This book was not what I thought. I thought it would be more of a memoir. It is more of a history of libraries with several stories in the mix. It is a very good book if you are looking for library history or you're a non fiction informational book junkie. It was interesting just not what I was looking for. Once I read it, I went back to the jacket synopsis and saw where I had misunderstood what it was about. So it was my mistake, not intentional. Still, a good book.

When I first heard about The Library Book by Susan Orlean, I thought it was about a library book. I love books and I love the library, so sure, that sounds like a book I'd like. Then I learned a bit more about it and that it was actually about the 1986 fire that burned down the Los Angeles Public Library. Okay, sounds interesting. Here are a few facts that I picked up about that incident:

By the time it was extinguished, [the fire] had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
The building burned for more than seven hours and reached temperatures of 2,000 degrees; it was so fierce that almost every firefighter in Los Angeles was called to the scene.
The number of books destroyed or spoiled was equal to the entirety of fifteen branch libraries.
The cost to replace the four hundred thousand lost books was estimated at over $14 million.
The author had never heard of the fire (she lived in New York at the time) and it was because it occurred three days following the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union: The biggest library fire in American history had been upstaged by the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown.
According to librarian Glen Creason, the breeze was filled with "the smell of heartbreak and ashes.'

Invaluable items were lost in the fire:
...car repair manuals for every single make and model of automobile starting with the Model T
A volume of Don Quixote from 1860
A leaf from a 1635 Coverdale Bible, which was the first complete translation in modern English.
The book goes on to discuss who, if anyone, was responsible. There was a suspect, but he was never convicted or even tried in criminal court.

Then as I continued to read, I realized this book wasn't just about single library fire, but about the history of the Los Angeles Public Library, its librarians, and even the general history of the growth of Los Angeles itself. I was surprised to read the history (and even scandal!) of the head librarians at the library since its beginning: it was like reading a soap opera! There were many wonderful things established by these librarians including by the current head City Librarian John Szabo who established the first accredited library-based high school program in the United States and who frequently preaches the gospel of the library as the people's university.

This book is absolutely a love letter to libraries: a place where everything is available to everyone; a place that could serve someone like a man named Harry Pidgeon, in 1925 who completed a solo sailing trip around the world, only the second person ever to do so. He had gotten the building plans for his boat and most of his nautical knowledge from books he had borrowed from the Los Angeles Public Library. His boat, The Islander, was nicknamed The Library Navigator.
That is powerful!

Honestly, I have so many highlights and notes in this book that I can't share them all here. If you are a book lover like I am (and I'm guessing that you are), you need to read this book for yourself. Usually I don't enjoy non-fiction very much, but this reads much more like a narrative. The writing is fantastic and the "characters" will keep you interested. The only problem I have with this book is that it proves that the written word can be dangerous: it has reignited (pun intended) my yearning to be a librarian, something I've long wished for but thought was an unrealistic career goal based on the expense of library school. Orlean's mother shared my dream:

I knew that if we had come here together, she would have reminded me just about now that if she could have chosen any profession in the world, she would have been a librarian.

An absolute delight to read. I lived a block away from LAPL's Central Library for four years and I didn't even know about the fire. It was so lovely to read about the history of the system and Central Library in this engaging and wonderful read.

An absolutely stunning read! As a librarian, I struggled through the beginning of this book, not because it wasn't engaging, but because of the sensitive subject. Susan Orlean has such a vivid style that the scene of the fire brought me literally to tears! (In fact, just recalling it as I write this, does so as well.) Once I got passed that, there was no looking back. It's not only a story of the Los Angeles Public Library fire in 1986, although that is at the heart of the matter, but also a story about libraries in general. It's a slice of what all American libraries, and possible International libraries as well, have struggled with since their inception...the budget, the growth, the decline and how many have come to be so much more than just a place for books. Thank you Susan Orlean for writing this! Your love for libraries shines through! As for the Los Angeles Public Library personnel, my hat is off to you all. What a nightmare you've endured. I lived in LA for a number of years and it is a place that continues to be near and dear to my heart! And I've worked at the Atlanta Fulton Public Library and have experienced much of what you have, but on a smaller scale. Kudos to you all! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the superb opportunity to read and review this wonderful book! #NetGalley #TheLibraryBook

