Caboodle Firsts: Be the first to read No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader

We're giving 100 Caboodlers the chance to read Mark Hodkinson's new book before it's out in February 2022.

This love letter to reading is a philosophical take on why we read and collect books, told through a working-class lens.

Mark Hodkinson grew up among the terrace houses of Rochdale in a house with just one book. His dad kept it on top of a wardrobe with other items of great worth – wedding photographs and Mark's National Cycling Proficiency certificate. If Mark wanted to read it, he was warned not to crease the pages or slam shut the covers.

Today, Mark is an author, journalist and publisher. He still lives in Rochdale, but is now snugly ensconced (or is that buried?) in a ‘book cave’ surrounded by 3,500 titles – at the last count. No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy is his story of growing up a working-class lad during the 1970s and 1980s. It’s about schools (bad), music (good) and the people (some mad, a few sane), and pre-eminently and profoundly the books and authors (some bad, mostly good) that led the way, and shaped his life. It’s also about a family who just didn’t see the point of reading, and a troubled grandad who, in his own way, taught Mark the power of stories.

In recounting his own life-long love affair with books, Mark also tells the story of how writing and reading has changed over the last five decades, starting with the wave of working-class writers in the 1950s and 60s, where he saw himself reflected in books for the first time.

Read the first chapter

Get your copy

This competition ended on 04/11/2021

Terms and Conditions

100 x people will receive a copy of No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader by Mark Hodkinson

By entering this competition, you also agree to the Caboodle Terms and Conditions and Caboodle Points Terms and Conditions.
Closing date: 11:59pm, Thursday 4th November 2021.
No purchase necessary.
Only one entry per person will be accepted. Entrants may not win more than one prize.
The competition is open to UK and Republic of Ireland residents except employees of the Booksellers Association and Book Tokens Ltd., their families, employees of participating bookshops, and anyone else connected with this promotion.
Entrants must be aged 16 or over.
The Promoter accepts no responsibility for entries that are incomplete, illegible, incorrect, corrupted or fail to reach the Promoter by the closing date for any reason. Automatically generated entries or entries via third parties are invalid and shall not be considered.
Entrants agree to the Promoter using their details in post-competition publicity. Your details will not be used for any other purpose, or passed onto any third parties, unless specified. Winners’ details will be shared securely with a third party (such as the publisher) in order to fulfil the dispatch of prizes.
Entrants will automatically collect 5 Caboodle Points. Find out more about How Caboodle Works.
The prizes are non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives, and are subject to availability. The Promoter reserves the right to amend the specification of the prize or offer an alternative prize. In exceptional circumstances, the Promoter reserves the right to foreclose the competition without notice.
Prizes are sent to winners prior to publication and so the cover may differ from the image shown, and may be an uncorrected proof copy.
The Promoter accepts no responsibility for winners not receiving the prize before stated publication date due to prize unavailability from the publisher, technical issue resulting in a delay from the publisher, or for any other reason.
The Promoter will choose winners at random from all qualifying entries.
Winners will receive the prize to the address they provided upon entering.
The Promoter will contact winners by email shortly after the closing date to inform them that their prize is on its way. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted.
The Promoter reserves the right to allocate the prize to another winner, or foreclose the prize.
The Promoter accepts no responsibility for winners not receiving the Promoter’s communications due to their spam filter, accidental deletion, incorrect postal address or email provided, or for any other reason. In the event of this, the Promoter is unable to provide compensation.
The Promoter accepts no responsibility for winners not receiving their prize once it has been dispatched. On a case-by-case basis, the Promoter will do their best to compensate the winner but regretfully this may not always be possible.
The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Promoter will only use your email address and other personal information as outlined in our privacy policy.
Promoter: Book Tokens Ltd, 6 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR.
Due to the ongoing pandemic (COVID-19), there may be a delay in prizes being dispatched or delay in contacting winners due to the availability of such prizes. The Promoter accepts no liability for the delay of prizes being received and is unable to compensated for delays or any other unavoidable issues.