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hanz's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Think I'd class this more as history or even social issues as opposed to true crime. The book jumps around a lot between the fire and its investigation, the history of the LA library and the current people and services of that library.
The history parts were my favourite and there were a lot of interesting facts about the people involved in the early stages of the library.
Occasionally hard to follow because it jumped around a lot and I found that some of the chapters ended quite abruptly and didn't really have a conclusion to add to the overall point of the book, however I'm relatively new to non fiction so could just be me.
The author also repeated used either he or she to refer to an arbitrary person, which was a little jarring and felt out of place with some of the themes of the book.
The history parts were my favourite and there were a lot of interesting facts about the people involved in the early stages of the library.
Occasionally hard to follow because it jumped around a lot and I found that some of the chapters ended quite abruptly and didn't really have a conclusion to add to the overall point of the book, however I'm relatively new to non fiction so could just be me.
The author also repeated used either he or she to refer to an arbitrary person, which was a little jarring and felt out of place with some of the themes of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Antisemitism
Minor: Homophobia and Racism
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
- THE LIBRARY BOOK is more than just an investigation of whether L.A. Central Library was a victim of arson. It's also a history of the branch, of libraries generally, and a look at what libraries have evolved into today and the challenges librarians tackle every day.
- This book is a love letter to libraries and a message of gratitude to librarians. The descriptions of people and places read like fiction, and I just couldn't put it down.
- I really appreciated the repeated emphasis on how libraries are expected to fill every social need and gap in our safety nets, in particular in regards to supporting unhoused people but also in dozens of other ways. It shows us how far beyond their limits (financial, educational, etc.) we have forced them to stretch.
- This book is a love letter to libraries and a message of gratitude to librarians. The descriptions of people and places read like fiction, and I just couldn't put it down.
- I really appreciated the repeated emphasis on how libraries are expected to fill every social need and gap in our safety nets, in particular in regards to supporting unhoused people but also in dozens of other ways. It shows us how far beyond their limits (financial, educational, etc.) we have forced them to stretch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Classism