The end of April 1986 lives in the minds of many for the Chernobyl disaster that happened on April 26th. The meltdown monopolized the news for days, if not weeks. And because everybody was in fear that it was the end of the world, many missed the news of the fire that destroyed more than a million books at the Los Angeles Public Library. The arson inspectors believe they know who started the fire, but to this day, nobody has been punished for their actions.

Author Susan Orlean had thought that she was done with writing. And then she took a tour of Central Library, the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. It was on this tour that she first heard about the fire of 1986. And she knew that she had to write about it. The Library Book is part true crime novel, part love story. The love story being between the author and her love affair with books and libraries. She reminisces about her childhood visits to the library and she takes the reader on a descriptive tour of the Los Angeles Public Library as it stands now. And there is so much more to the LAPL than just a place to check out books. It is a place that people gather to research genealogy. It is a place they call to get questions answered. It is one of the only libraries in the country where they can go to get a diploma. Not just a GED certificate, but a diploma. It is a place they go to use a computer. And it is a place they go to learn how to speak and read English. In fact, Chapter 17 speaks to the Literacy Center and the author interviewed a teacher and a tutor. Both were names that I recognized from work.

Susan Orlean weaves the history of the library, the details surrounding the fire, and present-day life at the library in alternating chapters. Each chapter starts with a list of books, their authors, and their Dewey Decimal number. And each title listed gives the reader a clue as to the topic of the chapter. It was fun. And I found myself trying to guess the chapter's outcome based on the titles. And of course, there is the mystery that surrounds the crime itself. It isn't "edge of your seat" kind of suspense, but it was engaging and tastefully woven into the rest of the book.


Bottom Line - As a devoted bookworm, I absolutely loved The Library Book. It brought up the memories of my own early days as a library patron. It was nostalgia at it's best. Definitely not one to be missed.

Details:
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
On Twitter
Pages: 336
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10/16/2018
Buy it Here!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Susan Orlean for a fantastic read that gave me so much more than I could have imagined about my beloved library.

I've been going to the library since one summer vacation in that my Mom took me and my three younger brothers under the guise of "You can't watch TV all summer. It'll rot your brain." back when we were 7, 5, and 3 respectively and never looked back. My mother and Lavar Burton really showed people what a joy reading was and still is and I love them for it, even though I never met Lavar but now I get to add Susan Orlean to that list because of this book.

It's clear that Orlean is as much a reader as she is an author. Here, she writes poetically about the library in a way that I've felt many times myself walking into the Central Library. It is never truly silent; bustles of people walk through its various entrances into the center, which I've always though of as a hub, before making moves to escalators and elevators to take them elsewhere and she herself makes a similar comment when she says,

"They rumble with voices and footsteps and a whole orchestral range of book-related noises—the snap of covers clapping shut; the breathy whisk of pages fanning open; the distinctive thunk of one book being stacked on another; the grumble of book carts in the corridors."

and like that I knew that she was going to give more than facts, she was going to give me hope and provide a voice to the very Central Library itself during the fire of 1986 but more than that, Orlean went to it's origin and to its present and through interviews with past and current staff, weaved this book that was included elements of history, true crime, architecture, reading, and culture to go beyond the devastation and to what makes a library more than a library.

Terrible of me to admit that I read this book within its publishing week but I regret not reading this so much sooner as Orlean does a fantastic job of presenting the facts but also of giving such an emotional tale of the people associated within which is why it took me as long to write this review than normal because it left me in a great book hangover.

