Pauline Black: Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list? — FLAPSS

The question

Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

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PB

Pauline Black

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Nineteen Eighty-Four. I always meant to read it before 1984, and once 1984 had passed I didn’t see the point.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Mentioned in this answer

Book Nineteen Eighty-Four · George Orwell

Others on this question

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Fifty per cent of the books on my shelf, so much so that I gave them away.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 February 2026 source ↗

I’ve never read any Proust.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Probably all of them because I am not big into English literature. I read a lot of self-improvement books.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 December 2023 source ↗

I’ve been lugging around Doris Lessing’s books, which I have yet to read.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2024 source ↗

More from Pauline Black

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Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

I’m argumentative.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Question What is the worst job you have ever had? Craft & work

Giving barium enemas. I used to be a radiographer in Coventry.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Question How would you describe what love feels like to you? Relationships

An umbilical cord.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

It was a small gig and I was doing Three Minute Hero, which has a long, held note at the end, and I fell off the stage.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Question How close have you come to dying? Death & what remains

I fell asleep in a room that had an oil heater and it filled with carbon monoxide and, if it hadn’t been for my husband, Terry, I would have died.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Question How would you sum yourself up in three words? Identity & self

Fizzy like lemonade.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

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