If it worked for John and Yoko, why not a bookseller?

My apologies to any of you who might have braved the snow and the wind chill Wednesday to come to Accent on Books, only to find it closed. Not only did I not make it in to open the store, I'll have to admit I spent part of the afternoon and evening reading in bed.

I don't need any inspiration to do that, but if I did, I could look to Jayne Ramage, of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland. She spent one entire day last month reading in bed. What made it even more unusual was that she did it while at work.

Ramage is the co-owner of the Watermill bookshop in Aberfeldy, and she decided to stage a 24-hour "bed-in" at her store to promote books and reading as a way to escape the gloom and doom of these troubled times. And she did it up right: blankets, pillows, tea and biscuits, the phone off the hook, and even a cat curled up on the end of the bed. As might be expected, her demonstration caused quite a lot of comment and, no doubt, more than a little jealousy. "Reading is totally recession proof," she said. "All I'm hoping people take from this is that picking up a new book, or an old favourite, is a great way of getting away from the stresses and strains of life."

More about Ramage's bed-in can be found here.

Yawn. Good night.