The Library Book is a collection of memories, stories and essays which all display a passion for libraries from a variety of writers, including bestselling authors, journalists and a songwriter. From the very first lines of James Brown's This Place Will Lend You Books for Free, I thought, this person knows me. If you love books, you will find joy amongst the pages as authors share their stories of their relationship with libraries. From a young Stephen Fry discovering Oscar Wilde to the destruction of libraries in Julian Barne's dystopian England, it's a perfect book to dip into. It also serves as a great argument as to why we need our libraries and I think copies should be given to everyone who doubts that.

The China Mieville contribution is an extract from Un Lun Dun and Kate Mosse's is a reworked version of the short story, The Revenant. I did much prefer the reminiscent pieces over the stories, where it is easy to see how writing talents were nurtured.