by Susan Orlean
Susan Orleans' story about the LAPL fire in the 1980s is really an amazing piece of writing. It not only is a great book advocating and promoting public libraries and their mission, but also is a harrowing telling of the fire that destroyed a huge amount of the library's collection and almost the li...
In April 1986 the Los Angeles Public Library central branch had a fire that destroyed much of its inventory. We did not hear about it since Chernobyl happened at the same time. So much was lost. I liked how the book was set up. She talked about the fire and the investigation into it. She spoke ...
Years ago, my husband gave me a copy of The Orchid Thief as a gift. This was back before I ventured much into non-fiction, and one of those gifts that he figured would be great because we could both read it. While we are completely in sync in our love for books, we have our differences when it comes...
I just have to say “wow!” I never expected this book to be packed with so much information. At times, it almost felt overwhelming. Centered around the 1986 Los Angeles library fire which burned for more than 7 hours and consumed 400,000 books, this book is not just about that fire. This book is abou...
Right after I joined the library where I'm currently working the (now retired) Library Manager gave me an ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of a book that he said I'd "really like". Since we had known each other less than a week I took it at face value and slipped it into my desk drawer. Three months lat...
Orlean is one of my favorite nonfiction writers. The topic doesn't matter, she's going to teach me something weird and wonderful and even if she doesn't spark an obsession in me, she does a brilliant job of explaining why other people love whatever it is so much. So, yeah, no surprise that I was w...
Prior to the arrival of this book, I was unfamiliar with the Los Angeles library fire of 1986. I'd never noticed journalist and author Susan Orlean before. When I read the description for The Library Book, however, I was intrigued. This sounded like a fabulous, riveting book. Here was the story of a...
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