After reading The Midnight Library, it got me thinking about all the great books about libraries or librarians, or stories that are set largely in libraries.
I’m sure most book lovers have fond memories of their own local libraries. The first library I loved was Schimelpfenig Plano Library in my hometown of Plano, Texas. I used to just wander the shelves and randomly pick out books. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I didn’t need to read books reviews or anything like that because I could rely on the librarians’ curation to lead me to good books. It wasn’t until later that I really appreciated what a gift it was to have such wonderfully curated books laid out for me.
So, this is a list of the Best Books about Libraries and Librarians. If you have a suggestion for something to add to this list, please feel free to drop a comment. Or I’d love to hear your stories about your own favorite library!
The Midnight Library
What It's About: Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life...See the Full Summary and Review of The Midnight Library Publication Date: August 13, 2020
What It's About: Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life...See the Full Summary and Review of The Midnight Library Publication Date: August 13, 2020
The Library Book
What It's About: On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie...Publication Date: October 16, 2018
What It's About: On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie...Publication Date: October 16, 2018
The Giver of Stars
What It's About: From the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England...See the Full Summary and Review of The Giver of Stars Publication Date: October 3, 2019
What It's About: From the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England...See the Full Summary and Review of The Giver of Stars Publication Date: October 3, 2019
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
What It's About: The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything--everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else...Publication Date: May 7, 2019
What It's About: The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything--everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy's not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else...Publication Date: May 7, 2019
The Book of Speculation
What It's About: Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival...Publication Date: June 23, 2015
What It's About: Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival...Publication Date: June 23, 2015
People of the Book
What It's About: Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. This ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain...Publication Date: January 1, 2008
What It's About: Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author. This ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain...Publication Date: January 1, 2008
The Shadow of the Wind
What It's About: Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written...Publication Date: January 1, 2001
What It's About: Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written...Publication Date: January 1, 2001
The Library at Mount Char
What It's About: A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Publication Date: June 16, 2015
What It's About: A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts...Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Forever, Interrupted
What It's About: Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary...Publication Date: July 9, 2013
What It's About: Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary...Publication Date: July 9, 2013
Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1)
What It's About: Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family...Publication Date: July 7, 2015
What It's About: Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family...Publication Date: July 7, 2015
The Borrower
What It's About: In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road.
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home...Publication Date: June 9, 2011
What It's About: In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road.
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home...Publication Date: June 9, 2011
Secrets in Summer
What It's About: The queen of beach books (The Star-Ledger) returns to the shores of Nantucket in a novel about one memorable summer when flirtations flourish, family dramas play out, and scandalous secrets surface.
Memorial Day weekend means that seasonal visitors have descended on the glamorous island of Nantucket...Publication Date: May 1, 2017
What It's About: The queen of beach books (The Star-Ledger) returns to the shores of Nantucket in a novel about one memorable summer when flirtations flourish, family dramas play out, and scandalous secrets surface.
Memorial Day weekend means that seasonal visitors have descended on the glamorous island of Nantucket...Publication Date: May 1, 2017
You Love Me
What It's About: Joe is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco...See the Full Summary and Review of You Love Me Publication Date: April 6, 2021
What It's About: Joe is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco...See the Full Summary and Review of You Love Me Publication Date: April 6, 2021
The Strange Library
What It's About: From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami—a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library. Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling Haruki Murakami's wild imagination.
The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written...Publication Date: December 2, 2014
What It's About: From internationally acclaimed author Haruki Murakami—a fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library. Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling Haruki Murakami's wild imagination.
The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written...Publication Date: December 2, 2014
The Time Traveler's Wife
What It's About: This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry, who met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry was thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future...Publication Date: Not Available
What It's About: This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry, who met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry was thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future...Publication Date: Not Available
The Historian
What It's About: To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of, a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history...Publication Date: June 14, 2005
What It's About: To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history....Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of, a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history...Publication Date: June 14, 2005
The Name of the Rose
What It's About: Ultima settimana del novembre 1327. Ludovico il Bavaro assedia Pisa e si dispone a scendere verso Roma, il papa è ad Avignone e insiste per avere al suo cospetto Michele da Cesena, generale dei francescani, i quali qualche anno prima hanno proclamato a Perugia che Cristo non ha avuto proprietà alcuna...Publication Date: September 28, 1994
What It's About: Ultima settimana del novembre 1327. Ludovico il Bavaro assedia Pisa e si dispone a scendere verso Roma, il papa è ad Avignone e insiste per avere al suo cospetto Michele da Cesena, generale dei francescani, i quali qualche anno prima hanno proclamato a Perugia che Cristo non ha avuto proprietà alcuna...Publication Date: September 28, 1994
Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2)
What It's About: Intrepid literary detective Thursday Next is back in the second installment of Jasper Fforde's one-of-a-kind series
The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with Jasper Fforde's magnificent second adventure starring the resourceful, fearless literary sleuth Thursday Next...Publication Date: March 31, 2002
What It's About: Intrepid literary detective Thursday Next is back in the second installment of Jasper Fforde's one-of-a-kind series
The inventive, exuberant, and totally original literary fun that began with The Eyre Affair continues with Jasper Fforde's magnificent second adventure starring the resourceful, fearless literary sleuth Thursday Next...Publication Date: March 31, 2002
Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8)
What It's About: This is where the dragons went. They lie... not dead, not asleep, but... dormant. And although the space they occupy isn't like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. They could put you in mind of a can of sardines, if you thought sardines were huge and scaly. And presumably, somewhere, there's a key...Publication Date: February 18, 2024
What It's About: This is where the dragons went. They lie... not dead, not asleep, but... dormant. And although the space they occupy isn't like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. They could put you in mind of a can of sardines, if you thought sardines were huge and scaly. And presumably, somewhere, there's a key...Publication Date: February 18, 2024
The Archived (The Archived #1)
What It's About: Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.
Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself...Publication Date: January 22, 2013
What It's About: Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.
Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself...Publication Date: January 22, 2013
The Girl He Used to Know
What It's About: What if you had a second chance at first love?
Annika Rose likes being alone.
She feels lost in social situations, saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way. She just can't read people. She prefers the quiet solitude of books or playing chess to being around others. Apart from Jonathan...Publication Date: April 2, 2019
What It's About: What if you had a second chance at first love?
Annika Rose likes being alone.
She feels lost in social situations, saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way. She just can't read people. She prefers the quiet solitude of books or playing chess to being around others. Apart from Jonathan...Publication Date: April 2, 2019
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
What It's About: The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years...Publication Date: August 18, 1943
What It's About: The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions of readers for more than sixty years...Publication Date: August 18, 1943
A Bone to Pick (Aurora Teagarden #2)
What It's About: Poole aasta jooksul kolmes pulmas ja sealhulgas ka oma endise kallima laulatusel käinud Aurora Teagarden tunneb ennast rattasse vudima jäänud oravana. Siis aga sureb laialisaadetud Tõeliste Mõrvade klubi eakas liige Jane Engle, kes on pärandanud Roele üllatuslikult oma maja ja tähelepanuväärse rahasumma...Publication Date: November 1, 1992
What It's About: Poole aasta jooksul kolmes pulmas ja sealhulgas ka oma endise kallima laulatusel käinud Aurora Teagarden tunneb ennast rattasse vudima jäänud oravana. Siis aga sureb laialisaadetud Tõeliste Mõrvade klubi eakas liige Jane Engle, kes on pärandanud Roele üllatuslikult oma maja ja tähelepanuväärse rahasumma...Publication Date: November 1, 1992
Among Others
What It's About: Startling, unusual, and irresistibly readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and science fiction, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment...Publication Date: January 18, 2011
What It's About: Startling, unusual, and irresistibly readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and science fiction, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment...Publication Date: January 18, 2011
The Uncommon Reader
What It's About: Led by her yapping corgis to the Westminster traveling library outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen finds herself taking out a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett. Duff read though it is, the following week her choice proves more enjoyable and awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer...Publication Date: March 8, 2007
What It's About: Led by her yapping corgis to the Westminster traveling library outside Buckingham Palace, the Queen finds herself taking out a novel by Ivy Compton-Burnett. Duff read though it is, the following week her choice proves more enjoyable and awakens in Her Majesty a passion for reading so great that her public duties begin to suffer...Publication Date: March 8, 2007
Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions
What It's About: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World was a blockbuster bestseller and a publishing phenomenon. It has sold nearly a million copies, spawned three children's books, and will be the basis for an upcoming movie. No doubt about it, Dewey has created a community. Dewey touched readers everywhere, who realized that no matter how difficult their lives might seem, or how ordinary their talents, they can-and should- make a positive difference to those around them...Publication Date: September 24, 2008
What It's About: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World was a blockbuster bestseller and a publishing phenomenon. It has sold nearly a million copies, spawned three children's books, and will be the basis for an upcoming movie. No doubt about it, Dewey has created a community. Dewey touched readers everywhere, who realized that no matter how difficult their lives might seem, or how ordinary their talents, they can-and should- make a positive difference to those around them...Publication Date: September 24, 2008
The Library of Babel
What It's About: Jorge Luis Borges's famous 1941 meditation on language, alphabets, and the library that contains all knowledge is an allegory of our Universe, and in this edition is complemented and enhanced by the etching of the French artist, Érik Desmazières.Publication Date: February 18, 2024
What It's About: Jorge Luis Borges's famous 1941 meditation on language, alphabets, and the library that contains all knowledge is an allegory of our Universe, and in this edition is complemented and enhanced by the etching of the French artist, Érik Desmazières.Publication Date: February 18, 2024
The Case of the Missing Books (Mobile Library Mystery #1)
What It's About: Israel Armstrong is a passionate soul, lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career. Alas, the job that awaits him is not quite what he has in mind. Still, Israel is not one to dwell on disappointment, as he prepares to drive a mobile library around a small, damp Irish town. After all, the scenery is lovely, the people are charming--but where are the books? The rolling library's 15,000 volumes have mysteriously gone missing, and it's up to Israel to discover who would steal them...Publication Date: January 2, 2007
What It's About: Israel Armstrong is a passionate soul, lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career. Alas, the job that awaits him is not quite what he has in mind. Still, Israel is not one to dwell on disappointment, as he prepares to drive a mobile library around a small, damp Irish town. After all, the scenery is lovely, the people are charming--but where are the books? The rolling library's 15,000 volumes have mysteriously gone missing, and it's up to Israel to discover who would steal them...Publication Date: January 2, 2007
The Invisible Library
What It's About: Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.
