#lamplightpress

Visit the Lamplight Press website to read our fortnightly author showcase!

With 2013 well and truly behind us, the Design Observer is currently assessing the candidates for 2014. Here is a snapshot of what can be expected amongst the winners for the 2012 and 2013 book cover design competitions.

Changing yourself without having something give you a reason to change is a change that will never stick. Authors have a power with words. Reading books will make you a better person. Reading a new author you’ve never heard of before, or a genre you’ve never thought about dabbling in can help you make a change if you’re really adamant on making one.

So how can a book help you in this fine time we now know as 2014? And no I’m not talking about self-help books, unless that works for you.

Picking up something you’ve never thought about reading, or maybe something you always wanted to read but never had the chance is an even better idea. Reading a book is an experience that can change the way you think, the way you see the world and more importantly how you see yourself in relation to that world. A good book is a powerful thing and whilst not every book you may read will be life altering a good book is always worth a few hours, days or weeks to spend time consuming its words.

Maybe, if you’re brave, instead of reading something new you could write something new. Hell, writing something might help you to understand yourself even more than you could ever know. Or, you might realise that you have no talent of writing and no interest in it, in which you’ve now learnt that you’re no good at writing and will never write a novel. Congratulations.

So go ahead, pick up that Kindle your mum brought you last Christmas. Take a trip to your local book shop (double points if it’s independent) and start reading. If you’ve not read for ages then you’ll get into the groove again. If you’re an English student then completely ignore this article but still, pick up a book you’ve wanted to read for ages. Give it a try, you might be surprised.