Books
Is it wrong to read the ending of a book first?
Reading the last page first isn't a crime, but it does trade away something a book can only give once. Who does it, what…
Subject
Books
The stories that shape me, and the ones I keep returning to.
Books
Is rereading books a waste of time?
Only if reading is a race. Why a second reading is a different book, why comfort rereads count, and when it might be time…
Books
Should you write in your books?
The pristine copy is not the most respected one. Why a book with your pencil in its margins is worth more to you, and…
Books
How to organise your bookshelves
Alphabetical, by subject, by colour or by size: how to choose a system that matches the way you actually use your books, and keep…
Books
How to start a book club that lasts
Many book clubs fade within a few months, and it is rarely the books. The few decisions that keep one going, settled before anyone…
Books
Do audiobooks count as reading? What the research says
The argument is usually about credit. The evidence is about what happens in your head, and it is more interesting than either side allows.
Books
Some books are not meant to be finished
I abandoned a prize-listed novel at page ninety and felt immediately, uncomplicatedly happy. On the rule of fifty, sunk costs, and why finishing is…
Books
The books that gave me words for things I couldn’t explain
Long before I could describe what was happening to me, I could recognise it on a page. On reading as vocabulary rather than escape.
Books
Why I still read when life gets loud
Reading is the first thing I drop when things get busy, and the thing whose absence I feel most. On protecting a quiet that…