I’m guided by the same things as other bibliophiles, really – immediate interest, the history of literature, the web of literary connections, recommendations and sometimes, a pretty jacket. I’ll give some things a go if I consider they fall within a kind of purview – say, new Australian novelists.

I get very fussy about the general mass. If it hasn’t grabbed me in the first few pages, it goes back on the shelf. I’m sure I miss some good stuff this way, but what can you do? And you can usually tell if someone uses language in an interesting way pretty early…

I get the ritual aspect of sitting in the dark with strangers but am over it now. People just eat too much! There used to be an unspoken allowance that you rustled and slurped and chewed for the trailers, credits and maybe first ten minutes or so of the film. Then we were allowed to concentrate. But no more. Now it doesn’t stop. No wonder I see families at the cinema where every member is massively obese – the amount of food they get through in 90 minutes is terrifying.

The concept of mealtimes seems old-fashioned. Some people seem never to actually stop eating if an hour or two at the cinema is too long to go without food.