The Library Book was an interesting read on many levels. Besides much information and personal trickle effect that the devastating library fire had on the Los Angeles community and its employers, Susan Orlean was cleverly able to zoom in to many topics, and conveying a well rounded understanding of those topics or persons, by adding vast amounts of detail. I think that beyond the information this book held, and the beautiful dedication it represented to the Los Angeles library fire and its difficult rebuilding, I was mostly taken by the unique writing style. Thank you NetGalley for the e-copy for my review. All opinions are my own.

Required reading for any bibliophile, public services supporter, or arson interested onlooker. A very thorough, well-written, and interesting investigation into the massive, overtaking library fire--and the culprit who caused it--of LA's public library in April of 1986.

Highly recommended reading.

Susan Orlean’s The Library Book is very interesting and informative. However, I felt like I was reading a research paper and thus was a bit disappointed in this book.

Through extensive research, incisive interviews, and immersion in the present day library, Susan Orlean examines the 1986 fire that devastated the central Los Angeles library. In chapters that alternate between the early days of the library, the fire and the criminal trial surrounding it, and the present day bustling building and library workers, she weaves a story that is gripping and affectionate. As a long time librarian, her care for, and belief in, libraries and those who devote their lives to them brought me to tears. This book is one of the best I've read recently. Highly recommended.

I will never look at a library in the same way again! This book was so much more than I expected. Yes it does give a detailed account of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire. That alone was fascinating. It is also the entire history of the library and how it has been managed over the years and by whom. The stories of colorful characters that played various roles within its walls read like short stories. The book also delved into what the Library meant to those who visited and many who made it a part of their lives. Throughout the story you learn about Harry Peaks the most serious suspect in the case. Book and library lovers will enjoy this well researched read.

Super interesting story about a true event I hadn't ever heard of - the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library! Some slow parts in this NF book, but overall kept my attention.

Fabulous nonfiction story of LA library and the amazing librarians who worked there. The arson fire that was a big mystery is fascinating and also sad in how the hubris of a failed actor causes a tragic fire.

_The Library Book_ is part memoir, part history, part mystery. Orlean's exploration of the people at LAPL that day and her own connection to libraries is an enjoyable read. I had expected it to be more history and was surprised and eventually delighted to find the personal connection Orlean made to this topic. She captures the joy and love of libraries, and the mystery that is people and their motives. Some of the descriptions are full of detail -- I felt I was standing outside waiting for the library to open -- perhaps because I've had that experience. Other descriptions were beyond my imagination -- I still cannot believe Orlean went through the process to see what happens when a book burns. To my surprise, after a slow start these and many other descriptions have stayed with me since finishing my library book copy of _The Library Book_. Why? The netgalley eARC I received expired long before I finished. Please approach this book knowing that it's not hyper focused on any one specific aspect of the LA Library fire. It's a journey, much like any exploration of a library.

This is a look at the LA central library fire of 1986. Orelan takes an in depth look at the fire and it's mysterious origin. I found it intriguing. It also highlights the importance of libraries in our communities in light of the current administration.

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. As a librarian, there's often times when Orlean is a little too wide-eyed and gee-whiz about what libraries and librarians do, and the mystery of the burning of the library is a little bit of a letdown, but these things are forgiveable.

Part crime story, part historical non-fiction, Orlean's recounting of a fire in the Los Angeles library and the main suspect of the crime is worth the read.

I do not for the most part enjoy non fiction, but I enjoy reading and orchids, so Orlean manages to consistently choose topics that speak to me and my tastes. The fact she writes like a fiction writer and "blazes" through some very interesting twists and turns helps a lot too.

I was hooked from the first page and soon became fascinated by the "characters" and Orlean's crisp descriptions.

With a great description of a telethon and some other interesting side stories, Orlean manages to easily make history come to life.

Thanks to NetGalley.com, the author and the publisher for my advance copy.

