This clever sort-of memoir is a journey through one librarian's best (and worst) reads and the role they played in her life. It is mostly written as letters to books, as if the author was writing an old friend or bad ex. It's quirky for sure...and very funny. Open-minded bookworms will just get it.

This is a laugh-out-loud book about books by a book lover. If you love books, have fond memories of books you've read in your life, and/or keep lists of what you read, then at a minimum you'll be entertained by Spence's observations (even if you don't completely share her taste in books). I loved hearing Spence talk about her favorites, ridiculous books that are past their prime, and *so many books* I've never heard of (but will now have to look up).

For better or worse, there's not a narrative arc in this story -- it's simply a collection of "letters" Spence pens to various books. On the plus side, a reader could pick this up and randomly choose a chapter to read for a good laugh. Read in its entirety over the couse of a couple of days, the book felt a bit monotonous (especially when hearing about "The Virgin Suicides" for the fifth time).

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Annie Spence,
It's so cool that you shared your wild and witty book list of personal hits and misses in DEAR FARENHEIT 451. Your perspectives as a life-long book lover and librarian took me back to magical moments, and expanded my horizons about genres I rarely read. You're created an extended ode to the wonders of a public library, and you are to be applauded for this celebration of literacy and the freedom of expression.

Must also say that DEAR FARENHEIT 451 pulled me deep into the "rabbit hole" of personal reading memories. A first crush who read aloud from DANDELION WINE, my sister handing me her tattered, clandestine copy of GO ASK ALICE, my first love who invited me to get lost and found in DUNE. Books inspired me to bake bread TASSAJARA BREAD BOOK, learn about OUR BODIES OURSELVES, where to travel, how to be pregnant, how (not) to parent, how to start a business, and that MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS. Board books helped me soothe the family to sleep. Collections of poetry have cradled my heart and held my hands through grief, healing, celebration, love.

Annie, I'm so grateful that you remind readers about the power and pleasures of reading. How books bring people together. When the harsh edges of the real world are too painful, I applaud your permission to fold the confused self into an alter-universe of reading. Even if the book turns out to be worse than the current worst-case-scenario in real life, it will still allow a few minutes of escape and imaginary wonderment.

Thank you for your neat list of book suggestions, your passion and determination to hook readers up with a book (or audiobook) they'll fall hard for. I so appreciate your fun romp of an adventure into the heart of books. Forever, This Reviewer (Karen)

Love this: it is like peeking into a hundred different books!

This book was not quite what I thought it would be. It is, however, exactly what it says it is - letters to the books that one librarian has loved or not loved or just been around a lot. I'm not sure what I thought it would be, but that misconception is all on me.

Once I started reading it, I really did like it. To see how books affected one person and what books affect her and how? Well, I just love stuff like that. I think knowing what a person reads tells you a lot about a person.

If you find books fascinating and love to know what people read, give this book a chance. As for me, I'm inspired to now write letters to Little Women, Encyclopedia Brown, and A Time To Kill.

Title: Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian's Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life
Author: Annie Spence
Source: NetGalley
Links: Indiebound |Goodreads
Rating: five-stars
Summary: Funny, entertaining, and relatable – I loved this and would recommend it to anyone who love books.

This is a collection of letters from librarian Annie Spence to books she’s loved, books she’s hated, and everything inbetween. She shared books that have meant a lot to her in her life, along with some personal stories and some of her interesting experiences as a librarian. She then wraps up with some book recommendation lists.

I was a little nervous about whether I’d be able to enjoy the letters to books I’d not read, but I needn’t have worried. Every one of these letters entertained me and I definitely laughed out loud on multiple occasions. Her notes to books she didn’t enjoy were particularly funny. A note to the bookshelf at a party she was attending and a note to a book that didn’t keep her husband from talking to her while she tried to read also stood out for their humor. And I’m guessing a lot of bookworms will find those two essays and many others particularly relatable too!

Her letters that were more touching than funny were equally enjoyable. I loved hearing about the books she loved or which touched her because of their connection to her life. I thought the amount of her own life that she included was perfect. Her personal life was relatable and her experiences as a librarian were entertaining, but the focus was still on books. I really have to recommend this to any book lover, which I would guess means that if you’re reading this review, I’d recommend it to you 🙂

Annie Spence is my new favorite librarian. She’s funny, helpful, and can hold my attention with stories about working in the library. This is the perfect book for bookworms.

