Howards End is on the Landing

Starred review from September 15, 2010
One day British novelist Susan Hill went to the bookshelves in her home looking for a copy of Howards End. She didnt find it (at least not at first), but she did come upon several other books she had never read. That started her thinking: Why not devote a years reading time just to the books on her own shelves? The project launched, she began a systematic browse through all the books in her house (its an old house with lots of floors and shelves on every floor, not to mention the landings between floors). This delightful bibliophiles memoir records her experience, both the browsing and the reading. Along the way, she developed a kind of second project: If she could only keep 40 books, which ones would they be? The list of 40 appears at the end, and its a charmingly eccentric batch of books, but the real fascination in reading Hills ruminations isnt about the list but, rather, about how she reads and how living with books enriches her life. Those who collect books in any fashion will be lost in their own memories as Hill muses on things that fall out of books, or defends writing in books, or, best of all, argues against overorganizing the books on her shelves (no more wonderful surprises). Just try to read this book without nosing around your own shelves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)