I just found this to be okay. I loooove special collections and rare books (it's what I got my library degree in) so I really enjoyed the setting and concept of this. However, the narratives and mysteries weren't enough to wow me. They were fine and I don't regret reading it. Plus, I know a ton of patrons I can very easily recommend this to who will love it.

I was really intrigued by this book's premise, but it was so boring - the plot and the writing. It was so detailed with very little plot movement. I was also a bit annoyed by the classism and anti-union sentiment through out the book. The stereotypes about blue collar workers was obnoxious and I really could've done without the "lazy" character who is active in the union.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a lovely mystery debut mixing ancient books that go missing, a colourful cast of library workers with complicated relationships, who have noodles everyday. I thoroughly enjoyed the slow-brewing cozy story where books constitute the main theme even though it felt a bit long and dragging at times. Liesl’s quite assistant librarian life turns into chaos when the head librarian has a stroke, and a special acquisition goes missing and as the university donors start questioning where their money is spent and the dean silences everyone against going to the police to keep up the good looks, things start to get out of hand. I loved the variety of characters, witty conversations and beautiful book descriptions but some parts of the book felt a bit missing especially about Miriam and her disappearance. Overall an enjoyable read and if you are a fan of books about books and libraries, then this is your cup of tea.

DNF.
This book was difficult for me to get into from the very beginning. I was surprised at some of the sexual innuendos considering it is a book about books, a library, and librarian/researchers.
Then, it just never took off. It was the same boring conversation and series of events in every chapter. I tried to force myself to finish so I could provide a thorough review, but finally had to call it quits. Just wasn’t for me.

Whilst it was nice to have an older protagonist, this did not work well for me: the setting was immediately intriguing, the eponymous Department of Rare Books and the missing volumes were a great plot. What the novel lacked for me was any real sense of urgency or tension, even when a colleague goes missing.

I wanted to like this book more then I did. I found the 'mysteries' to be predictable and not surprising at all. The 'politics' while could be true for a university, just....didn't sit right with me. It was boring and I skim read them. I could've just been me when reading this book, but I found it to be very jumpy and not realistic.

I honestly expected to like this book a little bit more than I ended up doing. The title and the description really did a lot to draw me into to the book and made me think that this story would be a little bit more than what it turned out to be. This story is a mystery story with a strong mixing of academic politics and a little bit of academic misogyny as well.
By the end of the book, I thought that the story was just fine. Fine but not something that I would seek out to read again.
The writing and formatting of this book did not help draw me into the story at all, but instead kept breaking my immersion into it. which I have found to be a pattern with this particular style of writing. The characters also did not keep my interest or draw me in in any way. I found them to be rather dry, superficial and insufferable.
I did finish the book and found the conclusion to be satisfying if not particularly surprising. The story was overall fine, but not really something I will seek out again or recommend.

I love a book about books and things of that nature!
Great story!

Description
Midnight at the Bright Idea Bookstore meets The Bookshop of Yesterdays in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: what holds more secrets in the library—the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long—and about the people who care for and revere them—shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

This was an enjoyable story and there was a lot that I liked. The author’s style was smoothly readable and I enjoyed learning more about the special collections world. I love when a book leads me down a bit of a research rabbit hole about things I never thought about. How interesting to know there are these historic products out there in libraries and universities and how lucrative the business of trading and possessing them is.

I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters, but I liked the complexity and ambiguity in many of the relationships - it felt very authentic, particularly given that the characters were older and therefore had a more significant shared history.

I was engaged in the mystery - and enjoyed being led down a few different paths (and was highly relieved when one of them proved false).

I felt so sad for Miriam - and the whole idea that you can spend your entire life working with the same people in a shared space and go so unnoticed.

Overall, I liked this one, and would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good (believable) mystery, or anyone who enjoys a look into the world of rare manuscripts.

This was a slow paced mystery that took me a little while to become engaged with. The mystery was good however with characters that I liked. I enjoyed trying to pick up on the clues.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

When Liesl is asked to fill in as chief librarian in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, she has no way of knowing the problems she will be taking on. What should have been a simple job covering for the ill chief librarian turns into a hunt for a thief as she finds rare books missing and no real suspect in sight.

