This was my first Patrick deWitt book and I found his writing style to be very slow. The book seemed to jump around and things were written about that ultimately didn’t add to the story line. Overall not a book for me.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I enjoyed certain parts of this book but not too much of it. I really had to force myself to finish it.

A retired librarian starts volunteering at a senior center which triggers a remembrance of his past.

This book wasn't quite as expected (though I can't really say what I *did* expect it to be), and not in a good way. It wasn't exactly bad, but also wasn't particularly enjoyable. It WAS very well-written, which made it easier to power through and get it finished. I have no doubt there will be plenty of readers who fall in love with The Librarianist, though.

I have never read anything by Patrick DeWitt, but I certainly will in the future. As a retired librarian, I found the back-stories of the protagonist's life so poignant and could relate to his love of books. Surrounded by an eccentric group of characters at the senior center, his ordinary life turned out to be so not ordinary after all.

Bob is a retired librarian who finds himself volunteering at a senior center after helping a resident back home. He makes friends with the residents there and his story is revealed.

This gave me of The Storied Life of AJ Fikry vibes in terms of writing style and tone. I think fans of that book will enjoy this one too.

A retired librarian’s story of his life, his dreams, his failures, and his regrets. Told through his volunteer connections with a Senior Center and Ok, I found that depressing.
Bob Cornet’s story probably has a certain charm that encompasses the good and the bad. For all this I failed to connect with him and his story. Others obviously did.

An Ecco ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

I really loved Bob Comet, one of those deWittian weirdos that populate his books. As a librarian(ist) myself, I was initially drawn to the title and then so pleased that Bob's profession wasn't the main point of the book.

Thank you to Ecco Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication. I was excited to hear about this book - I think I got news of it from Netgalley directly. It should be a book I love - a book about books, a librarian trying to win over a new community, a bit of historical fiction, and funny and thoughtful prose. However, after 15% of pages read in this book (more than 50 pages), it's not really drawing me in. It reminds me a little of A Man Called Ove, which I did like, but for some reason this one is not captivating my attention. (Either that, or I have a book hangover from Fourth Wing and nothing is satisfying me at the moment!). I do think this one is well written and it should draw an audience of those who love quieter books, but it's not typically my jam.

The story of a sad little man, told mostly in flashbacks. The actual plot is the story of a few days in the man's life, as he comes out of his lonely home to volunteer at a nursing home once a week. He meets characters, learns about himself, etc. The flashbacks tell the most of the story, and build the tension/drama.


What sells this book is deWitt, his writing, his characters. We meet a teenage girl spurned by a teenage boy and see the girl's anger, sadness, fear, relief, a tornado of emotion in only a couple of paragraphs. We meet two thespians/lesbians and in a few pages we know the hardships they've survived and what they're willing to tolerate in what's left of their life. Each character brings their own story to add to the story for the sad little man.

They come to life quickly and fade just as quickly, making room for more stories.


If you've read deWitt, this is more of the same style and excellence. If this is your first time with deWitt, this is a good place to start.


**I received this book and audiobook from NetGalley, this is an honest review.

I think the only reason I could believe these library stories is because I to happen to be a Librarian. But for general readers it might be hard to believe. But these stories do indeed happen.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for making this available for pre-publication review. There is only one quarrel I have with Patrick DeWitt…that Bob’s age is given as 72 and the details are of a much older man. Maybe that is true only from the perspective of this 72 year old reader? At any rate, a quiet story thoroughly laced with humor and compassion and the ordinary events that have happened in a most extraordinary life.

I absolutely loved this book from the moment I picked it up. I cannot wait to recommend it to customers looking for a good book!
The story focuses on a retired librarian who is very set in his routines and the life he has built for himself reading books at home. A chance encounter leads him to a volunteering at a Senior Living community where he finds real joy and purpose.
This is the kind of story that quietly steals readers hearts as it examines the tiny moments in our lives and the humanity found in them.

