In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

• F.B.A. provides an in-depth photographic presentation of this item to stimulate your feeling and touch. More traditional book descriptions are immediately available.

In this work 40 leading writers explain what first made them interested in reading. They describe the comics and childhood classics that first inspired them to read, and what today continues to do so. Contributors include Catherine Cookson, Jeanette Winterson, John Mortimer and Sue Townsend.

Review: It took me a long time to finish this, but it’s a really nice book to dip into in between reading other things. It is a collection of short pieces by famous writers – maybe four or five pages each – reminiscing about their childhood reading, musing on the place books have in their lives, and discussing what they read nowadays. Some of the writers have added a ‘top ten’ list of their favourite books to the end of their pieces, and each author has been allocated an illustrator, giving a varied and colourful flavour to the pages. With the exception of a couple of duds – including, to my surprise, Alan Hollinghurst – it’s a lovely ensemble piece, bringing back memories of my own childhood reading: how I read, what I read and how different books floated into my life. I had to read it with a piece of paper and a pen next to me because there were so many books I wanted to chase up, old favourites and as yet unread masterpieces, having heard them praised so highly. Although the book is quite old – the youngest author is Jeanette Winterson – I might get myself a copy (I read it from the library) because the themes and many of the books are so timeless and universal that they’ll always ring true.