“Buying books would be a good thing,” quipped Schopenhauer, “if one could also buy the time to read them in.” In this, the misanthropic German revealed the dilemma for all book lovers: so many books, so little time. According to the US trade magazine Publishers Weekly, a quarter of a million books are published annually in the United States alone. Once you allow for language, genre, taste and luck, it's still possible to be intrigued or provoked by hundreds of titles every year. And then there are all the old books: from ancient works of Greek philosophy, Roman drama or Japanese religion, to last year's missed blockbuster. Unlike films or paintings, these works can't be enjoyed in an hour. We have to devote days and weeks to them. (This was the rationale behind T. S. Eliot's terse defence of poetry in the modern age: “It takes up less space.”) Put simply, literature is yet another forum for distraction; a chance to be waylaid by less valuable pursuits.

With this in mind, I've written a few words on the more charming, profound or authoritative books and essays I've read for Distraction. Most titles are stocked in universities or public collections, but some are worth buying. A home library is a wonderful thing – it offers continuity, access and inspiration. Perhaps most importantly, it stands as an enduring emblem of our ambitions and experiences.