SCOTS inmates are using celebrity hypnotist Paul McKenna to kick their smoking habits.
The TV host’s self-help guide – Quit Smoking Today – has been revealed as one of the most borrowed books from HMP Perth’s library.
The book has become an unlikely hit with inmates as the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) prepares to outline its plans for no-smoking facilities in all prisons by December.
The ranking of top reads for inmates at the prison was revealed by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the SPS.
The documents provided revealed that a number of other surprising reads have topped the list among bookworm convicts.
The most borrowed fiction book at the prison is Jack Reacher thriller, The Hard Way, by Lee Child.
Second and third place go to a crime page-turner titled The Quickie by James Patterson, and then Bitten – a fantasy horror about a female werewolf.
Fight Club – the novel that inspired the hit 1999 Brad Pitt film – also made the top-ten list.
At the top of the non-fiction most-read titles was The Oxford Paperback Dictionary and Thesaurus – followed in second place by the DSA’s Official Theory Test for Car Drivers.
A real-life crime tale of inner city drug dealing and violence, Corner – by The Wire creator David Simon – has also made it to one of the top spots on the list.
And Other People’s Money – the story of “Britain’s boldest credit card faudster” also made the list, at number eight.
Meanwhile, Paul McKenna’s book on kicking the habit of smoking topped the list of titles in the health genre.
Yoga
But it was closely followed by Marin Schwichtenberg’s Yoga for Beginners, Stephen Jones’ Coping with Bipolar Disorder and Graeme Marsh’s Training with Free Weights.
And a Teach Yourself Complete Gaelic title also made the list of top ten audio books enjoyed by prisoners.
Perth’s prison library holds 6,000 titles – but unlike many other prisons managed by the SPS there are no DVDs available to borrow.
The SPS will outline its plans to roll out indoor smoke-free prison facilities in December of this year after prison bosses south of the border revealed that some of their facilities would completely ban smoking indoors.
