Boffins at a lab somewhere in the Swiss Alps recently made a surprising discovery. For years it has been believed that the only prose a person ever needed to read for optimum stimulation of the cranial integuments is the various outpourings of Mr Key here at Hooting Yard. Now, after experiments on the brains of rats, voles, and Canada geese, and on plums, it transpires that turning one’s attention to other reading matter can actually be beneficial. Even moral pygmies can be improved by works other than those of Mr Key!

In keeping with this startling insight, and at the request of a couple of devotees, I have added to the site a Reading List. This comprises, in reverse chronological order, every book Mr Key has read since the beginning of the current year of Our Lord, MMXI. It does not include books tossed aside in irritation or despair after twenty pages, nor books where only bits and bobs – rather than the whole damned thing – were read. It will be updated regularly.