While travelling in Calgary, Alberto Manguel was struck by how the novel he was reading seemed to reflect the world he was living in. An article in the daily paper would be suddenly illuminated by a passage in the novel; a long reflection would be prompted by a single word.

He decided to keep a record of these moments, rereading a book a month, and formed A Reading Diary: a volume of notes, impressions of travel, of friends, of public and private events, all elicited by his reading.

"Inspirational and enormously entertaining." - * Big Issue *

"Charminly erudite . . . these warm and wise fragments of memoir, observation and meditation all belong in the class of books that readers - and re-readers - aore, rather tahn gate-keeping critics admire. Manguel dives back with infectious delight . . ." - * Independent *

"Its ebb and flow beautifully celebrate the way the best fiction works: quiety informing, embracing, providing connections and sometimes even changing the way one sees reality." - * Metro *

"An elegant, quaint and sensitive meditation on the nature of reading." - * Times Literary Supplement *

"Certain to give civilized pleasure." - * Observer *