Would love the next one to go on for a month - I always get so many interesting reading recommendations and would love to have enough time to immerse myself in a number of books from one year all in a go. I chose a long book - Catch-22 - and still in the middle of it. Have enjoyed reading the posts

Photo about 200m up a hill in the Lake District, overlooking Grasmere and Rydal Water. A few grey, threatening clouds in the distance.

Been three months since discovering arthritis in both knees and this is the first hike I've been on. Taking it easy, only went up about 200m as slowly building up knee strength. But wasn't sure I'd get this far so am
happy. Partner doing tougher walk; I'll head to excellent bookshop in Grasmere.

A hardcover copy of the Everyman edition of Joseph Heller's Catch-22, open to the title page.

Been on my shelf for years - thanks #1961club for prompting me to start reading it this week.

A lot of their list is available in the UK through other publishers but my favourites would be An Awfully Big Adventure, They, and The Feast. I do have a copy of The Ex-Wife still to read along with The Unspeakable Skipton - bought on recommendations from McNally fans here.

The end papers from the book A Very Great Profession: The Woman's Novel 1914-39 by Nicola Beauman published by Persephone Books which she founded. The image is the cover of the previous Virago edition of her book showing a still from the movie Brief Encounter. The character of Laura stands, wicker basket in her hand containing that week's library books.

My favourite "books in film" anecdote comes from Brief Encounter. Nicola Beauman saw the film and wondered what books Laura was checking out during her weekly library visits. So she researched the era, wrote a book, and founded Persephone Books to republish those same forgotten novels.

A still from one of the first scenes of the 1943 film of Jane Eyre starring Joan Fontaine. The camera draws in for a close-up of the first chapter of the book - except it isn't at all. Instead, it reads: My name is Jane Eyre . . . I was born in 1820, a harsh time of change in England. Money and position seemed all that mattered. Charity was a cold and disagreeable word.

Reading the chapter "Books in Films" in Nicholas Royle's Shadow Lines reminds me of the awful beginning of 1943's Jane Eyre - scripted by Aldous Huxley. The film begins with a shot of the first chapter of the book. Except as millions of fans know - it most definitely isn't. Ugh.

I think once Doug Gibson left and after the sad death of Ellen Seligman, the NCL never had a chance. Such a pity - I still look for them in used bookshops when I visit Canada

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed your piece. RIP NCL. I worked for Random House Canada when it had acquired M & S but not yet merged with Penguin. Kept having to apologize to Canlit professors for out of print titles. I constantly pushed for reprints and a marketing campaign for NCL but to no avail.

Sadly, M & S stopped caring about Canadian classics years ago. I still remember back in the nineties, a turntable floor display full of the New Canadian Library. It was a real thrill to read those. But then I still remember Longhouse Books which only carried Canlit.

Three white-spined books by Nicholas Royle sit on a crowded bookshelf. They are White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector, Shadow Lines: Searching for the Book Beyond the Shelf, and Finders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-hand Books.

Alas, moving across an ocean and limited space have effectively ended my book collecting days. Thankfully I can vicariously relive the joy of the hunt through the quirky adventures of @nicholasroyle.bsky.social ( am halfway through Shadow Lines now), and at least there's one set complete.

My copy just arrived. I'm in the middle of Shadow Lines at the moment having loved White Spines.

This is a blast from the past - read these years ago and loved them. Must look out for my copies

It's impressive isn't it?

Can't wait for Volume IV!

A stack of books including I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, There Were No Windows by Norah Hoult, The Double Turn by Carol Carnac, The Evin Prison Bakers' Club by Sepideh Gholian, Queen by Birgitta Trotzig, Keep by Jenny Haysom, By Horror Haunted by Celia Fremlin, On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle and The Feast by Margaret Kennedy.

Some excellent reading in March. Themes seemed to be prisons, real and fictional, and imprisonment, whether in the mind ( two were about dementia) or through life's circumstances. Highlights were the Harpman and Hoult and I am still enjoying Balle's inventive series. The Feast was clever and fun.

A photo of the novel There Were No Windows by Norah Hoult publushed by Persephone Press in its classic grey covers with cream labels.

What an astounding, heartbreaking novel. I defy anyone who has known anyone with dementia, not to well up in sad recognition. The Blitz setting adds an extra layer of confusion and danger. Based on Violet Hunt who held literary salons and also wrote ghost stories, that I will now seek out to read.

Thanks - yes the texturec bits were fun to knit. But as it's in worsted weight, I felt adding all that texture on ling sleeves would be a bit too much, although I have seen some gorgeous versions.

A woman stands next to a red brick wall, holding a coffee cup. She's wearing a hand knitted striped sweater in grey and variegated stripes of warm browns and oranges. The pattern is Mielinki by Veera Jussila.

A woman stands in front of wooden slat wall wearing a knitted short sleeve top. It has multiple bands of colourwork and texture in colours of teal, dark green, mustard and pink. The pattern is Rujuu by Zanete Knits.

My two latest FOs. On the left is Mielinki by Veera Jussila and on the right is the Rujuu sweater ( did a short sleeve version) by Zanete Knits. This was my first garment mystery knit-a-long and it was so much fun. Should be able to wear these for a few weeks more then it's summer knits. #knitsky

Ha - maybe it's to come. I am
just finishing volume 3 and looking forward to 4 when it's published in English next month.

Just loving this - do I rush into the third volume knowing I need to wait until April for the fourth ( already ordered) Or take a break and read three and four together? Excited there is more to come at any rate. Best thing I've read so far this year.

A copy of On the Calculation of Volume, volume 2 by Solvej Balle lies next to a latte on the counter of a coffee shop. The cover has a blurry vase of yellow flowers in the process of tipping over.

Another day, another coffee shop, another volume of this mesmerizing series. For a novel where each chapter starts on the same day, SO MUCH happens. Vol 1 had a sadness, especially over the widening gulf between Tara and her husband; in Vol 2, I was almost envying her her travels and studies.

Enjoyed your review. I love The Forbidden Zone but have not read any other of Borden's work although I have a few of her novels on the shelves somewhere.

A copy of On the Calculation of Volume, Volume 1 by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland shows a slightly blurred image of a woman turning away from the inside of a window, so we only see the back of her head and shoulders. Next to the book lies a half-filled cup of coffee.

Wasn't sure what to expect - was thinking it might be a bit Jeanne Dielman-ish but l'd compare it more in tone and mystery to Clarke's Piranesi, also a book I loved. For a novel about time, repetition and the minuitiae of life, I found this a gripping read - can't wait to see what happens next.

Ordered my copy this morning - looking forward to reading it

Great review - will have to get a copy. Like you, I've only read his non-fiction which I enjoyed very much

An indie one unfortunately - Safe Haven Books

I've just finished a recently published book where a character called Guy Cavanagh is also called Cavendish - twice in the same chapter! Book also riddled with typos. Completely off-putting

I wonder how many publisher rejections are generated by AI

Loved Perfect Days - will check this out, thanks for the recommendation

What great memories this has brought back. Truly a special week. I look forward to seeing your design xx