A Reading Diary: A Year of Favourite Books

Product Description While travelling in Calgary, Alberto Manguel was struck by how the novel he was reading seemed to reflect the world he was living in. An article in the daily paper would be suddenly illuminated by a passage in the novel; a long reflection would be prompted by a single word.He decided to keep a record of these moments, rereading a book a month, and formed A Reading Diary: a volume of notes, impressions of travel, of friends, of public and private events, all elicited by his reading. Review Inspirational and enormously entertaining. ―Big IssueCharminly erudite . . . these warm and wise fragments of memoir, observation and meditation all belong in the class of books that readers - and re-readers - aore, rather tahn gate-keeping critics admire. Manguel dives back with infectious delight . . . ―IndependentA remarkable achievement. I finished the book with a sense of gratitude to have shared this journey through time in the company of a mind so lively, knowledgeable and sympathetic. -- P.D. JamesIts ebb and flow beautifully celebrate the way the best fiction works: quiety informing, embracing, providing connections and sometimes even changing the way one sees reality. ―MetroAn elegant, quaint and sensitive meditation on the nature of reading. ―Times Literary SupplementCertain to give civilized pleasure. ―ObserverA love letter written to reading. -- George Steiner From the Inside Flap The must-have literary book of the season! Over the course of a year, the bestselling author of A History of Reading spends a month with each of his 12 favourite books, allowing us to observe both the heart of the reading experience and how life around us can be illuminated by what we read.From June 2002 to may 2003, Alberto Manguel set out to reread twelve of the books he likes best, and to share with us, his "gentle readers," his impressions and experiences in doing so. We travel with him as he leaves Canada to set up house in a medieval presbytery in