A very different book by the author of “The Time Traveller’s wife”, based on a short story, serialised in the Guardian. At the start of the story, Alexandra encounters a Winnebago late at night. Inside she meets the “librarian” and browses shelves filled with all the books she’s ever read. Another nine years pass before she sees the bookmobile again, but those encounters have a profound effect on her life and aspirations. Based on the author’s childhood dreams and inspired by an H G Wells short story, it takes as its premise “we are what we read”.

Anyone who has ever stood behind me in the local Mobile library will testify that I treat it as a kind of “literary supermarket sweep”. Like Alexandra, I love to read, and this book – the first graphic novel I’ve read – intrigued me with its suggestion that heaven might be one big library.

Verdict: It’s pretty short, so take time to savour it ***