Bob Comet is a retired librarian who is solitary and finds himself wanting to fill up his days with a purpose. On one of his walks, he stumbles upon a woman who is stuck in a market, unable to orient herself. He accompanies her back to the senior community center where she lives and he decides to start volunteering there. Much of Bob's background is a mystery and it is slowly rolled out over the course of the book. It first goes back in time to his early years as a librarian where he meets his future wife as well as his best friend, and then goes further back in time to his childhood. I found Bob quite interesting as a character. The section about his relationship with his wife and his friend was the strongest section of the book, and I was less invested in his earlier life. Because the latter half of the book was less engaging, I was a bit mixed on this one.

Thank you to Ecco via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

At first, I liked this book. The first 50 or so pages held my attention: what kind of difference was Bob going to make at the senior center? What had happened to his wife? Would he find himself in his retirement? But then, I don't know, the story just slowwwwwwwed down to the point where I didn't care all that much about his story any more. I understand he was a bland guy, but the blandness took over a little too much, and I felt it was hard to really like him as a character. If you are looking for slow and steady, this might be your book.

Bob Comet, a retired Portland Oregon librarian, is on one of his daily walks when he encounters a mute woman of about his age staring into the cold case at the 7-11. When the clerk tells Bob she’s been like that for 45 minutes, Bob offers to take her and try to find her home. That’s how Bob is introduced to a small local retirement home, where he decides to volunteer.

Shortly into his volunteering, he makes a disconcerting discovery about the mute woman. That discovery sends the novel back to various periods in Bob’s past: how he came to decide to become a librarian, his relationship with the only two people he ever loved, the best friend and wife who ran off together, leaving Bob alone for the decades since. Then the novel flies way back to the 11-year-old Bob, who runs away from home and latches on to a couple of elderly and very eccentric women, as they ensconce themselves in a decaying seaside hotel and prepare to put on a variety show with their talented miniature dogs.

The overall feel of the book is of quiet and melancholy, but shot through with humor and a feeling that despite Bob’s awareness of the “smallness of his existence,” it has meaning and purpose. It’s a small gem of a book.

"He's the incurious type"

Retired librarian Bob Comet, the protagonist of Patrick deWitt's The Librarianist, is one of the most passive characters I've ever encountered, dragged from experience to experience by a parade of interesting characters flattened by their association with Bob. The other characters are certainly the most interesting part of the text, but it's hard to relate to them because we view them through Bob, who seems barely interested in anything. It's a window into Bob's life, but there is limited emotional internality that would give Bob depth.

The Librarianist is a beautifully written character study of an everyday man's mundane life. Unfortunately, Bob wasn't a character I personally felt compelled to study.

Retired librarian, Bob lives in the house his mother left to him, reads about life, doesn't have any friends, and dwells on the past when as a young man his bride left him for his best friend. An older woman in a pink jogging suit staring at the frozen foods changes Bob's melancholy existence as he realizes she is from a local senior housing facility and is unsure how to return. Flashbacks bring in earlier times of Bob's life when the unusual happened to him. A quiet and compelling character focused read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for an ARC of this book.

I had never read anything by this author, but the title intrigued me, so I requested it. I started reading it and I really enjoyed it. I got all the way up to the last quarter of the book and I hit a wall. It was almost as if he decided to start writing another book. The characters we interesting, but it was just a really strange segment for me. I loved this book before I got to this point, so I was really disappointed in the turn that it took. Then the book just kind of ended. I definitely would have given this book four stars, but the end of it just ruined it for me. I didn't hate it, but I am not sure that I would recommend it to anyone.

I just loved this book!! I have already recommended this to several people and a couple of book clubs (to put on their future reads list). It is not a face paced and frenetic read but an immersive and wandering tale. I enjoyed meeting the characters and learning more about them as the story unfolded. The humor was delicious!! This is a book I will definitely go back and re-read since I feel like I was at times so intent on reading more at each sitting that I didn't take the time to savor all the facets of the story as it unfolded.

The main character, Bob (but not the only Character in the book, yuk yuk), is a retired librarian who seemingly has lived and is living a very humdrum life. The story is funny, sad, heartbreaking and lovely, often simultaneously. The beginning of the books deals with Bob's present, alone and retired, needing to find some connection/purpose. The reader then gets to understand Bob's present through exploring the middle of his life, adulthood and relationships. At the end, we learn about Bob's childhood and how this set him on the path that lead to the Bob Comet we met at the beginning.

A wonderful cleansing read that makes you wish that Bob was real so you could find him and give him a great big hug.