on your bookshelves other inquiry books such as history, science textbooks, cookery books, books about medicine and health, etc. It is important to have some fiction on your shelves, too. Then you can relax with a good story, or from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelf and read the thoughts and feelings of your favourite poets.