Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

Voted by members as our additional read for the Non-Fiction category.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean



On the morning of April 28, 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.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.

Yes!! I just picked up this book from my library yesterday and can't wait to read it and discuss! So glad it's the BOM! Will we be discussing it on this thread?

I put it on hold at my library hopeful will be able to get it tomorrow

Yes you can post your thoughts as you read or when you're done. Don't forget to use spoiler tags if needed.

Will do! Thanks, Savanes!

Sounds really interesting!

Just finished this one. Glad I listened to the audio book. I would have never got through it in print. I was surprised to see the high rating to begin with and now that I am done I am more surprised by the high rating. I love libraries and books but this was a very long account of the subject.

Started my copy today. 21% in. So far, an interesting wander, like wandering through the stacks of a library. I like how she mentions when you look for a book in a library, you notice the books on either side. Kind of how she's addressing this subject.

My library doesn't have this one, so I will be waiting to see what others think before buying it.

LaLaine, I've heard others express similar feelings. I've been slammed with reading other books for challenges, but I am hoping to start it in the next few days.

Worth reading.

I just started it today.

Well I finished the Library book I loves libraries so let me preface that first. I found the book to be disjointed. It was all over the place. I really do not care about some of the minute details it pulled from the story and bogs the reader down. I loved the history parts of the book. The book felt like she interviewed a bunch of people and put it in the book as what was said word for word of the interview. Some details should have been left out. I thought the organization of the book was all over the place. First she is talking about the fire then about the recovery process then the story shot off somewhere else and this happened again and again.. The fire information was interesting and there should have been more about this in the book. She then talks about Peak who is suspected of starting the fire well she never really explains before hand why him. People described him but she never explains before she goes into interviewing family members ect why? I wanted to know more about the fire and his role in it. Anyways the book made me want to rant. I had high expectations because i was fascinated by the story about the fire. I felt like the book went in all kinds of directions to really say how the jacket of the books leads you to believe what the book is about. I liked the programs that central has for the community and I love the idea about earning your diploma through the library. Every library should have this program. Anyways I give the book 2 stars.

Let me explain one thing the book would have been better served as a documentary it would have been more enjoyable to watch the interviews and get the history instead of a book. The book was written it felt like to me as if it was a documentary for that I rather watch then read that.

I agree Suzanne. Like I said I would have never waded through the print version of this book. Even listening to it was sometimes tough.

Oh dear...I'm finally getting around to starting it today. Wish me luck!