A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK A WASHINGTON POST TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 “A constant pleasure to read…Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book.” –The Washington Post “CAPTIVATING…DELIGHTFUL.” –Christian Science Monitor * “EXQUISITELY WRITTEN, CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING.” –The New … “CAPTIVATING…DELIGHTFUL.” —Christian Science Monitor * “EXQUISITELY WRITTEN, CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINING.” —The New York Times * “MESMERIZING…RIVETING.” —Booklist (starred review)
A dazzling love letter to a beloved institution–and an investigation into one of its greatest mysteries–from the bestselling author hailed as a “national treasure” by The Washington Post.
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library–and if so, who?
Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.
In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.
Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present–from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.
Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books–and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.
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Fascinating view of libraries and the people who work there as well as the patrons.
Fascinating – Ms Orlean can make any subject on earth interesting. This is no exception: an unlikely subject, the LA Central Library fire of 1986 becomes a story of memory, society, truth and even books!
Non fiction about the fire that destroyed the Central Library in Los Angeles. Well written with lots of information about libraries .
This was a really good and fun read. As a biblioholic, I love reading books about books.
If you love to read and spend time in libraries, this is a must-read. A fact-filled narrative about the Los Angeles Library fire, arson forensics, dedicated and eccentric librarians, how to salvage water-soaked books and the attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the fire. Well-organized and well-crafted, Orlean held my interest to the last page. Bravo!
A book lover will love to read about all the books lost and saved in the historical library fire in Los Angeles. It is also a crime drama.
I’ve been reading Susan Orlean since THE ORCHID THIEF, one of my all time favorite books. In this one, she brings her usual insight and brilliant writing to a 1986 Los Angeles library fire.
As a writer, I understand why Orlean felt it necessary to detail for herself the history of the building, the collections, the librarians, the city of Los Angeles, libraries, book burning, arson investigation, and much else. But I’m not sure that all of that material should have made it into a book that promised to be about the fire and the fascinating person who might (or might not) have caused it. More on my blog: https://susanalbert.com/bookscapes-briefly-08-07-19/
I couldn’t put this book down!
I loved this book. Admittedly, as a former librarian, I was rimed to love it, but it’s more than just a true tale of the Los Angeles Library system. Orlean reveals her own relationship with books and libraries, along with complex and surprising history of the LA library system. The thread holding it all together is a fire that almost destroyed the main library building and the pursuit of the chief suspect.
This was a well-written thought-provoking story. I liked getting to know about the library fire in LA and the history of the library. Not just the history in LA but also in parts of the country and the world. Definitely makes you appreciate librarians and the library system more after reading this story. If you love history then is a definite must-read.
Disappointingly long and uninteresting.
This true tale about a devastating library fire is interesting as a mystery, but at the same time you learn SO much about libraries themselves. I found it fascinating.
Susan Orlean is my go-to author for creative nonfiction after I was introduced to her work in a college class. She’s brilliant. Her topics off the beaten track. And The Library Book is going to be a classic for those of us who love the crack of a new book, the smell of the library (except after a fire), the solitude and lost hours in our childhood libraries, and, well, just books and everything about books and other people who love them.
I listed to the audio book of this. Not sure I would have read it. The story jumps around a lot which would have made it hard to read. It covers everything from the library fire, to information about libraries (past, present and future) and librarians, patrons and such. There is a chapter on arson. But.. I found everything enjoyable to listen to the story, the information, the insight was wonderful you could tell the author loves libraries and books too. Wonderful book
I listened to this as an audiobook and found it informative about how the L.A. library system works.
I chose The Library Book as my March read by an author I’ve not read before. I really liked the concept and was looking forward to the book. I enjoyed the history but the author seems to get stuck on the minute details which drag on and on. The story was good and interesting but probably could have been about half the size and still be meaningful.
About 50 pages in to this book, I was thinking about quitting it. However, after a few pages of skimming, I really started getting into it. I enjoyed it, but gave it a lower rating because of the title. Everyone in our book group agreed that the book should have been titled “The Great Los Angeles Library Fire” or something similar. Also, a diagram or drawing of the interior of the library would have been helpful.
One of the most engrossing books I’ve ever read, although the premise might not sound so. Starts with the destruction of the Los Angeles Central Library, continues through salvaging contents, rebuilding, restocking, etc. – through innovative creativity about purposes and services of libraries. A MUST READ!!!
I had not read any of Susan Orleans works before picking up this book that was on many best-of-the-year lists. What a revelation! The Library Book (title embossed on the hard cover like long-ago books) is my favorite book of 2018.
To give you a little taste, Orleans writes of librarians needing to know some of the “harder facts of having some of the city’s estimated forty-five thousand homeless people among the clientele—facts like how to spot bedbugs and lice, and how to detect signs of tuberculosis.”
I am a writer and avid reader so there’s a natural affinity. But that would not be enough. This book with exhaustive information of how libraries work and key figures in the Los Angeles library system could have been as dry as a rock. Instead, it is spellbinding.