A survey found that the biggest threat to book reading is not the Internet but the increasing lack of leisure time.

A study found that new ways of buying books, such as on the Internet, had helped to send sales soaring.

It also found the long-heralded death of the book is fictional. Britain remains a nation of book lovers with novels and non-fiction books read in 90% of homes.

Take the advice of the American writer PJ O'Rourke - "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."