One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities...Publication Date: December 15, 2014
What It's About: Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.
One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities...Publication Date: December 15, 2014
What You Wish For
What It's About: Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way...Publication Date: July 14, 2020
What It's About: Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way...Publication Date: July 14, 2020
The Starless Sea
What It's About: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks...See the Full Summary and Review of The Starless Sea Publication Date: November 5, 2019
What It's About: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks...See the Full Summary and Review of The Starless Sea Publication Date: November 5, 2019
Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
What It's About: From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern’s novel is an unforgettable tale of family...the kind you come from and the kind you create.
People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship...Publication Date: February 27, 2018
What It's About: From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern’s novel is an unforgettable tale of family...the kind you come from and the kind you create.
People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship...Publication Date: February 27, 2018
The Library of Lost and Found
What It's About: Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she's invisible.
All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep...Publication Date: March 26, 2019
What It's About: Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she's invisible.
All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep...Publication Date: March 26, 2019
American Wife
What It's About: On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House–and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, “almost in opposition to itself.”
A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown...Publication Date: September 2, 2008
What It's About: On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House–and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, “almost in opposition to itself.”
A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown...Publication Date: September 2, 2008
The World's Strongest Librarian
What It's About: A funny and uplifting story of how a Mormon kid with Tourette’s found salvation in books and weight lifting
Josh Hanagarne couldn’t be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn't officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old when he first began exhibiting symptoms...Publication Date: May 2, 2013
What It's About: A funny and uplifting story of how a Mormon kid with Tourette’s found salvation in books and weight lifting
Josh Hanagarne couldn’t be invisible if he tried. Although he wouldn't officially be diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until his freshman year of high school, Josh was six years old when he first began exhibiting symptoms...Publication Date: May 2, 2013
This Book Is Overdue
What It's About: In a celebration of libraries and the dedicated people who staff them, the author argues that librarians are more important than ever, in a book that follows cybrarians, a new breed of visionary professionals who use the web to link people and informationPublication Date: January 15, 2010
What It's About: In a celebration of libraries and the dedicated people who staff them, the author argues that librarians are more important than ever, in a book that follows cybrarians, a new breed of visionary professionals who use the web to link people and informationPublication Date: January 15, 2010
I Work at A Public Library
What It's About: Straight from the library--the strange and bizarre, ready to be checked out!
From a patron's missing wetsuit to the scent of crab cakes wafting through the stacks, I Work at a Public Library showcases the oddities that have come across Gina Sheridan's circulation desk. Throughout these pages, she catalogs her encounters with local eccentrics as well as the questions that plague her, such as, "What is the standard length of eyebrow hairs?" Whether she's helping someone scan his face onto an online dating site or explaining why the library doesn't have any dragon autobiographies, Sheridan's bizarre tales prove that she's truly seen it all...Publication Date: July 4, 2014
What It's About: Straight from the library--the strange and bizarre, ready to be checked out!
