Books about books are some of my favorite books and reading about reading is something I love to do, so when browsing in Hatchards in Piccadilly recently I was delighted to come across a book by Susan Hill first published in 2009. Its premise is simple. We all have books in our collections that we haven’t read or would love to read again, so why not dedicate a year to reading nothing other than what we own already? Hill’s idea, not likely to appeal to booksellers and publishers, of course, is in truth just a jumping-off point for her to write about her favorite authors, her love of books, reading, publishing, bindings, typography and pretty much anything else that catches the eye of a sensitive, intelligent bibliophile. And, because it’s written by Susan Hill, such an accomplished novelist herself, it’s all done with passion, fun, and insight.

Needless to say, I loved it. I learned a lot, too. It encouraged me to try writers I’ve overlooked so far (John Wain, for example) and to give another try to novelists I’ve found difficult or intimidating (such as Virginia Woolf). It made me think about books and reading in a new way. What more can I ask from a book than that?