Don't get me wrong – I've nothing against books. In fact, I think books are great. It's just that I get annoyed by the attitude conveyed by some psychiatrists that the only qualifications needed to be a decent psychiatrist are a classical education, some foreign travel and the contents of a few good books. A bit like the diplomatic service. Although this may have been acceptable once upon a time, it isn't now. We have had at least 100 years to benefit from advances in the biological and social sciences and specific research in our field, so it is time we considered novels as holiday and recreational reading and not a substitute for study. That is one of the arguments set in train when I received the invitation to do ‘Ten books'. Another acknowledges just how much I enjoy reading other people's choices, both for forcing me to expand the ever-growing list of books I really must read and for what they say about the choosers.