"The Library Book"

[MsAmerica]

I happened on "The Library Book," by Susan Orlean, and I'm so glad I did! Best thing I've read in a long time.

Technically, it's about the 1986 fire that devastated the Los Angeles public library. But it's so much more than that. It's the poignant story of the fire and its aftermath, the mystery of the cause, the author's personal love of books and libraries, the development of libraries in the past century, the history of book burning ... and she's such a fun writer.

From the book:
Our visits to the library were never long enough for me. The place was so bountiful. I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye. Those visits were dreamy, frictionless interludes that promised I would leave richer than I arrived. It wasn’t like going to the store with my mom, which guaranteed a tug-of-war between what I wanted and what my mother was willing to buy me; in the library I could have anything I wanted. It was such a thrill leaving a place with things you hadn’t paid for; such a thrill, anticipating the new books we would read. On the ride home, my mom and I talked about the order in which we were going to read our books and how long until they needed to be returned, a solemn conversation in which we decided how to pace ourselves through this charmed evanescent period of grace...

The Library Book
By Susan Orlean
www.simonandschuster.com/boo.../9781476740188

And I hope I'm not the only one here who loves libraries, right?

Read more: www.city-data.com/forum/books/3023635-library-book.html#ixzz5kNMMm1JX

It looks interesting but at over £7 on the kindle it's just too expensive at the moment.

Well, considering it's "The Library Book," you could always try getting it from a LIBRARY.

:D

I have a reserved copy waiting for me at the library - just need to finish a book in order to be able to collect that one!

I loved this book. So many interesting characters that I intend to read more about.
And it made me so nostalgic for the libraries of my youth I went online and bought a date stamp .

That looks really good, thanks for the recommendation. I will also check my library though as it is $24.99 here in Aus (over 13 pounds at today’s exchange rate!!!). Books are SO expensive here.