I read Wired magazine every month and have done for years. The optimism is infectious and the glimpses of our technological future inspiring.

I read Intelligent Life magazine every quarter because, frankly, its intelligent, beautifully written and gives me a broad overview of the arts.

The iPad editions of both are stunning.

I read business books to get better at what I do professionally and to pay forward to my clients.

I read novels to escape into other people’s lives, appreciate what I have and stimulate my imagination.

I read history to contextualise the present and understand the sacrifices that have been made by others for their beliefs.

As an only-child I learned to educate and entertain myself through the written word (and the comic) from a very early age.

As well as the usual Marvel and DC characters, I would spend my 9 pence a week pocket money on Classics Illustrated, who took every major work of fiction from the last 500 years and converted them into what would now be called a graphic novel, without the panache of an Alan Moore but providing a fast-track to literature for a working class lad from Manchester.

Nowadays I read almost everything on my iPad Mini or an old Kindle for when I’m sunbathing.

My favourite authors and writers now are:

• Orhan Pamuk
• Haruki Murakami
• Iain Banks
• China Mieville
• Cormak McCarthy
• Seth Godin

You can follow my reading list on Goodreads.