From a patron's missing wetsuit to the scent of crab cakes wafting through the stacks, I Work at a Public Library showcases the oddities that have come across Gina Sheridan's circulation desk. Throughout these pages, she catalogs her encounters with local eccentrics as well as the questions that plague her, such as, "What is the standard length of eyebrow hairs?" Whether she's helping someone scan his face onto an online dating site or explaining why the library doesn't have any dragon autobiographies, Sheridan's bizarre tales prove that she's truly seen it all...Publication Date: July 4, 2014
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
What It's About: A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met...Publication Date: September 22, 2020
What It's About: A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met...Publication Date: September 22, 2020
The Library at the Edge of the World (Finfarran Peninsula #1)
What It's About: Hanna Casey, local librarian on the West Coast of Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula, is wondering where it all went wrong ...As she drives her mobile library van between farms and villages she tries not to think of the sophisticated London lifestyle she abandoned after finding her barrister husband in bed with another woman...Publication Date: November 17, 2016
What It's About: Hanna Casey, local librarian on the West Coast of Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula, is wondering where it all went wrong ...As she drives her mobile library van between farms and villages she tries not to think of the sophisticated London lifestyle she abandoned after finding her barrister husband in bed with another woman...Publication Date: November 17, 2016
The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians
What It's About: Every day after school Melvin goes to the library. Everything has its place in the library and Melvin likes it that way. And his favorite people—Marge, Betty, and Leola—are always in their place, behind the reference desk. When a subject interests Melvin, his librarian friends help him find lots and lots of books on the subject...Publication Date: March 1, 2007
What It's About: Every day after school Melvin goes to the library. Everything has its place in the library and Melvin likes it that way. And his favorite people—Marge, Betty, and Leola—are always in their place, behind the reference desk. When a subject interests Melvin, his librarian friends help him find lots and lots of books on the subject...Publication Date: March 1, 2007
Property of the Rebel Librarian
What It's About: Random House has acquired a middle grade book by debut author Allison Varnes. Property of the Rebel Librarian is about a girl's struggle with her parents, her school administration, and the school board over her possession of banned books, as well as her creation of a secret lending library and her desire to protect her recently fired school librarian...Publication Date: September 18, 2018
What It's About: Random House has acquired a middle grade book by debut author Allison Varnes. Property of the Rebel Librarian is about a girl's struggle with her parents, her school administration, and the school board over her possession of banned books, as well as her creation of a secret lending library and her desire to protect her recently fired school librarian...Publication Date: September 18, 2018
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1)
What It's About: A New York Times Bestseller
Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library...Publication Date: June 25, 2013
What It's About: A New York Times Bestseller
Kyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library...Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Matilda
What It's About: MATILDA IS A SWEET, 5-YEAR-OLD GENIUS with horrible, mean parents. Fortunately, she has a great time giving them what they deserve. But at school things are different. At school there's Miss Trunchbull: two hundred pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Giving Miss Trunchbull what she deserves will take more than a genius...Publication Date: September 28, 1988
What It's About: MATILDA IS A SWEET, 5-YEAR-OLD GENIUS with horrible, mean parents. Fortunately, she has a great time giving them what they deserve. But at school things are different. At school there's Miss Trunchbull: two hundred pounds of kid-hating headmistress. Giving Miss Trunchbull what she deserves will take more than a genius...Publication Date: September 28, 1988
Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don't)
What It's About: With the help of Miss Brooks, Missy's classmates all find books they love in the library--books about fairies and dogs and trains and cowboys. But Missy dismisses them all--"Too flowery, too furry, too clickety, too yippity."
Still, Miss Brooks remains undaunted. Book Week is here and Missy will find a book to love if they have to empty the entire library...Publication Date: May 24, 2006
What It's About: With the help of Miss Brooks, Missy's classmates all find books they love in the library--books about fairies and dogs and trains and cowboys. But Missy dismisses them all--"Too flowery, too furry, too clickety, too yippity."
Still, Miss Brooks remains undaunted. Book Week is here and Missy will find a book to love if they have to empty the entire library...Publication Date: May 24, 2006
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
What It's About: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is the first adventure in a fantasy series for young readers by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. The fast-paced and funny series is now available in deluxe hardcover editions illustrated by Hayley Lazo.
On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry gets a bag of sand in the mail-his only inheritance from his father and mother...Publication Date: October 1, 2007
What It's About: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is the first adventure in a fantasy series for young readers by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. The fast-paced and funny series is now available in deluxe hardcover editions illustrated by Hayley Lazo.
On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry gets a bag of sand in the mail-his only inheritance from his father and mother...Publication Date: October 1, 2007
This is an awesome booklist and I may need to come back and read through it again if I’m in search of a book about libraries or librarians! A few of these I have read already, but the majority I have not so I’m excited to see what I can find here when the mood next strikes me.
glad you liked it and happy reading! :)
I’ve heard a lot of great things about The Midnight Library so that’s definitely going on my TBR list. I also love following Matt Haig on Instagram so feel like I know the story so well already.
The Library of Babel sounds like such an interesting book – very happy you’ve introduced me to that :)
Great list! The Cherry Cola Book Club by Ashton Lee is a chick lit series that features a librarian as the main character.
What a fun idea for a book list! I’ve found so many I want to add to my TBR list.
Thanks heaps for composing this list. I’m going to chase down a copy of In the Name of the Rose. The Library Book by Susan Orlean is the standout for me – such a terrifically written book and a lovely celebration of public libraries. To wave the flag for short story collections, In the Stacks : Short Stories about Libraries and Librarians is pretty enjoyable (it includes Borges’s The Library of Babel) and I also really liked the very strange Two Sets of Books by Ruairi Murphy.