In the March issue of Mental Health Practice Rick Tucker wrote an affecting opinion piece on how reading had helped him as he emerged from a depressive episode. He mentioned the Reader Organisation, a charity that has been running reading groups in a wide variety of settings, including mental health units and prisons. It has opened up the joys of literature to people who might otherwise never read a book. He pointed out how the communication between author and reader can be life affirming, something that is sorely needed when people are depressed.