For half of the book Annie provides letters written to books. They are witty and gratifying to read. Each letter is fairly brief so readers don’t have to get stuck on books they’ve never heard of or don’t want to read about. There are a lot of recommendations packed into her endearing letters. The second half of the book is more bookish goodies for readers. Recommendations for getting your spouse to read, excuses to give friends and family when you just want to stay home and read, and a variety of other type of recommendations fill the rest of the book. True crime? Got it. Romance? Yep. Biographies? It’s all in here. Must read for readers.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

A librarian's love letters to the books she works with? That sounded interesting. And the first half of the book was, even if it was sometimes jarring to lurch from a note to Stephen King's Misery to the author's drunken encounter with a bookshelf at a party she wasn't invited to. This book is at its most entertaining when it's dealing with childhood classics or a popcorn cookbook or Fun and Games with Your Pocket Calculator. But the letters are only half of the book and what follows them -- lengthy recommended reading lists and tips on how to turn your lover into a reader -- isn't nearly as much fun. I don't think I love books enough to fall into this book's target audience... or maybe I just don't love the right books.

DEAR FAHRENHEIT 451 is a book for librarians and booksellers. For book bloggers and literary lovers. For writers and readers. Ultimately, it's a book for anyone that has felt relationships form from of the written word. Spence's tome is funny, pithy, and full of heart. I may have disagreed with her opinions on quite a few of the books she highlighted, but this is a book I would easily recommend to colleagues and select individuals who are veterans in working with books professionally.

DEAR FAHRENHEIT 451 by Annie Spence was as full of spunk as it was of recommendations. By writing letters to a series of novels that she loved, despised, or had a history with, she reminds the reader that there is a wonderful world available to all of us and it's found in a library. As a librarian, she can make literary recommendations like a doctor can prescribe medicines. They might be exactly what you need, they might not work for you like intended, or they might leaving you wanting more. Spence provides a huge list of recommendations for every type of mood the reader is in and does it while telling her own stories and with a sense of humor. I absolutely adored the letter to Misery by Stephen King and have lived her letter to Cormac McCarthy. She makes you laugh out loud and gets you thinking about books from your childhood to books you really should re-read now that you are a student of life and not a student in school. I loved her writing style and will purchase a copy of this one for my library that I will write all over in the margins! For all my friends that really enjoy recommendations in every genre and like something they can read in bits and pieces, this is a winner.

As a note, I looked up almost every book that was referenced in this novel and I was surprised the diversity of reviews that each of them had on Goodreads. However, instead of being turned off by a review that someone else has written about how they didn't like a book, remember that we are all unique and sometimes a story will speak to one person and not another. This book really made me remember that we used to buy books based on the summary (or the cover) and not on a stranger's feelings. Don't miss a good story just because someone else might think it's a bad one.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an entertaining read! If you're a book lover, this is for you!

Dear Fahrenheit 451 has a clever conceit. One I wish I had thought of myself. One I am tempted to steal.

Dear Dear Fahrenheit 451,

You made me laugh out loud, dearest Dear Fahrenheit. Your author Annie Spence is a funny writer with a breezy style that is enjoyable in small doses. Thankfully, there was no law that I had to read you straight through from cover to cover. I gave myself permission to read a few of your author’s letters to books at a time and then reading something else. Otherwise, it would be like eating an entire box of chocolates at once, I would have a sugar coma and a stomach ache. Actually, it would probably be more like eating peeps, there’s very little substance in those letters.

Your author, Annie, writes to books as though she is writing to a friend, confessional and casual. I guess working in a library leads to having opinions on all sorts of books which is why the selection of books is so very esoteric. Some might say strange. Nonetheless, it was a fun read in small bites.



So I will give high marks for the clever conceit. The idea of letters to books is so clever. Sadly, the letters were not half as clever as the concept. It’s probably just me, but if I were going to write dozens of letters to books, I might try to write the sort of letters that people used to write when people actually wrote letters. Most of these letters sound like breezy, effort-free e-mails sent on a whim. I never got the sense that your writer paused to gather her thoughts, but wrote right off the top of her head. Perhaps that is her intent and she artfully succeeds at seeming as though she put next to no effort into the book. I don’t know, so I am giving her bonus points for creating the impression that she didn’t really try.

