“As movers and the moved both know”, John Updike noted, “books are heavy freight ... They make us think twice about changing addresses.” Books: A manifesto, or, How to build a library begins with the

Though January 1 marks the start of our calendar year, spring feels like the time when things really get going, as forests awaken, flowers bloom, migrating birds (swallows, swifts, warblers…) return f

The beauty of Lancashire’s Lune valley emerges from ...

“Where are we to begin?”, Virginia Woolf asks in her essay “How to Read a Book”. “How are we to bring order into this multitudinous chaos and so get the deepest and widest pleasures from what we read?

Which childhood book sparked your love of reading? The Shoe Shop Bears by Margaret J Baker, now sadly out of print. It was the first book I bought with my own money. I was bored by picture books and w

Dear Simon, Once again, the December 2025 issue had lots of memories to write about. Starting from the front, Gertcha! – I did love Chas and Dave, as did my husband. Of course, the family always watch