Alex Johnson is a freelance journalist and part of the digital team at The Independent. He is also the author of four books, including Improbable Libraries, Bookshelf, and Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution. His latest title, A Book of Book Lists, was published by the British Library in 2017.

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• The Enemies of Books by William Blades (1881)Unpacking my library by Walter Benjamin (1931)A Lesson in Fiction by Stephen Leacock (1910)Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading by Charles Lamb (1822) Books for Holidays in the Open by Theodore Roosevelt (1916)Bibliomania by John Ferriar (1809)The Uses of Reading by Rudyard Kipling (1912)On Reading and Books by Arthur Schopenhauer (1851)On books and the housing of them by W.E. Gladstone (1890) Of Studies by Francis Bacon (1601)On Destroying Books (1919)

Alex Johnson is a freelance journalist and part of the digital team at The Independent. He is also the author of four books, including Improbable Libraries, Bookshelf, and Shedworking: The Alternative Workplace Revolution. His latest title, A Book of Book Lists, was published by the British Library in 2017.

Select Guide Rating

• The Enemies of Books by William Blades (1881)Unpacking my library by Walter Benjamin (1931)A Lesson in Fiction by Stephen Leacock (1910)Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading by Charles Lamb (1822) Books for Holidays in the Open by Theodore Roosevelt (1916)Bibliomania by John Ferriar (1809)The Uses of Reading by Rudyard Kipling (1912)On Reading and Books by Arthur Schopenhauer (1851)On books and the housing of them by W.E. Gladstone (1890) Of Studies by Francis Bacon (1601)On Destroying Books (1919)