Cheers,

Your constant Tonstant.

p.s. Where’s the “Love and Heartbreak” promised in the subtitle?

Dear Fahrenheit 451 will be released on September 26th. I received an e-galley from NetGalley for advance review.

Dear Fahrenheit 451 at Flatiron Books | Macmillan
Annie Spence author site

A fun look at books in the author's life and library, told through letters addressed to each individual title. Emotionally, these by and large hit the mark, and I found myself laughing out loud and occasionally tearing up at the letters. She switches back and forth regularly between books in her personal collection and books at the library (often being weeded), which, while only a little confusing, also kept the narrative from being as tight as it could be. The lists of books and recommendations on different topics and moods really made the volume for me, and I will definitely revisit that part.

This book. I laughed out loud, nodded sagely, and argued with the writer all in one sitting. This compilation of love letters and break up letters to books has something for every reader. Everything from the library from Beauty and the Beast
("She finally marries the Beast because she's a total bookdigger and wisely realizes that the castle is big enough for her to hide in one wing, reading in silence and ordering that sniveling Cogsworth to bring her snacks and tell Beast she's got period cramps and is not to be disturbed.")
to librarian stereotypes
("We're supposed to whisper and shush, demand silence, when in reality we work our asses off trying to help people speak up. Maybe it seems safer for us to whisper. Because maybe if we could shout, it would shake the walls down.")
receives special treatment from Annie as she examines books, library life, and the world around her.

My favorite by far is the titular letter to Fahrenheit 451. She writes:
("Be glad you have a voice but no eyes. Since 1953, the talking walls are bigger and louder than ever. The modern day "firefighters" are armed not with kerosene but snarky Internet memes, reality TV, and the ability to simultaneously see more and less of the world around them.")
Sheer beauty. Perfection. As a high school librarian, this letter meant so much to me. SO MUCH. I actually highlighted it and stopped reading to ponder the truths of that statement.

Did I read EVERY letter? No. Some I skipped because I had no idea what that book was. And you know what? That's okay. I was able to connect to the author through her words - isn't that what every person who has ever picked up a book is looking for?

Mission: Accomplished, Annie.

Back in my late twenties I considered returning to school for a degree in library science. My BA in English was not getting me very far in the late 1970s economy.

It made sense, after all, for when I was a girl hanging around libraries I imagined being the book answer person. Patrons would shyly come to me, uncertain and lost, and I would give them instructions on how to find that end-of-the-rainbow treasure of The Perfect Book for their reading pleasure.

I dreamt of being intimate with books, knowing them deeply, freely dispensing of my fount of wisdom.

Over the years I have known many librarians in many small Michigan communities. But I never joined their numbers. 
Instead, I grew up to blog about books. I still get to freely dispense my fount of whatever, but sans salary.

When Dear Fahrenheit 451 appeared on NetGalley, it caught my eye right off, and I put in a "Wish For It" request which, I am grateful, Flatiron Books granted. I was happy to learn that author and librarian Annie Spence is a Michigan native who grew up in Metro Detroit and who currently is a librarian in Metro Detroit. I do love supporting Michigan and Detroit area authors!

Subtitled, Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks, a Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life, this bookish memoir includes letters to specific books and short essays on "Special Subjects" including Books about Librarians, Good Books with Bad Covers, and Turning Your Lover into a Reader. Spence adopts a casual writing voice, dealing out jabs and jokes, gushing paenes and sage advice, never boring or dull. Spence's love of books and what they have given her is celebrated, but she also reflects the truism that we fall out of love with some books and others leave us flat.

The books Spence addresses are varied, many of which I have not read and frankly, I skimmed some letters to books I don't know at this time. This is not a book you must read cover to end, you can pick and choose, returning to it now and then. At other times she piqued my interest in a book I had not read, like Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, set in Detroit; I have only read the author's Middlesex and The Marriage Plot.

There are letters to Color Me Beautiful and The Hobbit, Wicked and Cannery Row, Blood Meridian and Matilda, the Harlequin Spinner Rack at the library, and the Public Library Children's Section. She addresses problems all readers share: I'd Rather Be Reading, Excuses to Tell Your Friends So You Can Stay Home With Your Books, and He's Just Not That Into Literacy: Turning Your Lover into a Reader. Book suggestions are offered with short reviews of books on a theme, and the Books I'll Never Break Up With includes her "forever bookshelf" loves.

