I was very kindly given an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley and Random House/Vintage.

It's been a number of years since I read Lucy Mangan's memoir of childhood reading, "Bookworm", and reading her follow up now, I had the same warm, fuzzy, slightly nostalgic feeling of how I used to read, rather than how I read now. Like Lucy, books have always been there for me when I need them and though I feel I am significantly more discerning in my tastes (I don't think I'll ever have a collection of 10,000+), reading this was like a soothing aloe balm for a burnt soul. As she browsed through the Cambridge bookshops, fumbled through the second hand treasure troves of Norfolk and Hay-on-Wye, it felt like I was there with her. I particularly loved her small section on visiting New York and having the same complete sense of overwhelm in The Strand as I did when I visited.

'Bookish' does feature quite a significant amount on children's literature, clearly a passion of the author's, which I didn't necessarily enjoy as much, but the writing was strong enough for me to continue through those chapters. Altogether, a charming and funny reminder of how important books are in our lives. It'll make you want to pick another one up just as you've closed the cover on this one.

'Bookish' will be available from March 13th.