In a world of overwhelming choice, I love the whittled-down book selection at my local street library | Jane Howard

Jane Howard

Feb. 10, 2025, 10:44 p.m.

There may be a book I want to read, there may not. But making the choice feels so much easier than keeping up with new releases

I am a voracious reader, but it is easy to feel there are too many books in the world. How do you find the time to keep up with all those new releases? To say nothing of the overwhelm that comes from even stepping in a bookshop. There you’re faced with not only the latest titles but also the classics you’ve missed and the biographies you hadn’t heard of but find yourself drawn to. The library is the same – the masses of books too frequently inspires inertia.

But around the corner from my house is the local little street library – a small wooden box with a plastic door, holding the donated books of my neighbourhood.