A Bit of Background…

For those who do not already know me, my name is Alex Isitt, and I am currently in my 3rd year at Oxford Brookes University, studying Publishing Media. In this blog, I am hoping that I will be able to share some of the more important lessons I have learned and the issues that I have been made aware of through my studies and give my own humble thoughts on the goings on of the publishing world. As a book lover, I feel I must include some of the more recent and noteworthy reading that I have been doing, in the hope that you too might be tempted to pick up a copy and get stuck in!

Early Life

I was born in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, but grew up in St. Albans with my parents and my brother. My early years revolved heavily around reading as a main source of entertainment - screens were few and far between! As such, I began to read often, right the way through until beginning secondary school. I read anything and everything, as long as it was fiction. I would churn through novels like it was going out of fashion (Oh, the irony!). To this day, one of the many bookshelves in the house stands as a testament to this, as I am sure there is not one title that it contains that I have not read. Sadly, it remained untouched for many a year, as my reading habits declined.

Growing Up

Throughout secondary school, my love of reading began slowly to fade, as other social and academic pressures took its place. In only a short space of time I went from reading everyday to barely reading at all, save for that done as part of an English, History or RE lesson. For a time this felt like the right thing - I had more time to devote to what I felt were more worthwhile activities, usually involving a screen in some way. Over time books felt out of their prime position in my life. This felt right for a time, yet once I had finished school, and the pressure of reading for academic purposes had been removed, I found myself longing to read again. There was just one issue - I no longer could. I do not mean this literally, of course. By this I mean to say that I had been reconditioned - my brain now sought the bright lights of a screen and the visual intensity of a movie or TV show; it needed the hard work done for it, the imagination already carried out. For want of a better word, my brain was fried.

A Return to Reading

Coming to university brought about a resurgence in me that I needed. My choice to study Publishing Media came from the bygone love for books that I felt was still in me, deep down. The transition was slow, but through lectures and seminars and through being surrounded by like-minded, avid book lovers I began to remember what it was that so enthralled me all those years ago. It is with this in mind that I write this blog, not only as a way of sharing my concerns regarding the dangers that face the publishing industry, but as a way of cultivating my own love for the printed book, for which I feel believe their is not replacement.