Spence has written an extended love letter to books and libraries, extolling the joy of reading. It was great fun to read.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

At a quarter of the way through this book, I’d already decided that the remaining pages could be garbage and the text would still be WORTHY.

First, a book that provides “reviews” of read novels as break up notes or love letters? Sign me up! Written by a librarian—one with infinite access to ALL THE BOOKS?! Yes, I need it and I need it now. Thanks to NetGalley, I had a copy sitting on my Kindle shelf for too long. I should have started this sooner.

Spencer’s preface begins “Reading has shaped me, guided me, reflected me, and helped me understand and connect with, and this is not hyperbole, HUMANITY. If you picked up this book, it’s because somewhere in the past (and more in the future, if I have anything to do with it) a book has changed your life.”

Amen, bibliophile sister.

I was pleased to journey through Spence’s “Read” list with her telling me about her love life (and awful break-ups) with novels. She’s much funnier than I, and I’m certain—were we friends in Real Life—she would have me squirting Cabernet Sauvignon out my nostrils into my hummus dip hoping not to get anything on my library return pile.

I am so lucky that the rest of this book was not, in fact, garbage. Evidence begins with:

"Jesus. Phew! We’ve been through the shit, eh?
Shit, man.
Shit.
Let me recover for a minute. I need a drink of a sedative or something. I’m a regular Paul Sheldon."

And so begins her letter to Stephen King’s Misery. I made the mistake of reading this one in class while students were reading their free-read novels (gotta be a good model!). I giggled, I laughed, I chortled, and then I snorted. Aloud. Guffawing happened.

It gets better…

"I was eager to see an Annie (the author’s own name) with a little more grit and girth. But hearing a character plead to me while he was getting his parts sawed off and cauterized was unnerving. I was like, I can’t help you, dude. I’m just as scared as you. That bitch is crazy! Quit saying my name!!!"

Oh my word, I love her. She continues and discusses all manner of texts, from toddler to tween and beyond. She discusses her uncomfortable feelings toward the Fifty Shades series as it has forced her, as a librarian, to explain to old bitties what “erotica” means and then watch them pretend not to leaf through the book when they think she isn’t looking. (Awwwwwkward. Speaking of awkward…the end of her Misery letter.)

"You’re a great book, but I gotta give you back to my sister. There’s only room for one Annie in this house, and it’s the one who’s going to tuck her thumbs into her armpits every time she sees an electric knife for the rest of her life.
Shanks for the memories,
Annie"

The book itself is mostly letters to novels. Some are ridiculous texts being purged from circulation—and rightly so in the case of Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality—and others are beloved texts from her own childhood.

The end of the novel is a collection of various essays like “I’d Rather Be Reading” which gives readers myriad ways to avoid social interactions and instead, you guessed it, read. “Book Hookups” is a collection of books that should be read in pairs based on their romantic quirkiness.

Overall, I recommend this to any bibliophile reader, but especially those book lovers that are also my favorite people: librarians. (Librarians even get their own essay in “Readin’ Nerdy: Books About Librarians”!!!) The bonus is that Spence is witty, insightful, and capable of a damn fine break up letter should one ever need to mirror justification to a non-paper lover. I highly recommend this read, and I also encourage you to visit your local public library to retrieve a copy.

(Maybe pick up Misery while you’re there too because Shit. Shit Man.)

This book was given to me as an advanced reader copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. If you don’t know NetGalley, get out from under a rock and prepare to live like a hermit while you read All The Things Forever and Ever Until The End of Always.

I thought this book had its funny moments but I am the target audience, librarians. That's kind of the problem though, I don't think nonlibrarians will enjoy or even pick this book up. There were some stories that I related to a lot and I thought they were a lot of fun but I only understood the references because I'm a librarian. Then the second half of this book was essentially just a long collection of book recommendation lists and I had no interest in that. It seemed oddly placed in this book and didn't make sense. The book starts with a bunch of letters from the author to different books she's read or seen in her library and that was mostly enjoyable because that's what I understood this book to be and then it switched for no reason and I didn't like it. Other librarians or booksellers may enjoy this book but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.