The Library Book

As an avid patron of the library from toddler storytimes to getting my own library card on the bookmobile in elementary school to working in educational publishing for years to serving as a trustee today, I was geeked out to read Susan Orlean's “The Library Book.”

At first, the book walloped my expectations from the author's description of meditative trips to the library with her mother to the early, rather wild history of the LA public library to the fire that wreaked havoc on the main branch in 1986.

Somewhere between 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through, however, the book seemed to loose its momentum. Perhaps it's because the denouement of who lit the fire fizzled in real life it perhaps it's because the author was t sure how to wrap up the book.

So, check this book out from your local library because it's definitely well-written and interesting, even if you're not a library but like me.