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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
What a treat of a book! This was a fascinating read for so many reasons. The arson aspect, the glimpse into the history of the library and all the librarians, the history of the Goodhue building and more.
Hands down my favorite parts were all the librarian tidbits. How even 50, 60, 70+ years ago there were people pushing to make libraries more than just book repositories. So interesting.
And as someone that reads a library book basically every day, thank you to the author for bringing this all to my attention!
Hands down my favorite parts were all the librarian tidbits. How even 50, 60, 70+ years ago there were people pushing to make libraries more than just book repositories. So interesting.
And as someone that reads a library book basically every day, thank you to the author for bringing this all to my attention!
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
A wonderful introduction to the modern libraries within a true crime framework
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I don’t normally read non-fiction, but this was presented in a very interesting way. It not only tells the story of the Los Angeles Central Library Fire, but the history of libraries and librarians.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but absolutely loved it. If you’ve ever spent a happy afternoon wandering the shelves of a library, you’ll appreciate this read!
emotional
funny
informative
slow-paced
A great book about a really interesting and important library. The Los Angeles library’s history and the fire (which I hadn’t heard of) in the 1980s makes for a full cast of characters, and Orlean does an excellent job of tracking how public libraries have developed, changed and adapted.
Edited to add: I re-read this by listening to the audio book, and I really wish Susan Orlean hadn't read it herself. She's a great writer, but a less-than-average narrator. This time, I found I was slightly more annoyed at the oh-gee-libraries-are-more-than-books theme, and the central question seems to be, "who set the fire?" even though it absolutely isn't. By the end, I felt the connection to the possible arsonist harmed the more interesting story she was telling - that of the Los Angeles Library and the people who run it and the people it serves.
Edited to add: I re-read this by listening to the audio book, and I really wish Susan Orlean hadn't read it herself. She's a great writer, but a less-than-average narrator. This time, I found I was slightly more annoyed at the oh-gee-libraries-are-more-than-books theme, and the central question seems to be, "who set the fire?" even though it absolutely isn't. By the end, I felt the connection to the possible arsonist harmed the more interesting story she was telling - that of the Los Angeles Library and the people who run it and the people it serves.
Wow. Wow wow wow. Are all Susan Orlean's books this good, or did I just love it because I love libraries? She does an amazing job of combining the history of the LAPL, the story of the arson, biographical information about the accused arsonist, the mission and operation of the modern library, and even her own personal experiences with libraries, among other things. It is an incredibly riveting, well-woven story and I loved it. I want everyone to read it. The only thing that kept me from 5 stars was that I sometimes found her narration a tad grating, and one element that was probably neat in the print book (listing call numbers and titles related to each chapter at its beginning) did not translate well to audio at all. Otherwise, fabulous.