You will know that The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is written by a librarian because it is full of librarian-ish details that at times enhance, and other times detract from the novel. To be sure, I'm drawn to libraries and books and mysteries, and this sounded perfect for my palate. However, halfway in, things got slow, characters got annoying and I wanted to start skimming. I didn't! And I'm grateful, because the ending was just what I needed.
I found the writing to be good, although maybe in need of some downsizing. Perhaps not necessary were the flashbacks? But then, maybe I just found them to hinder my progress in getting to the conclusion.
I do thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen press for the ARC of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

Thank you so much to @poisonedpenpress for the complimentary digital review copy of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. This book came out on January 25, 2022 - available now!

The Department of Rare books and Special Collections is a university mystery. A rare manuscript goes missing at Liesl's employer, and she is trying to figure out who did it and where it is now. The book is set at University of Toronto, so it was nice to read about a place that I am familiar with.

Overall, the answer to the mystery makes sense, but I was not able to pinpoint that this is where it was going throughout the book - it felt like it came out of nowhere.

I think this book could have been a lot shorter, there were times that it felt too slow and the plot was slow. This book could use a suicide trigger warning, we do not specifically see it in the book we do hear about it from the characters.

I really enjoyed the interesting facts about rare books that were sprinkled throughout the book as well as the details about university fundraising. The need to keep the missing manuscript secret so as to not tip off the donors was a fun plot point.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

As a librarian, I loved The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk! I thought the writing was smart and as a female academic librarian, I completely connected with Liesl on many things related to librarianship, university politics, and books. I loved the sub-theme of women in academics (that could be applied to any career, really). I did think that the mystery aspect was bit overblown since there was so much more to this book than the mystery of what happened to those missing books... but I really enjoyed this book so I can overlook that. Additionally, the book was set in Toronto which was fun - but it really felt like it could have happened at any western university so I could really picture this book happening at Indiana University (my grad school alma mater)! Fun book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced ebook copy. All opinions are my own.

When her boss suffers a stroke, Liesl Weiss must return from sabbatical to take charge of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Liesl discovers one of the library’s manuscripts is missing, and the search for the manuscript begins, uncovering many secrets that have been buried around campus.

While I found this novel slow paced, I loved the setting of the story, the politics of working in a university, and the mysteries involved. I found it very plot-centric which didn’t leave enough room for exploring the emotions of characters, and even when characters were emotional, they weren’t really all that emotional? That being said, it was an enjoyable read.

I never warmed up to the main character. It wasn’t the most mysterious of mysteries, but overall it was enjoyable.

I loved reading this book! I found the writing to be very insightful and interesting. I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

I'm not really sure where to begin with this book. I really did enjoy it, but it was not entirely what I anticipated. It seems like this book was marketed as a mystery involving rare books and librarians - this is all in the book, but I think where the marketing felt a little misleading is that mystery typically has a little more action than this book had. It is mysterious, but there's much more focus on the characters, especially the main character, Leisl I think some people will struggle with the pacing as well as the time jumps from chapter to chapter. I certainly found myself a little confused about where I was in the timeline chapter to chapter. All that being said though, I did enjoy the characters and found the story compelling enough to keep reading to the end to see what happened.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Liesl Weiss is a behind the scenes kind of librarian archivist. She does all of the background work to make sure things operate smoothly and her boss looks good. Her boss just had a stroke. A colleague that thinks he should be step into those shoes resents her, oh, and a priceless manuscript has gone missing. Liesl must keep the department running and get to the bottom of the missing manuscript all while navigating library politics and ruling out her colleagues of the theft.

I’m not big on mysteries. Their intentionally convuluted nature annoys and bores me; however, add some books to them or set them in a library, and that’s how you get me. I’m a sucker for books about books and/or books about libraries. So, I gave this one a chance. I can’t say I loved the whole mystery part, but I did enjoy the characters, the daily operations of the special collections’ department, and how dynamics change with the sudden encapatation of their leader.

I was rooting for Liesl and sympathized with her when some of her male colleagues continuously discounted her, all while she was really keeping this running. Been there. Done that. It’s worth a read if you’re a mystery fan or just a book lover. It’s been out for a minute (I’m a bit behind on my backlist), so you can pick up the print or audio whever you get your books.