I loved this book for many reasons, but the biggest reason is that it felt like a love letter to libraries with a side true crime story. Like a true nonfiction writer, Susan Orlean dives into the history of the Los Angeles Public Library. This helps you visualize the importance of this building as a staple in the Los Angeles community. Then she follows this up by relating the details of the Los Angeles Public Library fire, from interviews with staff, who worked at the library at that time, to the entire process of cleaning up and rebuilding after the fire. Like so many people I have talked to about this book, I was not aware of the 1986 fire, and as far as I am aware, this book is the only literature out there that discussing this historical event in detail. What I found really interesting was the section that described how the water-damaged books were recovered and restored and the methods used to do so. It was somewhat a relief to know that at least some books were saved.

Just as I am sure it was hard for the author, it was equally hard for the reader to read about the author's experience burning a book, but the visual was important. I do agree that choosing Fahrenheit 451 was appropriate too. As hard as it was to read about one book being burned, how could anyone set a whole building of books on fire?!!! The author investigates the theories of suspects, as this crime is still unsolved. She gives us background into Harry Peak, who was a suspect, including interviews with people who knew Harry.

She really wants you to care about the Los Angeles Public Library fire and care about libraries in general. The author describes in detail the daily tasks of librarians. No...it is not just shelving books. I learned first hand a few years back when I took a temporary job working in my local public library. Libraries have always been important to me and continue to be a special place that I love to visit. When I received an opportunity to work in one, I couldn't help but think: "Dream job!". Like I said though, it was not just shelving books, it was helping members of our community. I spent a lot of time helping library patrons navigate sites on the computer when they were trying to apply for jobs and many other important tasks. We were also one of the first buildings in our community to open up after a hurricane caused tornado and massive flood damage to most of our area. We opened to provide library patrons with computer access to start applying for FEMA aid. I had never had to do such a thing in my life, but I quickly tried to learn how the FEMA system worked, so I could help as many people as possible. Those were such rewarding moments, when you know that you are truly helping people in need. However, my favorite moment in the library was when someone came up to me and asked me to help her find some Jane Austen books. I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and I was so excited to get that question. I could then follow-up with a question of whether she wanted works by Jane Austen, books about Jane Austen or Jane Austen inspired fan fiction. My enthusiasm must have been contagious, because the patron smiled and said, "How about all of the above." That one-on-one relationship and service is so important. Yes...as stated in the book, I also got my share of unusual phone calls. For example, there was an individual who would call the library almost every day, give us a word, and ask us to use that word in a sentence.

Libraries do not just provide books, but they provide services. I am glad that this author brought to our attention a historical event unknown to most of us, that also expresses the importance of libraries. I highly recommend this read!

Have you ever had to force yourself to slow down while reading a book so that you can fully appreciate it washing over you for the first time? That's how I felt while reading The Library Book. Every once and a while a book comes around and unexpectedly knocks me to the ground. I'm always attracted to books about books, so with all the hype surrounding The Library Book it was no surprise that I ended up pushing it to the top of my list. I was surprised, however, by the sentimentality and emotion that overwhelmed me while I was reading it.

The Library Book is part true crime, part memoir, and part ode to libraries and their history. Somehow, Orlean made all three of these things fit together in a cohesive narrative that just made sense. I found myself having to stop and reflect on my own love affair with the library systems I've been a part of - to the point of wondering if I had chosen the wrong career path. This book made me appreciate libraries and librarians more than I thought was possible, and allowed me to feel kinship with people I will never meet.

I tend to read so quickly that I remember books not for their detail, but for the emotions they make me feel. The Library Book made me feel recognized, safe, devastated, elated, excited, and nostalgic. I quite literally laughed and cried while reading this book. Anyone who loves books will love this book. Anyone who loves libraries will love this book. And if you aren't someone who loves either of those things - this book may just change your mind.

This book is an amazing piece of history. The main focus of the story is the Los Angeles Public Library Fire in 1986, but is goes deeper in detailing the ins and outs of the library. Orlean takes her readers into what it is like working at the library whether its is being a librarian, the city librarian, being in the shipping department which I am sure many people don't realize or understand how the books are moved around along with many other areas. She talks with the family of the person of interest in the fire and the way she details the fire makes you feel like you are inside of it.