Sometimes you find a book and sometimes a book finds you.

I recently wrote a story called the Book Elves where the title creatures live in bookshops and make sure books are in the right place. That doesn’t mean they are shelved in a specific order, they have to place them where they can be found by the right reader.

In a charity shop in Southwold I came across Imaginary Cities by Darran Anderson. Anderson (no relation) muses on the cities of the mind – fabulous places in books, paintings, and the minds of visionary architects. The blurb mentioned mentions utopias, and the Situationists, and the first page I glanced at quoted Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities – a book I love.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a signed limited edition, dedicated to another Tim. This was obviously a book meant for me.

I am loving it so far. The style and wide ranging referencing reminds me of Umberto Eco, and there can be no higher praise. Thank you, book elves.